Edvance celebrates three Highly Commended awards at ITENZ Excellence Awards

Last evening, Edvance was proud to be recognised at the annual Independent Tertiary Education NZ (ITENZ) Conference in Rotorua, with three members of our team receiving Highly Commended awards across teaching, literacy and numeracy, and organisational performance.

Hope Laurence, Edvance’s Business Operations Manager, received Highly Commended for the Outstanding Performance Award, which recognises staff who contribute to the quality of their organisation. Hope does an exceptional job of bringing energy and commitment to programme design, compliance, and quality assurance each and every day.

“Edvance received Highly Commended in all the categories we entered,” says Hope. “We know we have a group of great people doing fantastic things, but that acknowledgement from a group of like-minded professionals really reinforced that for us.”

Julia Bruce-Mayne was also Highly Commended for Tutor of the Year for her work in Edvance’s Good to Great programme. Julia is an exceptional tutor who brings innovation and a deeply supportive approach to working with neurodivergent learners. Her impact is clear in the number of learners who choose to return for each intake, even after graduating from the programme multiple times! You can read more about Julia’s work here.

Helen Thorn was Highly Commended for the Literacy and Numeracy Educator Award, which recognises educators who make a meaningful difference to their learners’ outcomes. Helen’s incredible ability to identify and break down learning barriers has also been recognised previously, including at the 2025 Aotearoa Literacy and Numeracy Educator Awards.

Group CEO Wendy Liao says this recognition reflects the strength of the people behind Edvance. “ITENZ told us that the calibre of this year’s entries was the highest they have seen in the history of the awards. To have Julia, Helen, and Hope recognised among such a strong field is a wonderful achievement, and reflects the expertise our team tirelessly brings to Edvance each day.”