Ruth Ibegbuna, chief executive of Reclaim, won the overall award for the charity chief executive with the best social media presence, as the top 30 were unveiled last night. 

This is the first year that the judges identified an overall winner from the top 30, see the full list below. There were also awards for the best trustee (Maya Dibley from Girlguiding), best senior leader (Tom Baker from Bond) and best rising star (Catherine Deakin from Tommy’s). 

The awards are organised by Zoe Amar and Matt Collins, who both run digital marketing agencies that work with charities, and judged by a panel of experts in the sector chaired by Simon Blake, chief executive of the NUS. 

Blake said that they chose Ibegbuna as the overall winner because she shared such a good mix of things that “finding Ruth’s feed was a joy"

"I particularly liked the discussion with the woman on the train who thought that her bag was more important," he said.

Ibegbuna, whose feed is mostly dedicated to her two passions of fighting inequality and John Barnes, thanked the judges. 

She tweeted: 

 

Feeling the pressure to tweet something wise, amusing & inspiring.
No, it's just too hard.
Thanks loads #SocialCEOs - I'm chuffed!

— Ruth Ibegbuna (@MsIbegbuna) November 17, 2016

Actually, I mainly won this award for a lifetime of selfless devotion to both equality and @officialbarnesy
Surely that's worth a RT John?

— Ruth Ibegbuna (@MsIbegbuna) November 17, 2016

 

The other judges were Peter Wanless, chief exeuctive of the NSPCC, Karl Wilding, director of public policy and volunteering, NCVO, Caron Bradshaw, chief executive of CFG, Rohan Hewivasenti, group director of resources at the RNIB, Beth Kanter, US-based social media guru, Lucy Caldicott, charity leadership and governance expert.

Amar and Collins have published a paper to accompany the launch, Thinking big – social trends for charity leaders, with advice on the current trends and examples of best practice. 

Amar said: “We’re living in uncertain times and resources are tight but the work these charity leaders are pioneering online should be a source of hope to the voluntary sector.” 

This year’s top 30 chief exeuctives on social media 

1. Ruth Ibegbuna, Reclaim Project, @msibegbuna (overall winner)
2. Deborah Alsina, Bowel Cancer UK, @DeborahAlsina
3. Cathy Ashley, Family Rights Group, @CathyAshley
4. Chris Askew, Diabetes UK, @ChrisAskewCE
5. Lang Banks, WWF Scotland, @langbanks
6. Paul Breckell, Action on Hearing Loss, @pbreckell
7. Nicola Brentnall, The Queen’s Trust, @NicolaBrentnall
8. Stephen Cornish, Medecins Sans Frontieres, @Stephen_Cornish
9. Kathy Evans, Children England, @Kathy_CEO_CE 
10. Brita Fernandez Schmidt, Women for Women International UK, @BritaFS
11. Mark Flannagan, Beating Bowel Cancer, @MarkFlannCEO
12. Steve Ford, Parkinson’s UK, @SteveGFord
13. Philip Goodwin, VSO, @PhilipVSO
14. Liam Hackett, Ditch the Label, @diageoliam
15. Stephen Hale, Refugee Action, @SHaleGeneva
16. John Hibbs, Hibbs Lupus Trust, @hibbsy
17. Petra Ingram, Brooke, @Petraingram
18. Dalton Leong, Childern’s Trust, @DaltonLeong
19. Sophie Livingstone, City Year, @LivingstoneSoph
20. Louise Macdonald, Young Scot, @Louisemac
21. John May, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, @johnccmay
22. Helen Milner, Tinder Foundation, @helenmilner
23. Polly Neate, Women’s Aid, @pollyn1
24. Theresa Shearer, Enable Scotland, @Theresa_Enable
25. Micheal Sheridan, Mercy Foundation, Cork, @miochealsheridan
26. Anna Smee, UK Youth, @AnnaSmee1
27. Matt Stevenson-Dodd, Street League, @Matt_SD 
28. Paul Streets, Lloyds Bank Foundation, @Paulstreets_
29. Jan Tregelles, Mencap, @JanTregelles
30. Jo Youle, Missing People, @JoeyYoule

Other awards

Best senior leader

Winner: Tom Baker, Bond, @MrTomBaker
Highly commended:Chris Stacey, Unlock 2000, @ChrisStacey

Best trustee

Winner: Maya Dibley, Girlguiding, @xblueskiesx
Highly commended: Ivan Hollingsworth, Children’s Heart Unit Fund, @seb4chuf

Rising star

Catherine Deakin, Tommy’s @catdeakin