Humanitarian Leadership Academy Named Winner of 2025 Amazon Web Services Imagine Grant for Nonprofits

The Humanitarian Leadership Academy will work with global cloud provider Amazon Web Services to bridge the gap between humanitarian education and action.

London, U.K (December 2, 2025) – The Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA), a sector-facing team within Save the Children UK has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant, a public grant opportunity open to registered nonprofit charities in the U.K. who are using technology to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.

The grant will support HLA’s efforts to connect humanitarian learners with paid and voluntary opportunities to apply their skills in real-world contexts, driving locally led response.

Now in its third year in the U.K., the AWS Imagine Grant programme provides vital resources to nonprofit organisations looking to deploy cloud technology as a central tool to achieve mission goals. As part of the programme, AWS seeks proposals for big ideas on how to leverage technology in new and innovative ways to accelerate impact in local and global communities.

The Kaya Match tool is an impactful new feature that directly connects trained humanitarians to local organisations responding to crisis using generative AI powered by AWS. Kaya Match will strengthen the ability of local organisations to access people with the relevant skills and experience required to ensure quality services are provided to children and communities in crises. This new feature will speed up decision making and unlock intelligence and patterns from HLA’s vast dataset, to enable humanitarian response to be directly led by local actors – linking learners to paid and voluntary opportunities.  

The HLA was named a winner in the Go Further, Faster category which recognises highly innovative projects using advanced cloud services. HLA will receive up to $50,000 in unrestricted funding, up to $16,000 in AWS Promotional Credits, and engagement with AWS technical specialists. Proposals were judged on several factors including the innovative and unique nature of the project, impact on mission-critical goals, and clearly defined outcomes and milestones.

“We are excited that Kaya Match can become a reality for over 850,000 humanitarians currently learning on Kaya globally. This is a transformative opportunity, and we are very grateful to AWS for it.” said Pawel Mania, Director of the HLA.

“Kaya Match will accelerate the shift toward a decentralised humanitarian response and support a stronger network of local talent, translating learning into action. This AWS Imagine Grant award will contribute to a humanitarian system that is more agile, inclusive, and locally led.”  

Since the launch of the Imagine Grant programme in 2018, AWS has awarded over $14M in unrestricted funds, AWS Promotional Credits, and AWS training support to more than 130 nonprofit organisations in support of their technology-driven goals. Previous winners are currently using AWS services to tackle critical challenges such as eliminating barriers to food security, improving maternal health outcomes, helping millions access clean and safe drinking water globally, tackling rare disease research, and more.

“We are thrilled to support the UK’s nonprofit sector to tackle some of society’s most pressing issues,” said Kris Burtwistle, Head of Local Government and Nonprofit Organisations at AWS.

“Our Imagine Grant recipients are pioneering innovative approaches to amplify their mission’s impact through the power of technology. We look forward to collaborating closely with this year’s recipients and helping them to harness cloud technology to positively impact communities in the UK and beyond.”

Over 85,000 nonprofit organisations worldwide use AWS to increase their impact and advance mission goals. Through multiple programmes tailored specifically to the nonprofit community, AWS can enable nonprofits of all sizes to overcome barriers to technology adoption, while enhancing the scale, performance, and capabilities of mission operations.

For more information on the AWS Imagine Grant, visit the AWS Imagine Grant website.
 
About Humanitarian Leadership Academy
The Humanitarian Leadership Academy accelerates the movement for locally led humanitarian action by convening local voices, nurturing leaders, and driving collective action. The HLA is a team within Save the Children UK, working directly with the wider humanitarian community.

For media enquiries
Contact: info@humanitarian.academy