Sara Llewellin, the Chief Executive of the Barrow Cadbury Trust, has been awarded the European Foundation Centre (EFC) Compass Prize at the 30th EFC AGA and Conference last week in Paris. This is the fifth ever prize awarded since its launch ten years ago and Llewellin is the first woman to receive this recognition.

The EFC Compass Prize recognises those who have made outstanding contributions to, and ongoing support for, the development of the European philanthropic sector; the pioneers, navigators and visionaries who have broken the mould of European philanthropy, both through their relationship with the EFC as well as with their peers.

Llewellin, a member for many years of the EFC’s Management Committee, Governing Council and various networks and working groups, has been recognised for her work not just for Barrow Cadbury, but for the EFC and wider philanthropic sector in Europe. She was praised for embodying the qualities and values that are at the root of the organisation she leads: speaking truth to power and striving for collaboration, engagement, independence and innovation.

After being presented the award by Massimo Lapucci, the EFC’s Chair, Llewellin emphasised that this award was not simply a recognition of her work, but recognition of the effort and toil of everyone she had worked with, and further paid tribute to all of the women who had come before her in the EFC community, for laying the groundwork, and for aiding Sara in her early years, this award was for them and demonstrated that ‘the sisterhood is powerful!’.

During the Annual General Assembly Llewellin was also unanimously elected as Vice Chair of the EFC , replacing the outgoing Klaus Wehmeier, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Körber-Stiftung.