AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Since 2022, Progressive Play® and Founder & Director Janelle Ford have received national and international recognition across professional achievement, mental health, health and disability, professional education, innovation, social impact, entrepreneurship and business excellence.

We are enormously proud of the recognition our work has received. But awards have never been the reason Progressive Play® exists.

For us, recognition represents something more meaningful: independent acknowledgement of the work, professional standards, innovation and social impact behind Progressive Play®.

From recognition within the autism, health and disability sectors to awards for mental health advocacy, professional education, innovation and business excellence, each has become part of a much larger story.

A story that began with an idea in 2019 and continues through the professionals, organisations and communities we support today.

2024 marked a significant year of recognition for Progressive Play®, with awards spanning business excellence, mental health advocacy, social impact, innovation in health and disability, business growth and international recognition.

Together, these awards reflect the breadth of Progressive Play®’s work - as a professional education organisation, an advocate for better mental health and wellbeing, and an Australian organisation committed to meaningful social impact.

ROAR Awards 2024

Progressive Play® received five awards at the 2024 ROAR Awards:

🥇 Gold - ROAR Business of the Year

🥈 Silver - Best Advocate for Mental Health

🥈 Silver - Social Change Hero

🥈 Silver - Solopreneur of the Year

🥉 Bronze - Business Growth Award

The Gold - ROAR Business of the Year award marked an important milestone for Progressive Play®, following Bronze recognition in the same category in 2022.

Equally significant were the awards for Best Advocate for Mental Health and Social Change Hero. These recognise areas that have been central to Progressive Play® since its inception: advocating for better mental health and wellbeing, contributing to positive social change, and extending our impact beyond professional training alone.

Together with recognition for business growth and entrepreneurship, the five awards reflect the continued development of Progressive Play® and the breadth of the work we undertake.

Global Recognition Award 2024

🏆 Winner — 2024 Global Recognition Award

In 2024, Progressive Play® received a Global Recognition Award, recognising the organisation’s contributions across education and healthcare.

The award acknowledged Progressive Play®’s approach to professional development, innovation and the application of play-based methodologies across educational and therapeutic environments.

Following the award, Progressive Play® was featured on Markets Insider, with coverage highlighting the organisation’s work across professional education, mental health and education.

We are proud to see Australian-developed professional education recognised internationally and contributing to a growing international professional community.

International recognition is meaningful to us - not simply because of how far Progressive Play® has reached, but because of the impact Australian-developed professional education can have well beyond our own shores. 

Heart of Health & Disability Awards 2024

🥉 Bronze - Innovation in Service Delivery

Progressive Play® received Bronze - Innovation in Service Delivery at the 2024 Heart of Health & Disability Awards.

This recognition holds particular significance for Progressive Play® because it comes from within the Australian health and disability sector - two professional environments that have been central to our work from the beginning.

Innovation for us is not simply about creating something new. It is about continuing to question how professional education, resources and programs can be made more relevant, responsive and useful to the professionals and communities they are designed to support.

Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards 2024

⭐ Finalist - Educational Services

Progressive Play® was named a finalist in the Educational Services category of the 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.

The recognition was particularly meaningful because professional education sits at the centre of what Progressive Play® does.

Being recognised alongside Australian businesses working across the education sector provided another opportunity to reflect on the development of Progressive Play® since the release of our first professional training programs in early 2021.

Taken together, the recognition received throughout 2024 reflects the different dimensions of Progressive Play® - professional education, mental health advocacy, social impact, innovation, entrepreneurship, health and disability, and continued organisational growth.

Collectively, these awards provide independent recognition of the breadth of our work and the standards, innovation and purpose that continue to shape Progressive Play®. 

2023 was another significant year for Progressive Play®, bringing together professional recognition, mental health advocacy, business excellence and community recognition.

It was also a particularly meaningful year for Founder & Director Janelle Ford, who received individual recognition for her professional contribution within the autism field.

Autism Queensland Recognition Awards 2023

🏆 Winner - Professional Achievement Award

In 2023, Founder & Director Janelle Ford received the Autism Queensland Professional Achievement Award.

This recognition holds a special place in the Progressive Play® story.

Unlike a general business award, the Professional Achievement Award recognised Janelle’s work and professional contribution within a field closely connected to Progressive Play® and the professionals and communities we support.

As part of the 2023 Autism Queensland Recognition Awards celebrations, Janelle was also formally invited to Government House Queensland for an afternoon tea hosted by Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM, Governor of Queensland, and Professor Graeme Nimmo RFD.

This award, recognising Janelle's professional contribution, was both an honour and an important milestone in the Progressive Play® journey.

ROAR Awards 2023

Progressive Play® received four awards at the 2023 ROAR Awards, with recognition spanning mental health advocacy, business excellence, entrepreneurship and organisational growth:

🥇 Gold - Best Advocate for Mental Health

🥇 Gold - Business Excellence

🥈 Silver - Business Rebel of the Year

🥉 Bronze - Start Up of the Year

The Gold - Best Advocate for Mental Health recognition was particularly meaningful.

Founder & Director Janelle Ford has long been a passionate advocate for mental health and wellbeing, with that commitment influencing Progressive Play® from the beginning - not only through our professional education, but also through our community programs, advocacy, and broader approach to social impact.

Receiving Gold - Business Excellence alongside this recognition also acknowledged the development of Progressive Play® as an organisation during a period of significant growth.

Together, the four awards recognised both the development of Progressive Play® and the values that continue to shape our work.

CPD Awards 2023

⭐ International Shortlisting

In 2023, Progressive Play® and Janelle Ford were shortlisted through the CPD Awards, providing international recognition connected with her work in professional education and continuing professional development.

Professional learning sits at the centre of Progressive Play®, making recognition within the continuing professional development space particularly relevant to our work.

Pumicestone Small Business Awards 2023

⭐ Finalist - Best Health, Wellbeing & Fitness

Progressive Play® was named a finalist in the Best Health, Wellbeing & Fitness category of the 2023 Pumicestone Small Business Awards.

As an Australian organisation founded locally and now supporting professionals across Australia and internationally, this recognition acknowledged our local foundations alongside our growing national and international reach.

The recognition received throughout 2023 reflected several important dimensions of Progressive Play® - professional achievement, mental health advocacy, business excellence, continuing professional development and community contribution.

It was a year that reflected both how much Progressive Play® had grown and the values that have guided us from the beginning. 

2022 marked the beginning of Progressive Play®’s awards journey, just over a year after the release of our first professional training programs.

During the year, Progressive Play® and Founder & Director Janelle Ford received recognition for business growth, entrepreneurship and the emerging impact of the organisation.

ROAR Awards 2022

Progressive Play® received three awards at the 2022 ROAR Awards:

🥇 Gold - Start-Up of the Year

🥈 Silver - Business Growth

🥉 Bronze - ROAR Business of the Year

For an organisation that was still in the early stages of its development, receiving recognition across all three categories was an incredible achievement.

The awards acknowledged not only the growth of Progressive Play®, but the foundations being established for what the organisation would go on to become.

The Bronze - ROAR Business of the Year recognition also began a story that would continue two years later, when Progressive Play® received Gold - ROAR Business of the Year in 2024.

AusMumpreneur Awards 2022

🥈 Silver - Emerging AusMumpreneur of the Year, QLD/NT

Founder & Director Janelle Ford received Silver in the Emerging AusMumpreneur of the Year - Queensland/Northern Territory category at the 2022 AusMumpreneur Awards.

The award recognised Janelle's work in building Progressive Play® during its early years and developing professional education across mental health, disability and education.

Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards 2022

⭐ Finalist

Progressive Play® was also selected as a finalist in the 2022 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.

Being recognised within a national awards program alongside women-led businesses from across Australia added another dimension to Progressive Play®’s first year of awards recognition.

Looking back, the significance of 2022 lies not simply in the awards themselves.

They represented some of the first independent recognition of an organisation that was still finding its feet, developing its professional education and building the facilitator community that would continue to grow in the years that followed.

We are proud of those early achievements and grateful to everyone who supported Progressive Play® during its formative years.

Awards provide valuable independent recognition of our work and achievements, and each one has become an important part of the Progressive Play® story.

By 2026, more than 5,700 professionals across 21+ countries and territories had undertaken Progressive Play® training. Behind those numbers are professionals taking their learning back into schools, clinics, health services, disability settings, private practices and communities around the world.

Our awards recognise the work we have done, while the continued growth of our facilitator community demonstrates the reach of that work in practice.

We are genuinely grateful to the awards organisations, judging panels, professionals, collaborators and communities that have recognised, supported and contributed to Progressive Play® over the years.

There is still so much we want to accomplish.

We are excited about what comes next as we continue building together, one brick at a time.