Esade Alumni General Assembly
The Ordinary and Extraordinary General Assembly of Esade Alumni was held on 1st December. At the meeting, a report on activities, accounts and the management of the Executive Board during the 2020-2021 year were presented and approved. Two new Executive Board members were also elected and the budget for the current year was presented. The meeting was led by outgoing Esade Alumni President Maite Barrera (Lic&MBA ‘98); Patricia Valentí (MBA ‘02 / Promociona ‘17), Director of Esade Alumni; Ignasi Rafel (MBA ‘94), Secretary General of the Executive Board; and Oriol Pinya (Lic&MBA ‘95), Treasurer of Esade Alumni.
Report on activities
After the welcome remarks, Patricia Valentí mentioned the main milestones of the 2020-2021 academic year, which was marked by the pandemic and the transformation of Esade Alumni with its new brand repositioning with a purpose, mission and narrative focused on creating a sense of belonging to a community of responsible leaders who have a significant impact on organisations and society. In addition, Esade Alumni has developed a new Sustainability Plan, aligned with Esade, using the B Corp methodology; celebrated the 15th anniversary of Alumni Social; launched a new coaching service; and returned to face-to-face gatherings by holding its Annual Conference in Barcelona, which had 700 in-person attendees and 3,000 online attendees. All of these are examples of the association’s commitment to society, sustainable growth, and the professional and personal development of alumni.
The community has been intensely involved throughout this pandemic-dominated year. More than 2,700 alumni have been actively involved through the Executive Board, the Institutional Council, and the boards of our Clubs and Chapters, as well as by mentoring, volunteering, serving as delegates and investing in entrepreneurial projects. Together, we have had a positive impact on society and have left our mark.
Along similar lines, in her last remarks as head of the association, Maite Barrera noted: “The pandemic has forced us to reflect and refocus our mission, purpose and values to concentrate on people and their transformative actions and develop impactful initiatives, which is what defines and motivates us as a community. We are here to give and contribute to the common good, to create a fairer, more prosperous and more sustainable society.” After leaving her post, Maite Barrera will join the Institutional Council.
Financial report
Oriol Pinya (Lic&MBA ‘95), also on his last day as Esade Alumni Treasurer, presented the final figures for the 2020-2021 year and the 2021-2022 budget. Esade Alumni closed the 2020-2021 academic year with a surplus. As for income, the structure has remained constant, with 84% of revenue coming from fees and the remaining 16% from sponsorships and collaborations. This year has been characterised by the adaptation of expenses and income in response to the evolution of the pandemic and by improving proposals for digital events and programmes.
With regard to the income and expenditure budget for 2021-2022, the association expects to operate along similar lines, continuing to improve the digital structure by adapting the event model to in-person, hybrid and online formats and launching new services in line with Esade Alumni’s new Sustainability Plan as well as our strategy. Finally, no fee changes were approved.
After the unanimous approval of the report on activities, the accounts and the management of the Executive Board during 2020-2021, as well as the budgets for 2021-2022, the partial renewal of the Board was carried out in accordance with Articles 11 and 12 of the Esade Alumni Charter. The members of the joint candidacy formed by Daniel Sánchez (Lic&MBA ‘92), founding partner at Nauta Capital, and Isabel Ferrer (Lic&MBA ‘95), Marketing Director for EMEA at Mattel, were elected.
Finally, the amendment of articles 12 and 16 of the Esade Alumni Charter, concerning the Executive Board (limiting the President’s term of office to three years) and the Institutional Council (establishing that at least 25% of members must be present for a quorum to be valid) was presented and approved. After the presentations, the meeting finished with a question and answer session.
Renewal of the Esade Alumni Executive Board
Isabel Ferrer (Lic&MBA ‘95) began her career in consulting before moving into the consumer goods industry. She worked in perfumery and confectionery before finally joining Mattel, where she started out leading the team responsible for several brands in Spain and finally became a member of the regional team, first for Southern Europe, then Europe, and now as EMEA Marketing Director for the “Dolls” business unit. She recently launched her own natural cosmetics business, called The Beauty of Caring. She has been a member of the Executive Board of the Esade Alumni Marketing Club for seven years, serving as its President for the past two years.
Daniel Sánchez (Lic&MBA ‘92) is a founding partner at Nauta Capital, a tech-oriented venture capital firm that originated in Barcelona. Nauta makes investments across Europe and currently has offices in London, Berlin and Barcelona. He is also the chairman of Ship2B Ventures, one of Spain’s leading social and environmental impact investment groups. He is a member of the Executive Board of the Esade Alumni Finance Club, having also served as its president.
Other members of the Executive Board
Eugenia Bieto (Lic&MBA ‘73), Guest Member
David Cerqueda (Lic&MBA ‘98), Member-at-Large
Antonio Delgado (Lic&MD ‘00 / DTI ‘02), Guest Member
Raúl Andrés Díaz-Varela (Lic&MBA ‘92), Member-at-Large
Javier Faus (MBA ‘95), Member-at-Large
Ramón Forn (MBA ‘83), Guest Member
Jordi Gallés (Lic&MBA ‘95), Member-at-Large
Carmina Ganyet (EVV ‘03), Member-at-Large
Olaya García (MBA ‘01), Member Representing the Esade Foundation
Miguel Montes (GEMBA ‘09), Member-at-Large
Tomás Muniesa (Lic&MBA ‘76), Member-at-Large
Pedro Alfonso Parada (Lic&MBA ‘67), Guest Member
Ignasi Rafel (MBA ‘94), Secretary
Josep Salvatella (EMBA ‘04), Member-at-Large
Joaquín Uriach (MBA ‘94), Member-at-Large
Carlos Ventura (Lic&MBA ‘92 / EVV ‘03), Member-at-Large
With a degree in Political Science from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and an MBA from Esade, Belén has worked both in Spain and abroad. After 10 years at the Danone Group, she now serves as Human Resources Director at PepsiCo Southwest Europe, where she has spent 13 years of her career.
Previously, Belén was a lecturer at Esade for six years and served as a board member of Esade Alumni and of the association’s People and Organisation Management Club. Click here to watch an interview with Maite Barrera and Belén Moreu.
