The ESADE Alumni ordinary and extraordinary general assembly was held on 27 November. During this assembly, the activity report, accounts and work of the management board for the 2017/2018 financial were presented and approved, the term of the four board members renewed, and the budget for the current financial year presented.

The President of ESADE Alumni, Maite Barrera (Lic&MBA 98); Treasurer, Oriol Pinya (Lic&MBA 95); and Director of ESADE Alumni, Xavier Sanchez (Lic&MBA 97/AMP 08); chaired the assembly, during which the work of the association was presented. With its core strategies for the 2017/2018 academic year focusing on personalised value, lifelong learning, digitalisation, and the relationship between society and companies, ESADE’s work has been based on creating an individual value strategy and a loyalty plan, as well as restructuring the Careers Service, amongst other things.

Activity report

After Maite Barrera welcomed all those present, Xavier Sanchez presented the activity report, mentioning the association’s first strategic focus, individual value, and drawing attention to the more than 800 events that the association has organised in over 80 cities, all of which were highly rated by the participants, as shown in the satisfaction questionnaires carried out after each session. “We have also managed to organise 167 targeted events by areas of interest and professional level, as well as to create a Loyalty Team with the aim of improving the experience of our current and future members”, he explained.

Regarding the second strategic focus, lifelong learning, the association has restructured its Careers Service, which has provided 852 career guidance sessions and 91 legal advice sessions. Moreover, 4,432 alumni now actively use its careers portal. Regarding digitalisation, a new app has been launched to improve notifications and registration for events, as well as a new alumni directory with a map that includes a geolocation feature. “Following the launch of the automated marketing tool last academic year, we are continuing with targeted communication, which allows us to analyse open and click-through rates. These are currently 25% and 9% respectively, significantly above the market average”, pointed out Xavier Sanchez.

The fourth strategic focus, globalisation, demonstrates a +4% growth, as measured by the number of international members. In addition, the number of ESADE International Chapters has risen from 67 to 72 and 3% more events have been organised by the association as compared with the previous year.

ESADE Alumni is also committed to innovation and seeks to ensure that society can access the talent of its members. This commitment is clearly demonstrated by its new services, including several crowdfunding initiatives, organised by Social Alumni, and the 25 venture projects, which have raised 4.9 million euros in funding through ESADE BAN.

Income statement

Oriol Pinya presented the association’s annual accounts and noted that its revenue has risen by 6% in comparison to the previous year, with membership fees representing 71% of all income. The profit for the current financial year is €18,903.
While discussing the revenue and expenditure budget for the 2018/2019 financial year, in addition to the fees for this period, Oriol explained that “a balanced and conservative budget had been drawn up, which forecasts a slight increase in the number of members”. As regards membership fees, the proposal was unanimously approved, which, in addition to the current ones, also includes a new Excellence Fee, with premium services.

Following unanimous approval of the activity report, accounts and work of the management board for 2017/2018, in addition to the budgets for 2018/2019, the term of the board members was partially renewed in accordance with articles 11 and 12 of the Articles of Association. The board members are Raúl Andrés Díaz-Varela (Lic&MBA 92), Javier Faus (MBA 95), Jordi Gallés (Lic&MBA 95), and Joaquín Uriach (MBA 94).
Following the presentations, the session was brought to a close with a final question and answer session.