This June, we had the opportunity to celebrate Esade Alumni’s most eagerly awaited reunion: a gathering of the entire community at a hybrid Annual Conference at Barcelona’s Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, with limited on-site seating and a live webcast for the entire global community. During the event, Ana Botín, Executive Chairman of Banco Santander, received the 2021 Esade Award for responsible leadership. The event also marked the 15^thanniversary of Esade Alumni Social.

The Esade alumni reunited in June for an event designed to reactivate the association’s activity in Barcelona and generate all the excitement typical of such a gathering – all while following COVID-19 protection protocols to make the event as safe as possible for everyone involved.

Maite Barrera (Lic&MBA ‘98), President of Esade Alumni, began her introductory remarks by expressing the happiness she felt: “After two years of this terrible pandemic, we are meeting once again. This event is proof that, with discipline, our society is capable of winning this battle.”

According to Barrera, we are now facing a crucial turning point in our history and we must create a better, fairer, more humane, brighter, more inclusive and sustainable world. “Companies have a crucial role to play in building this future. We must make a firm commitment to changing our production model and shifting our model of society towards sustainable and inclusive growth,” she commented, underscoring the increasingly broad and global responsibility of Esade and Esade Alumni. “Not only because we are training the executives of the future, but also because we are the largest network in Europe, with 65,000 alumni. The new landscape generated by the pandemic has led us to redefine the purpose and mission of our alumni association in order to reinforce its commitment to building a fairer, more prosperous and more sustainable society.”

In his remarks, Koldo Echebarria, Director General of Esade, shared the vision of “Esade: Do Good, Do Better”, which emphasises the importance of talent and commitment to a better world.

Award for a responsible leader

Ana Botín was selected as this year’s Esade Award winner for her responsible leadership and her efforts to improve diversity and inclusion in her company, for promoting access to education and for her strong commitment to combating climate change and tackling global challenges. The award was presented to Botín by Sol Daurella (Lic&MBA ‘90), Chairman of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, on behalf of the most recent recipient, James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.

“There is nothing more rewarding than giving, and that is what Esade Alumni inspires in us,” declared Barrera, in her closing remarks. “Thank you for all that you give us. Thank you, Ana, for being here. Thank you, Sol, for joining us. And thank you to the donors, volunteers, mentors, faculty members, sponsors, young people, members of our club boards and chapters… Let’s keep giving for a better world.” The event closed to the tune of the Pau Donés song “Eso que tú me das”.

For virtual attendees, the event continued with Daniel Truran’s talk “Leading Companies With Values Towards a Better and More Sustainable World”. Alumni attending in person continued the celebration with the traditional outdoor cocktail in the theatre gardens.

Relive the 25^th Esade Alumni Annual Conference

The reunion we were waiting for, featuring Maite Barrera, President of Esade Alumni; Koldo Echebarria, Director General of Esade; Ana Botín, Executive Chairman of Banco Santander; Sol Daurella, Chairman of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners; and Daniel Truran, Director General of ebbef.