Gonzalo Gortázar, CaixaBank CEO, at the Annual Esade Alumni Day: “Company’s sustainability and social purpose are increasingly decisive”
“A company’s sustainability and social purpose are increasingly decisive when it comes to attracting and retaining talent; they’re not just priorities for new generations. Companies must respond to the increasing demand for making a positive impact on society and having a robust business project”, said Gonzalo Gortázar, CaixaBank CEO, who received the 2023 Esade Award during the 27th Annual Esade Alumni Day entitled “Leading for impact”, attended by some 1,000 former Esade students at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. During his presentation, he emphasized that this social mindset is part of CaixaBank’s DNA, “It means that our sort of banking is different: we reinvest more than 30% of our profits directly in society thanks to the extraordinary work of our main shareholder, the “la Caixa” Foundation.”
The award to the bank’s chief executive was in acknowledgement of his responsible leadership and drive towards a sustainable economy, and also his firm commitment throughout his outstanding professional career to social responsibility, transparency and diversity: a commitment shared by Esade.
Esade Alumni and positive impact on society
Daniel Sánchez, president of Esade Alumni, reflected during his speech on the value proposition of the Esade alumni association, underlining that “the community is determined to make a positive impact.” “We are a community of responsible leaders helping to build a fair, sustainable society on the basis of our profession and different initiatives,” he explained. Together with Lisa Hehenberger, a professor in Esade’s Department of Strategy and General Management and director of the Esade Center for Social Impact, they spoke about impact investing, its context and the new threats that could affect it, including artificial intelligence and pandemics. Also present at the Annual Esade Alumni Day were Esade director general, Xavier Mendoza, and the director of Esade Alumni, Patricia Valentí.
About the Esade Awards
The Esade Awards are organized by the Esade alumni community to acknowledge and honor people and organizations that, in the course of their careers, activities or services, have shown the values that define the founding spirit of Esade and who are a benchmark and example for others. Previous years’ winners include Joaquín Duato, CEO of Johnson & Johnson; Ana Botín, president of Banco Santander; James Quincey, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company; Enrique Lores, president of HP Imaging & Printing Solutions; Pablo Isla, CEO of Inditex; Mikael Ohlsson, CEO of Ikea; Carlos Slim, CEO of Inbursa; Indra K. Nooyi, president and CEO of PepsiCo; Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, and Hiroshi Mikitani, founder, president and CEO of Rakuten, Inc.