Laura Ros, director general, Volkswagen Spain: “Businesses are a crucial driving force for social change”
“Businesses are crucial, and we have certain responsibilities as a driving force for social change”, declared Laura Ros, director general of Volkswagen Spain and former Esade student, during her talk at the 1st Esade Alumni WE Club Annual Conference. She emphasized that her career has been marked by “effort, dedication and passion.”
During her speech, Ros insisted that “corporate human resource policies are decisive for advancing diversity and gender equality policies” and therefore “they must not be the responsibility of the human resources department alone. They need the CEO to be personally involved.” “To achieve diversity, the company must invest the same energy, passion and conviction that it applies to other business goals. It must be part of corporate culture and have the unwavering commitment of the company’s management committee”, she pointed out. Ros also mentioned the need for benchmarks and “the unresolved issue of attracting more women to STEM careers,” and emphasized that “quality at work is only possible if tasks in the personal sphere are distributed equally.”
The Women Forward Awards
The 1st Esade Alumni WE (Women Empowerment) Club Annual Conference also featured the presentation of the 1st Women Forward Awards. Belén Garijo, Merck CEO, received the Outstanding Career Award, and the company Agbar, the Business Contribution to Gender Equality Award.
The award panel praised Garijo’s work and career, highlighting that she is a role model for women entering senior management, having held important posts in the pharma industry. As director general of the multinational Merck, the world leader in science and technology with particular focus on health, life sciences and electronics, she is the first woman to head a company listed on Germany’s DAX. “Her ability to break through barriers makes her an international role model in the pharma industry. In addition, her commitment to diversity and inclusion has driven her to promote certain corporate policies that have considerably increased the diversity of profiles in management positions,” explained the Esade Alumni award judges.
Agbar, the integrated water services company, received its award in recognition of “its commitment to incorporating women into government bodies, management teams and throughout the company.” The jury highlighted “the firm commitment of the company, its president, Ángel Simón, and its management team to building a culture that fosters diversity and inclusion,” resulting in Agbar being acknowledged as one of the first companies to implement an equality plan that has led to its board of directors having a female majority, and also the access of women to senior posts and their on-going participation in the social debate on gender parity, among others. The award was accepted by Marta Colet, director of Transformation, Organization, Control and People at Agbar and former Esade student.
The members of the jury for these awards hail from both academia and business, and include Eugenia Bieto, former director general of Esade and president of the Esade Alumni WE Club; Cristina Giménez, professor and director of Identity and Mission at Esade; Laura Ros, general director of Volkswagen Spain; and Toni Ruiz, Mango CEO.
Patricia Valentí, director of Esade Alumni, also took part in the Esade Alumni WE Club Annual Conference, organized with the support and collaboration of CaixaBank and Croma Pharma.
