Weaving networks, making contact, doing business. More than 270 leading women from a wide range of sectors have gathered with this objective in Barcelona, convened by the women's group Ànimes del Suquet. Queues to access the Llotja de Mar, multiple conversations intertwining between professionals known from before the meeting, and many others known as a result of it. Conversations about business opportunities, culture, brand positioning, and investments, in an event designed to generate effective networking for its attendees.
From the diversity of sectors, profiles, and ages, the professionals who attended Ànimes Barcelona by direct invitation from the organizers have taken advantage of the event to expand their network: mobile in hand and still with some cards, contacts are shared from one to another non-stop, in a meeting that has been organized coinciding with the women's competition of the America's Cup.
The event, led by journalist Ruth Gumbau, has also served to share experiences and trajectories of leading women from various fields, from business to enology and sports. One of these leaders has been Isabel Tocino, vice president and board member of Banco Santander. The former Minister of Environment has shared with the professionals her keys to leadership based on a purpose and a motivation: setting an objective, establishing a strategy, focusing on it —leaving aside multitasking—, and following a methodology. In addition, she has called to flee from the "herd effect" and for each professional to be proud of her circumstances, being aware that she is a driver of change.
The US Consul in Barcelona since August, Lia Miller, has gone further: "Women are agents of change. If you want something to happen, ask a woman to do it," she proclaimed, and encouraged attendees to advocate for inclusive policies in each of their sectors from their leadership positions. Miller also took the opportunity to make an announcement: the United States has chosen Barcelona to host a summit of entrepreneurship meetings promoted by its network of consulates.
The event was held coinciding with the Women's America's Cup and the start of the final of the absolute category, something that the organizers wanted to highlight through its female protagonists, including the Sail Team BCN sailors. The America's Cup event manager, Leslie Ryan, addressed the attendees, guaranteeing that selecting Barcelona as the venue for the 37th edition of the regatta "was an easy decision to make."
The advisor Verónica Fumanal defends "creating informal socialization spaces" among women, as she assures that real power is exercised in them.The promoters wanted to link the event to the women's regatta because it is the first edition in the 173-year history of the America's Cup, within their purpose of to extol female leadership and talent transversally.The driving group is made up of the corporate strategy director at LLYC and former ministerÀngels Chacón; the businesswomanMar Alarcón; the entrepreneur Olga Reixach, the former minister and former vice-president of the Government Joana Ortega; the businesswoman and lawyer Maria Teixidor, and the labor lawyer and vice-president of Pimec Emma Gumbert, in addition to the Managing Director at Losberger De Boer, Mónica Melero, and the Destination and Sponsorship Manager Patricia Rodríguez. Also included among the promoters of the event are the CEO and founder of the corporate diplomacy consultancy Diplocorp, Erika Torregrossa, as well as the executive president of Manix Capital and founder of Fibracat, Meritxell Bautista, who has also announced a novelty: this very Thursday, Ikonikas Academy has been launched, with the purpose of connecting leading women. In an initiative that she has promoted together with Mar Alarcón, she aims to "help other women to shine and succeed."
The vindication of female talent has gone beyond interventions and networking. As explained by sommelier Meritxell Falgueras, only wine from wineries led by women was served at the event. The chemist and popularizer Núria Salán also vindicated the role of women, highlighting that inventions with a female seal extend to all areas, from refrigerators to Wi-Fi, even including the bain-marie, from "the first alchemist in history, Maria of Alexandria." An essential but invisible figure in books and in the collective imagination, like so many other female role models throughout history and even today.
And it is something that no woman can combat individually: "We need to unite and create spaces for informal socialization," because that is where real power is exercised, according to political scientist and advisor Verónica Fumanal. The former communication director for Pedro Sánchez emphasized to the attendees that women are neither a minority nor a collective, but 51% of the population: "We don't want them to give us power, we want to sit at the table of power."