To contribute to addressing society's problems and challenges through the perspective and role of young people, by means of concrete proposals that at the same time enhance talent and leadership within the collective. With this objective in mind, Tomàs Güell founded Lideremos in Barcelona in 2021. With two and a half years of experience and after expanding to the rest of the country, the organization has attracted 7,500 members, in a context where Spain leads youth unemployment in Europe and where the obstacles to emancipation and promoting projects undermine the mental health of young people.
"We represent young people who want things to happen and are eager to conquer the world. We are a highway for talent with no speed limit," declared Tomàs Güell at a meeting at Foment del Treball. Born in Barcelona 25 years ago and a psychologist by training from Universitat Ramón Llull, Güell, along with his team, promoted the creation of Lideremos as a non-profit organization. After making the leap to Madrid a year ago, it now has members in multiple cities nationwide, with plans to continue expanding.
Also trained at Harvard Business School, Güell worked at Foment before founding a talent consultancy, to advise companies on team management and processes such as generational relays. It was then that he also propelled Lideremos, driven by a "concern to change the situation of young people who need it." This concern arose from experiences in international cooperation that "totally transformed him" and led him to surround himself with other young people "made in Barcelona" in a similar situation, with whom he launched Lideremos in 2021.
Güell advocates for promoting measures so that Catalonia "occupies its rightful place not only in the leadership of the Spanish economy, but by being the locomotive of the Mediterranean"After gaining 7,500 members in two and a half years, Güell has pointed to the main keys to Lideremos' expansion: "Appealing to the most supportive side of young people, with a clear purpose and being direct, and putting a very business-oriented vision to the organization." The entrepreneur from Maresme has also listed the characteristics he sees as crucial in the leader of the future, which he has summarized in three ingredients: "To have a good heart, work with persistence, and surround yourself with people with a lot of energy who do things well." He defended it in a meeting in which the president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, remarked that Lideremos acts "without political affiliation, and only with the vocation of promoting youth and improving the conditions of young people," in areas such as housing, employment, and mental health. Together with the head of PwC in Catalonia and Andorra, Ignacio Marull, Sánchez Llibre encouraged Lideremos to work to "make possible what is now impossible."
Legislative proposals and scholarships for talent
Lideremos concretizes its activity through three lines: the improvement of existing laws in favor of youth; the creation of new norms that favor the collective, and the promotion of leadership and talent. In this line, Güell has made an announcement: the organization will launch in 2025 the Lideremos las Oportunidades program, which will consist of scholarships for 40 young people from the 12 neighborhoods with the highest risk of social exclusion at the state level. "Perhaps 40 people are not many but, when one person changes, it is the first step to be able to change the world," Güell proclaimed. This program joins other initiatives of the platform, which range from meetings, events and training to the Lideremos Awards to recognize youth talent and leadership.
Exercising its role as a lobby, the organization has so far promoted two initiatives: one in favor of reducing bureaucracy to facilitate entrepreneurship, and another that calls for mental health to be a priority, with more services and professionals. Güell has also focused on issues such as pensions and talent retention: "We are going to launch batteries of proposals to solve these issues, with total humility; we have not invented gunpowder, but the intentions are good, and the team too."
"Measures must be promoted that incentivize economic growth so that Catalonia can once again be rich and full, without complexes, and that it is in its rightful place not only in the leadership of the Spanish economy, but being the locomotive of the Mediterranean," he emphasized, and highlighted the role that companies and entrepreneurs play in society. To incentivize this growth, Güell sees another key factor: promoting measures to retain talent: "We have to be a pole of attraction for talent, and not a pole of expulsion."
To bring Lideremos closer to young people at the state level, Güell has undertaken a tour of various cities, in which he has confirmed that "the majority of young people no longer buy into the victimist and conformist discourse, but rather want to play in the Champions League." In this sense, he sees it as key to aspire to be at the forefront with an international and also supportive vision: "It is good to generate in order to be able to distribute and for young people who need it to have the maximum opportunities."
"And the expansion of Lideremos has not ended, because we are going to reach what they call empty Spain; there are the young people who need it most," Güell advanced, committing to gather proposals and promote them to generate opportunities in these areas. And it is that, according to the president of the platform, young people do not want to talk about barriers, but about the future: "Most young people do not create problems, but get involved in solutions."
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