The second edition of the #CEOPorLaDiversidad Alliance aims to curb poverty and exclusion in Spain, with a total of 70 companies coming together around diversity, equity and inclusion

The #CEOPorLaDiversity (#CEOforDiversity) alliance, a pioneer in Europe, aims to unite companies as key players in reducing poverty and exclusion in Spain, following an innovative vision of diversity, equity and inclusion as critical factors of competitiveness. Twenty-five new CEOs have joined the #CEOPorLaDiversidad alliance in this second edition, leading their companies' diversity strategy. The alliance's annual meeting included a workshop on "How to approach a more inclusive communication". Estrella Montolío, professor at the University of Barcelona, commented that "inclusive language is a part of a broader and much more impactful experience”.

The #CEOPorLaDiversidad alliance has now entered its second year with a total of 70 managers and executives joining this pioneering initiative in Europe. This alliance, led by the Adecco Foundation and the CEOE Foundation, aims to unite the CEOs of leading companies around a common and innovative vision of diversity, equity, and inclusion (De&I), acting as promoters and ambassadors to help expedite the implementation of strategies that contribute to business excellence, the competitiveness of talent in Spain and the reduction of inequality and exclusion in society.

This annual session of the alliance included the workshop “How to approach a more inclusive communication”.  The workshop, aimed at communication, marketing and advertising professionals, benefited from the collaboration of Prodigioso Volcán through presentations by Irene Yúfera, professor at the University of Barcelona and advisor on communication and gender; Estrella Montolío, professor of Spanish Language at the University of Barcelona, and Mario Tascón, journalist and founder of the Prodigioso Volcán agency.

In addition, Borja Echegaray, director of the CEOE Foundation, and Francisco Mesonero, general director of the Adecco Foundation, acted as hosts, while Carmen Alsina, DirCom of CEOE, was in charge of welcoming the more than 120 participants. At the conference, Estrella Montolío stated that “inclusive language is part of a broader and much more impactful experience”, emphasising the importance of language for the full inclusion of all people in society.

Borja Echegaray, director of the CEOE Foundation, commented that: “In this second edition, we want to consolidate the alliance, strengthen the commitment of the managers of companies in our country and continue generating knowledge about diversity in order to create strategies with a high social and corporate impact”. In his opinion, the first edition was “a great example of good practices that enabled discussions about the great challenges that we must face as a society, with companies being the fundamental actor in tackling them”. 

The Director General of the Adecco Foundation, Francisco Mesonero, said a few words to the newest members, conveying his deep satisfaction at confirming that “companies now understand that diversity, equity and inclusion are critical factors in strengthening their competitiveness and addressing the most important challenges of those societies in which they do business. More and more companies are committed to the alliance; it is undoubtedly an indicator of business excellence in Spain”.

Following the preparation of the “Guide to accelerate the implementation of diversity strategies in the company”, the alliance will continue to address strategic issues of concern to the member companies’ operational teams and diversity committees. Some of the issues to be addressed will be inclusive communication, recruitment and leadership, the ageing of the labour market, the inclusion of people with disabilities, women’s inequality, or strategies to create ‘diversity friendly’ brands.

Companies and CEOs: leadership for diversity, equity, and inclusion (De&I) 
In this new edition, there are a total of 70 companies that have joined the alliance. Throughout the year, they will be committed to deepening their diversity, equity and inclusion policies and strategies by adopting the alliance model and seeking synergies between the different member companies. In this way, there will be meetings between CEOs, working sessions with operational teams and advisory actions by experts in the field. 

In 2021, the following companies and executives have joined this alliance: 

ACCENTURE: Domingo Mirón – President Spain, Portugal & Israel

AGILENT: Mª Ángeles Díaz – EMEAI Sales Vice President & Spain General Manager

AIRBUS: Jorge Caro – General Secretary

AIRLIQUIDE: Bénédicte Levinson – General Manager

ALSA: Francisco Iglesias – Chief Executive Officer

ALSTOM: Leopoldo Maestu – President and CEO

AMERICAN EXPRESS GLOBAL BUSINESS TRAVEL: Juan Orti – President and Chief Executive Officer

AQUALIA: Félix Parra Mediavilla – CEO

ARCELORMITTAL: Jesús Izcue – Country Manager

AYESA: José Luis Manzanares – CEO

BALEARIA: Alfonso Utor – President

BANCA MARCH: José Luis Acea Rodríguez – Managing Director

BANCO MEDIOLANUM: Igor Garzesi – Managing Director

BANCO SABADELL: Pending confirmation

BANKINTER: Pedro Guerrero – Chairman

BASF SPAIN: Carles Navarro – General Manager

BBVA: Peio Belausteguigoitia – Country Manager Spain

BECTON DICKINSON: Lourdes López – General Manager

BROSETA ABOGADOS: Manuel Broseta – President

CAIXABANK: Xavier Coll Escursell – General Manager of Human Resources CaixaBank

CAJA RURAL DEL SUR: José Luís García-Palacios Álvarez – CEO

CAJAMAR: Bernabé Sánchez Minguet Martínez – Executive Board Member

CAPGEMINI: Luis Abad – CEO

CASH LEPE: Mabel Díaz Orta – CEO

CEPSA: Philippe Bousseau – Managing Director

DR SCHNEIDER UNTERNEHMENSGRUPPE: Thomas Stadelmann – CEO

EL CORTE INGLÉS: Víctor Del Pozo – Chief Executive Officer

ELECNOR: Rafael Martín de Bustamante – CEO

ENDESA: José Bogas – CEO
EXOLUM: Jorge Lanza Perea – Managing Director

EY: Federico Linares – Chairman

FERROVIAL CONSTRUCCIÓN: Ignacio Gastón – CEO

GENERALI: Santiago Villa – CEO

GESTAMP: Francisco José Riberas – President

GRUPO ADECCO: Iker Barricat – General Manager

JUSTE GROUP: Paolo Armando – CEO

RENAULT GROUP: José Vicente de los Mozos – President

HAYA REAL ESTATE: Enrique Dancausa – CEO

HP: Helena Herrero – President of HP for Southern Europe

IBERCAJA: Víctor M. Iglesias Ruiz – CEO

IBERDROLA: Ángeles Santamaría – CEO Iberdrola Spain

IKEA: Petra Axdorff – CEO

IVECO: Ángel Rodríguez Lagunilla – President

KAPSCH TRAFICCOM: Javier Aguirre – Chairman and CEO

LAFARGEHOLCIM: Isidoro Miranda – General Manager Lafargeholcim Spain

MAERSK: Diego Perdones – Chief Executive Officer for Spain Maersk

MAHOU SAN MIGUEL: Eduardo Petrossi – Chief Executive Officer

MAVE TRIGO GROUP: Antonio José Gómez López – General Manager

MELIA HOTELS INTERNACIONAL: Gabriel Escarrer Jaume – Executive Vice President & CEO

NATURGY: Francisco Reynés Massanet – Chairman & CEO

NAVANTIA: Ricardo Domínguez García – Baquero – Chairman & President

NESTLÉ – Jacques Reber – CEO Nestlé Spain       

OHL: José Antonio Fernández Gallar – CEO

ORANGE ESPAGNE: Jean-François Fallacher – CEO

PATENTES TALGO: Gonzalo Urquijo Fernández de Araoz – Chief Executive Officer

PFIZER: Sergio Rodríguez – President and CEO of Pfizer Spain

PHILIPS: Juan Sanabria – General Manager

RED ELÉCTRICA: Roberto García Merino – Chief Executive Officer

SACYR: Manuel Manrique Cecilia – President

SAICA: Ramón Alejandro Balet – President

SAINT-GOBAIN: Jean-Luc Gardaz- CEO Mediterranean Countries

SCHINDLER: José Manuel Nieto – CEO

SEGUROS SANTALUCÍA: Andrés Romero Peña – General Manager

SMURFIT KAPPA: Ignacio Sevillano – CEO

STRATESYS: Carlos de Pedro Guri – President

URÍA MENÉNDEZ: Luis de Carlos Bertrán – President

VERALLIA: Paulo Pinto – General Manager

VISCOFAN SA: José Antonio Canales – Director General Manager

WORLDLINE IBERIA: Martín Javier Aranda – CEO

ZURICH SPAIN: Vicente Cancio García – Chief Executive Officer

EL CORTE INGLÉS: Víctor Del Pozo – Chief Executive Officer

ELECNOR: Rafael Martín de Bustamante – CEO

ENDESA: José Bogas – CEO

How to approach more inclusive communication
The first session of the year focused on “how to approach more inclusive communication”. At this session, aimed especially at communication, marketing and advertising professionals, Estrella Montolío, professor of Spanish Language at the University of Barcelona; Irene Yúfera, professor at the University of Barcelona and communication and gender advisor; Marío Tascón, journalist and founder of the Prodigioso Volcán agency; Carmen Alsina, Dircom of CEOE, and Pablo García, Dircom of the Adecco Foundation, took part.

During this session, which was attended by 113 people from the 70 member companies, they discussed issues such as communication and marketing, inclusive and egalitarian verbal and visual language and the creation of ‘diversity-friendly’ brands through comprehensive strategies in which the brand’s purpose, inclusive culture, and corporate behaviour are the fundamental pillars.

In her opening remarks, Carmen Alsina said she was pleased that this initiative was gaining ground and stressed the importance of language. “Those of us who are in charge of communication in organisations and companies know that we build reality with words, so using them with the common goal of advancing towards equality and social inclusion is essential”, she said. She also emphasised that “in order to have a fully inclusive society, we need leaders and companies with commitment, and I am sure that, even though we still have a long way to go, we are heading in the right direction”.

The day began with an introduction by Pablo García, who highlighted the importance of training the communication, marketing and advertising departments in diversity, equality, and inclusion. “Failure to properly manage diversity in corporate communication processes exposes brands to reputational risks. Nowadays, these are aspects that should be part of the purpose of every brand, they should be integrated into the corporate mission and culture. There is no point in incorporating it into our communication if it is not real. If it is not embedded in our corporate behaviour, it will lack credibility”. 

Estrella Montolío commented that “inclusive language is part of a much more impactful process. Some communication mechanisms are deeply impacted by stereotypes and biases. It is a priority to address behaviours because language is a consequence of these attitudes that hinder the inclusion and equality of all people”.

Irene Yúfera, who worked with Prodigioso Volcán on the Guide for More Inclusive Communication, addressed inclusive language from a gender perspective, providing keys to using language that makes women more visible. Yúfera insisted on “choosing the language that is most appropriate to the communicative situation, to the type of text we are producing and to each communicative action, and doing so with an inclusive and egalitarian perspective”.

In turn, Mario Tascón wanted to go further and extend the impact to visual language. “The human brain devotes 30% of its capacity to the sense of sight and to processing its signals”. For this reason, he said that “the predetermined mental images that certain subjects invoke in our brains tend to be biased to stereotypes. We need to break down these old stereotypes and create positive and more inclusive visual messages”.

About the #CEOPorLaDiversidad Alliance
The mission of this Alliance, led by the Adecco Foundation and the CEOE Foundation, is to unite the CEOs of the leading companies in Spain around a common and innovative vision of diversity, equity and inclusion (De&I), acting as drivers and ambassadors to help accelerate the development of strategies that contribute to business excellence, the competitiveness of talent in Spain and the reduction of inequality and exclusion in Spanish society.