The relief cards in the Circle are already on the table. This Friday, the two pre-candidates for the presidency of the Circle of Economy, Jaume Guardiola and Rosa Cañadas, presented their signings to lead the institution in two separate events. On the one hand, the names proposed by the businesswoman and president of Trea Capital and the Tanja Foundation are younger profiles and, in most cases, little known. On the other hand, the former CEO of Banco Sabadell has presented a list made up largely of members of the current board and well-known personalities.
Guardiola’s names
Guardiola’s star lineup includes sixteen members of the current board and four new names. Guardiola is betting on an equal list, with 11 men and 10 women, and is proposing two vice-presidents: economist Teresa García-Milà and Penguin Random House CEO Núria Cabutí. Notary Camino Quiroga would be the secretary of the board of directors, and Colonial’s corporate general manager, Carmina Ganyet, is the candidate for treasurer.
The rest of the list is made up of the outgoing board of directors of the Spanish economy at CaixaBank Research, Oriol Aspachs; the president of Puig, Marc Puig; Cuatrecasas lawyer and partner Miguel Trias Sagnier; the journalist Jordi Amat; Bluecap CEO Maite Barrera; the director of Incasòl, Mercè Conesa; Icade and Esade professor José María Lassalle; Núria Mas, professor of economics at the Iese and member of the governing board of the Bank of Spain; the president of Havas, Alfonso Rodés; the CEO of Celsa, Francesc Rubiralta; Red Points CEO Laura Urquizu and Iese economics and finance professor Xavier Vives.
The four new signings are the head of strategic planning at Barcelona Serveis Municipals, Daniel Aicart; the founding partner of 101 Ventures, Rita Almela; Asabys Partners co-founder Clara Campàs and Cidob director Pol Morillas.
The 15 of Gorges
For her part, Rosa Cañadas has submitted only 15 names and has left eight pounds with the intention that, if elected, “members of Guardiola’s list or the outgoing board will sign up.” The businesswoman has made a commitment to youth, with five members under the age of 40 and various profiles from the world of entrepreneurship.
Highlights include Glovo co-founder Sacha Michaud; the founder of Fever and Reby, Pep Gómez, and the CEO of Deale, Gerard García. There are also more veteran profiles, such as Jorge Lasheras, president of the Japan-Spain Business Circle; Rosa Nonell, PhD in economics and professor of economic policy at the UB; Rosa Fiol, vice president of the UPM; Sílvia Sorribas, partner and director of operations at Telam; Marta Plana, co-founder of Origin, and the director of ISGlobal’s global analysis and development department, Rafael Vilasanjuan, among others.
The struggle for the partner
The two pre-candidates took advantage of their meetings to delve into the basic lines of their proposals. They agree on the need to “give more voice to the partner.” According to Guardiola, what is needed is to “boost the connection with the partners and give them more voice and be able to have a more individualized relationship with them.” For Cañadas, the solution is to “get the partner involved in all the activities and open the Circle in Europe”. In fact, Cañadas has already stated that if the choice were made, he would register the Circle as a lobby in Brussels.
One of the main differences between the two candidates lies in the model of the annual meeting of the Circle. On the one hand, Guardiola is committed to holding the conference in Barcelona, as he considers that “it is the place to project and influence”. On the other hand, Cañadas intends to recover Sitges as the star place of the meeting, “and make a shorter day in Barcelona”.
Legacy against renewal
“More than continuists, what we want is to preserve the legacy of the institution,” said Guardiola to members and journalists. at the international level “.
Cañadas, for his part, believes that “the institution needs to be modernized” and that the names he has chosen speak for themselves. “We have to be more prestigious, go to Madrid, Brussels and wherever we need to and do new things. We have to take full advantage of the potential that the Circle can offer,” he explained.
Pre-candidates will be officially nominated from June 13, the deadline for submitting endorsements to the board of the institution. They must submit a minimum of 50 and there is no doubt that both will succeed. From now on, the decision will be made by the members, who will go to the polls on July 12.
