The Círculo Ecuestre has commemorated International Women's Day through the colloquium The story of how a digital health Hub was born in Barcelona by Eva Rosell, CEO of Barcelona Health Hub (BHH).
After the welcome by Silvia Parés, PwC Partner Responsible for the Retail & Consumer Sector in the Legal and Tax Division at the national level and Member of the Governing Board of the Círculo Ecuestre, the board of directors gave a revealing speech in which she highlighted I highlight the unequal scope of management positions between women and men that exists in the digital health sector and in large corporations in general.
After introducing the public of the Círculo Ecuestre to the Barcelona Health Hub's mission to build a real digital health ecosystem and the strategy with which the non-profit organization that promotes innovation in digital health and its transfer to the sector works to achieve it, linking startups, health organization, companies and investors, Rosell has highlighted the need for female leadership that the sector continues to need.
The speaker has focused on the inequality of opportunities for female talent, arguing that, in her case, “three men hired her to lead the powerful hub”, but that, throughout her career, she has “worked in companies in which I couldn't send even a simple newsletter”, despite “being the same and having the same preparation”. “It all depends on the people you meet throughout your professional career”, she explained.
Rosell, who in January of this year became CEO of Barcelona Health Hub after serving as General Director for several years, has shown that in the entity made up of startups, pharmaceutical companies, insurers, suppliers, partners, universities, health institutions and investors, among other actors in the sector, “only nine of 60 startups have female CEOs: Ariadna Massó, Sanno; Nuria Pastor, HumanIT Care; Marta Jubero, RODA; Silvia Casellas, Anagram; Eva Molero, Teamit; Alicia Martínez, Time is Brain; Montse Barceló, Veristat; Tatiana Kourotchkin, Quo Artis, and Eva Rosell, BHH”.
She has also added that, despite the hub boom that Barcelona has experienced in recent years, she is the only woman who holds the position of Chief Executive Officer: “I am the only female CEO in the Barcelona hubs. I don't believe that there aren't more women to lead projects. We have to give opportunities so that this does not happen”.
To counteract the inequality that still prevails in companies today, he highlighted “the important evolution that the technology sector is experiencing through the entry of female talent”, Rosell has exemplified this with the cases of two companies that are part of the digital health hub: “Mediktor, with 24 women and 21 men, and Qualifyze, with 27 women and 23 men.”
The speaker concluded the event by lamenting that the female sector must make greater efforts to be recognized: “it seems like you have to be extraordinary to lead a company, but it shouldn't be like that”, and she encouraged corporations to refuse to fall into sexism: “From the hub we have even canceled round tables because there was no female presence”. “It is important to support women and allow them to lead projects”.