The Círculo Ecuestre has hosted the seventh session of the series dedicated to the foundational world, a meeting focused on analyzing the role of foundations in the face of today's major social, scientific, educational, and cultural challenges.
The session featured the participation of Bonaventura Clotet, president of the Foundation Fighting Infections; Marta Segú, general manager of the Fundació FC Barcelona; Gina Ventós, president of the Ernesto Ventós Foundation; and Irene Rodríguez, president of the José Antonio Llorente Foundation.
The event was introduced by Isabel Estany, vice-president of the Culture Area of the Círculo Ecuestre, and moderated by María Eugenia Gay, jurist and deputy mayor of the Barcelona City Council, who led a conversation aimed at highlighting the transformative capacity of the third sector, as well as the need to reinforce its visibility, professionalization, and collaboration with other social agents.
Foundations as an engine for transformation
During the panel discussion, the speakers agreed that foundations play an essential role where public administrations do not always arrive with the necessary speed or flexibility. From fields as diverse as medical research, sports, sensory culture, education, communication, or technology, the entities represented at the table showed the breadth of a sector that contributes to improving the lives of vulnerable groups and anticipating responses to emerging social needs.
Bonaventura Clotet emphasized the importance of supporting research to drive breakthroughs with a real impact on society. Based on the experience of the Foundation Fighting Infections, he explained how research into infectious diseases has opened up new lines of work related to aging, Alzheimer's, and other pathologies. In this regard, he stressed the need to have resources that allow scientific projects to be launched in their initial phases: "Supporting research is a way to help society live longer and better," he stated.
Marta Segú presented the work of the Fundació FC Barcelona, which uses sports as an educational, inclusion, and social transformation tool. The entity works with children, adolescents, and young people in situations of vulnerability through projects that combine psychosocial support, training, education, health, and job opportunities. Segú remarked that sports act as an especially powerful way to reach young people who need role models, structure, and new opportunities: "Sports are a magical tool to transform society and people's lives," she stated. Furthermore, she defended the foundational sector's capacity to drive innovative responses to new social needs: "We foundations have the capacity for innovation, to start new things and pilot projects," she noted.
Communication, alliances and future
One of the central themes of the session was the need to better communicate the work of foundations. Irene Rodríguez argued that communication must be part of the social transformation strategy of the organizations and not be limited to annual reports or specific campaigns. "Communication today should be the engine of social transformation," she sentenced. The president of the José Antonio Llorente Foundation also warned about the distance that many young people feel regarding the foundational sector. Specifically, she said that "we must incorporate young people into this conversation, we need to make them feel involved."
Gina Ventós shared the uniqueness of the Ernesto Ventós Foundation, born from the legacy of the perfumer and collector Ernesto Ventós with the aim of bringing contemporary art closer through sensory experience. "We have five senses, and the least educated, but the one that awakens the most at birth, is the sense of smell," she explained. Ventós also highlighted the link between culture, family business, and artistic legacy that inspires the project: "We want to teach how to smell through art and education."
The session at the Barcelona club concluded with a shared reflection on the importance of strengthening public-private collaboration, promoting alliances between foundations, and increasing citizen commitment to the third sector. Likewise, the speakers defended that foundations have the capacity to innovate, detect emerging needs, and launch projects that contribute to a more cohesive society.