On June 30, the Círculo Ecuestre launched a new cycle of dialogues on female leadership called Women who Inspire. This new initiative is led by Eva Moll de Alba, director of the Vegueta publishing house and a new member of the club, and promoted by the entity's vice president, Enrique Lacalle. During his presentation, the vice president stressed that this forum "intends to value the work of women whose journey has made them leaders in their area of activity, including in the construction of the present and the future." It should also be noted that the meeting included the institutional representation of Maria Eugènia Gay, the new deputy mayor of the Barcelona City Council.
The first session of Women who Inspire had the participation of three great professionals in the fields of architecture, technology and cinema, and whose journeys have led them to find something in common: Barcelona. They are Benedetta Tagliabue, Therese Jamaa and Claudia Llosa.
After the presentation of each one of them by the editor and moderator of the event, the international architect, the technology adviser and the renowned film director pointed to Barcelona, the city where they have lived for decades, as a highly attractive enclave for the talent.
Along these lines, the former vice president of Huawei Spain called for promoting the city's brand from within as a talent generation tool: "We must become ambassadors of Barcelona to promote female talent and create new opportunities." In addition, she urged administrations to "reinvite companies to invest, bring job opportunities and collaborate with universities".
The Italian architect Benedetta Tagliabue joined the opinion of her fellow speaker, arguing that "the local character of Barcelona can be enhanced through a universal perspective". Finally, the Peruvian filmmaker Claudia Llosa advocated "giving opportunity to foreign talent and improving the links between companies and professionals."
During the interview, Eva Moll de Alba wanted to ask the speakers about her experience with glass ceilings and impostor syndrome. Within the framework of that question, Jamaa launched an optimistic speech ensuring that "the only way to eliminate glass ceilings is to stop seeing them, we all have opportunities and we must take advantage of them."
Faced with the same question, Benedetta Tagliabue urged "to help improve the professions with our abilities as women: vision, sensitivity and the way of being".
Regarding the unequal concentration between men and women in the field of education and some labor sectors such as technology, the speakers agreed on the need to promote the normalization of the female profile in areas considered masculine from education. “You have to recognize what women have done and put it in the hands of society”, said Tagliabue, to which Therese Jamaa added that “administrations and private companies have to provoke meetings so that companies and talent, both male and female, come together find”.
Lastly, Eva Moll wanted to know from the protagonists what her work-life balance had been. In this regard, Benedetta Tagliabue, Therese Jamaa and Claudia Llosa explained to the members of the Círculo Ecuestre some of the keys that they have discovered throughout their careers to reconcile family and professional life in the international arena.
The filmmaker Claudia Llosa mentioned the balance and help of the family as allies to continue evolving: "The balance between caring for children and freedom as a mother is essential to continue evolving, as well as avoiding censoring oneself", has indicated.
Therese Jamaa endorsed the words of her speaking partner and added that "technology has become a great ally for family reconciliation." Benedetta Tagliabue, for her part, concluded by saying that "women have been teachers in finding balance throughout history and that gives us the ability to work."