02 December 2024
Madrid Headquarters
The Women and Leadership Award has just held its awards ceremony for the third edition at the new Madrid headquarters of Deusto Business School, at the Arrupe Campus.
With the support of the Cinco Días newspaper and Banco Santander, these awards aim to recognise professional women with high potential to advance in their careers through education. The winners are offered the opportunity to enrol in the Executive MBA at Deusto Business School Executive Education or any other programme from the portfolio of options they choose.
The first prize in this third edition went to Teresa Pereyra, data protection and privacy partner at Écija. The awards jury decided to grant her the prize based on her extensive experience as a privacy and data protection lawyer, along with her strong commitment to female leadership through her role as leader of the affinity group 'Écija by Women'. Pereyra received her award from the Deputy Director of Cinco Días, Daniel Toledo.
Arantzazu Allende, project manager at Alstom Mobility, was the runner-up and received the award from the Vice-Rector of Deusto, Xabier Riezu.
Allende, an engineer specialising in electronics and automation and a member of the Alstom Women of Excellence committee, was recognised by the jury for her professional experience in a sector where the presence of women managing projects and leading multidisciplinary teams worldwide is limited.
The third awardee at the ceremony was Mercedes Oblanca, President of Accenture for Spain and Portugal, who received her award jointly from the Rector of the University of Deusto, Juan José Etxeberria, and Álvaro de la Rica, Dean of Deusto Business School.
The jury considered that Mercedes Oblanca embodies the values recognised by the Mujer y Liderazgo Award in particular, and by Deusto Business School in general, which advocate for the promotion of humanistic leadership. The commitment of Accenture's CEO to talent, human leadership, recognition of professionals, and the inclusion of new profiles within the company has been one of their main priorities, always promoting an inclusive, diverse, and equal work environment that fosters growth, collaboration, and continuous innovation.
The three winners delivered emotional speeches in front of the large audience, expressing their gratitude for the awards and emphasising the importance of having female role models who can serve as beacons in the professional development of more women.
At an event hosted by the Director General of Deusto Business School, Almudena Eizaguirre, the testimonies of past winners were also shared, including Clara Eito Valdovinos, Head of Radiotherapy Oncology at the Instituto Oncológico, Clínica IMQ Zorrotzaurre, Olalla García, Project Director at Kawasaki Rail Car and winner of last year’s runner-up award, and Cani Fernández, President of the CNMC, who was the winner in the previous edition in the category of distinguished professional career. All of them agreed on the importance of highlighting the talent and leadership of women.
The award ceremony concluded with a performance by the Gospel Factory group.
