Coca Cola Europacific Partners and Marlen Estévez: winners of Esade Alumni Women Forward Awards
The winners of this year’s Esade Alumni Women Forward Awards are Marlen Estévez, partner, board member and also director of the litigation, arbitration and mediation department at RocaJunyent, for her outstanding career, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, for their corporate contribution to gender equality.
The awards were presented during the 2nd Esade Alumni Women Empowerment Club Annual Conference. Attendees included Eugenia Bieto, president of the Esade Alumni Women Empowerment Club and former director general of Esade (2010-2018); Patricia Valentí, director of Esade Alumni; Mireia Oranias, board member of the Esade Alumni Women Empowerment Club and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers; Jérôme Trochet, interim president of the Esade Alumni Women Empowerment Club and business director at NEXE. The Way of Change; Ricardo Bacchini, board member of the Esade Alumni Women Empowerment Club and director of People and Organization at Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution, and Anna Quirós, director of Culture and Development at CaixaBank.
Recognition of career and commitment to equality
The jury highlighted that although women are a majority in law schools, they account for just 21% of the partners in large law firms. Against this backdrop, Marlen Estévez has established herself as a benchmark for young female lawyers, driving significant changes in the legal profession. In addition, her work extends beyond her own career: she is the founder of Women in a Legal World, a network that aims to accelerate the career advancement of women in the legal profession by taking part in social debate.
As regards the award presented to Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, the jury emphasized the company’s commitment to having women on its board and at all levels throughout the company. This effort has been acknowledged around the globe: the company appears in the Bloomberg Gender Parity Index, which measures the transparency and effectiveness of equality policies in listed companies. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners scores very highly in five key areas: female leadership, equal pay, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies and women-friendly brand.
Future inspiration
In her acceptance speech, Marlen Estévez, an Esade alumna, emphasized the importance of the setting in which she received the award: “Receiving this award at the Esade Alumni Women Empowerment Club annual conference, an event that honors those who make a difference to gender equality, makes it even more meaningful.” Furthermore, she added, “the progress made so far bolsters my belief that change is possible and that together we can continue to pave the way for future generations.”
Meanwhile, Igone Bartumeu, director of Public Affairs, Sustainability and Communication at Coca-Cola European Partners, East Area, reiterated her commitment to diversity and equality. “Our goal is that, by 2030, one third of our staff will be women and 10% will be people with disabilities, and that 45% of our management posts will be held by women,” she explained. In keeping with the “Everyone is welcome” philosophy, the company is working on five key areas – gender, disability, generational diversity, LGTB+ and cultural inclusion – in order to foster an inclusive and diverse workplace at all levels.
An on-going commitment to equality
The Women Forward Awards have established themselves as a key platform for increasing the visibility of the people and companies driving gender equality. The award-winners at the first annual conference were Belén Garijo, Merck CEO, for her professional career, and the company Agbar for its outstanding corporate effort in promoting equality.
This event was organized by the Esade Alumni Women Empowerment Club set up to foster a networking space for professionals committed to creating equitable workplaces where the combination of talent and equal opportunities become a reality. CaixaBank is a sponsor and financial partner of Esade Alumni.
