Iberdrola, Princesa de Girona, Grupo Social ONCE, Santander, and Mapfre ask to better measure the social impact and strengthen capacities beyond immediate aid. The Spanish corporate foundations have put on the table the growing weight of their activity in the face of the main social challenges, from child poverty and labor inclusion to aging, education, disability, mental health, or digital transformation. They have done so during the round table 'Corporate Foundations of Spain and Ibero-America: The Value of Projects with Social Commitment' . An event organized this Wednesday by the CEOE Foundation, chaired by Fátima Báñez, in the framework of its sessions linked to the Ibero-American Business Meeting.
  The debate brought together representatives from five major foundations -Iberdrola, Princesa de Girona, Grupo Social ONCE, Santander, and Mapfre- with a common underlying concern: how to move from social action to projects capable of generating opportunities, autonomy, and capacities that remain once the intervention is over.
  Child poverty, inclusion, and aging: the major challenges
  Elvira Vega , general director of Fundación Mapfre , placed the fight against poverty, especially child poverty , among the main challenges. She pointed out that there are 412 million children in extreme poverty , with less than three euros a day, and explained that the foundation develops social projects in Ibero-America aimed at combating this situation.
  Inclusion constitutes another of the major areas of action. Vega listed labor, digital, social, financial, and intergenerational inclusion , with a commitment to support and generate opportunities.
  In addition, there is the demographic challenge. Spain is one of the countries with the highest life expectancy -only behind Japan and Switzerland, as she pointed out- and the average age of death is around 82 years. Against the view of aging solely as a burden, Mapfre advocates for the value of older people as a group that continues to support their families, starting businesses, and contributing experience.
  Rural development, education, and mental health complete this diagnosis. In this last area, Vega pointed out that 30% of young people have problems related to mental health
  The foundations, like the R&D of companies
  Francisco Belil Creixell , president of the Fundación Princesa de Girona , focused on the talent and employability of young people . In his opinion, Spain and Ibero-America face similar social problems and there is room to share experiences and solutions.
  Belil highlighted the dimension of the foundational sector in Spain: 15,000 foundations and half a million people employed directly . And he has defined foundations as “the R&D of companies” , precisely because they can work with longer time horizons and take on projects whose returns are not immediate or guaranteed.
  This capacity allows, as he explained, to experiment and seek solutions looking ten to fifteen years ahead, in addition to working with allies and partners. The goal is not only to measure what happens during a project but also what capacities remain in society once the intervention ends
  In the case of the Princess of Girona Foundation, this work focuses especially on talented and potential youth to whom support is offered to develop their abilities. The organization has a network of 1,000 mentors and also develops programs in Latin America.
  A decentralized model close to the territory
  Jaime Alfonsín, president of Fundación Iberdrola España , emphasized the collaborative ties between Spain and Ibero-America and explained the uniqueness of Iberdrola's model, which incorporates in its statutes the so-called social dividend , as a commitment to the societies in which it is present.
  The structure responds to a decentralized model: wherever there is an Iberdrola company, there is a foundation that coordinates and channels the social projects that are considered priorities. The intervention, Alfonsín explained, is designed to be “close to reality” and does not consist so much in acting directly as in collaborating with social entities through specific projects.
  Training and employment occupy a central place. In Ibero-America, Alfonsín pointed out one of the main problems as the gap between training and the labor market , along with the weight of the informal economy and gender inequalities.
  In Spain, the diagnosis incorporates other elements. Jaime Alfonsín placed the number of people in a situation of exclusion at almost four million , warning of the erosion of the middle class since 2007, with a growing part moving towards situations of vulnerability.
  He also pointed out that around 20% of the population lives in a situation of vulnerability despite being employed , so a variation in costs can be enough to deteriorate their situation. In addition, there is a child poverty rate of and the problem of the digital divide among young people, with artificial intelligence as a technology that can offer opportunities but also generate new risks.
  Higher education as a social elevator
  Matías Rodríguez Inciarte, president of Santander Universidades , defended the foundation's sustained commitment to higher education as a “great social elevator” . The strategy, initiated three decades ago, allowed for concentrating efforts in a single area and later adapting it to new needs.
  Santander maintains agreements with 1,000 universities and has developed scholarship and aid programs aimed at talented individuals who lack economic resources. Through the micro-credentials of Santander Open Academy, the entity has already reached four million people
  Employability constitutes another of its lines of action. Rodríguez Inciarte has pointed out that over the last year they have worked on 70,000 job vacancies , seeking to improve the alignment between market needs and workers, within a universe of 800,000 workers.
  Entrepreneurship is the third major axis: between 2023 and ..