The concern for improving people's lives, a common value with impact of the five Princess of Girona Foundation laureates
The quest to improve people's lives was the common thread running through the Princess of Girona Foundation Awards 2023 ceremony, which recognised the careers of five young talents. The ceremony, which was presided over by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain and attended by HRH the Princess of Asturias and Princess Sofia, was also attended by the President of Congress, Meritxell Batet; the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez Jiménez; the Government Delegate of Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, and Salvador Illa, head of the opposition in the Catalan Parliament, as well as Francisco Belil and Salvador Tasqué, President and Director, respectively, of the Princess of Girona Foundation.
The event, which took place at the Hotel Camiral Caldes de Malavella in Girona and was presented by Luz Rello (2016 Social Award) and Héctor Colunga (2015 Social Award), was attended by young people, award winners and trustees of the Foundation, among other guests. The 2023 awards went to the violinist María Dueñas (Arts and Literature Award); the engineer and CEO founder of Open Cosmos, Rafel Jordá (Business Award); the doctor in Biomedicine and professor at Yale, Marc Schneeberger Pané (Scientific Research Award); the art therapist and founder of the Palliative Art Foundation, Sílvia Fernández Cadevall (Social Award), and the CEO and co-founder of the childcare network Kidogo, Sabrina Habib (International Award).
Entrepreneurship, motivation, hard work, effort and unconditional dedication to personal dreams are some of the values that the award winners propose to young people in order to achieve a professional future with social scope, purpose and an impact on others. Values that the Foundation promotes in all its programmes. The award winner in the category of Scientific Research 2023, Marc Schneeberger Pané, was in charge of giving the speech at the ceremony on behalf of all the award winners and highlighted how each one of them has a different talent but at the same time they are connected to each other, "five young people who have discovered their path and have worked hard to become what they wanted to be. For none of the five has been a bed of roses, but we have all learned that failures are a great school. They are what help you move forward and we have learned to manage them and that is key. We work very hard and we enjoy that effort. All five of us would like to put ourselves at your service, to be your guides, mentors and inspiration. We are here to help you," he said.
He thanked the Foundation because "for 14 years you have had only one mission, which is to support the talent of young people with your employment, education and social impact programmes. What you do for us is unique! He also wanted to thank "on behalf of all the winners of this evening's awards. With something as distant as satellites or as intimate as holding the hand of a sick person. With the beauty of the violin, or the smile of a child playing safely in a nursery, or the countless nights spent in a laboratory, each of us in our own field wants to improve people's lives. Thank you for this wonderful recognition.
He concluded his speech by encouraging young people with something fundamental: "If you ever feel stuck and unsure of your path, look outside yourself for answers: in a museum, on a journey, in a film, or in teams of young people with whom you can partner. The world is the most powerful mentor there is if you have an open mind. Remember, we all have talent, yours is there, waiting for you. Help it reveal itself and your life will be a life full of passion... and meaning! and meaning!"
Remarks by H.R.H. Princess Leonor and H.M. the King
The Princess of Asturias and Girona, who began her speech in Catalan, said that "being in Girona is a joy and makes this award ceremony a very special moment for me". She also said that "it was fortunate to learn about the BulliFoundation's model of innovation and creativity - and its museum - from Ferran Adrià, in the impressive Cala Montjoi, in the middle of the Cap de Creus Natural Park. And I am also delighted to have been able to visit, with my sister, the Foundation's headquarters in the city of Girona".
Princess Leonor stressed that "the five award winners are unquestionable leaders who have taken advantage of opportunities to ensure that their careers have a clear purpose with a social impact. I have spoken with them and with other young people about the concerns of our generation, about what it means to train, about how to find and develop one's own talent, about preparing oneself in new skills through innovative educational models, about the awareness of living in a balanced way on our planet and about life projects when you are twenty or twenty-five years old".
For his part, H.M. the King stressed that "the Princess of Girona Awards ceremony is a reason for hope on a path that is not easy: that of growth, of maturity, of a young person's awareness of both opportunities and difficulties". He also added that "the Queen and I like to see how the Princess takes on her role as Honorary President of the Foundation that bears her name with enthusiasm and responsibility, and we are delighted that, this year, she can do so from Girona and as a young woman who, like her sister Sofia, is already part of this community of committed young people who make up our Foundation".
In addition, H.M. the King made a simile in his words on the occasion of the physical award presented to the winners, a sculpture created by Juan Zamora (Arts and Literature Award 2017), and expressed that "throughout the ceremony we have seen this seed that grows and becomes a plant, a metaphor that might seem very obvious but which is no less relevant for that. Just like this seed are the careers of our award winners, who today see all their efforts rewarded. Although they still have so much ahead of them: aspirations, achievements, objectives and contributions, both for themselves and for the common good".
H.M. the King wanted to highlight "the impact that the Talent Tour continues to generate throughout Spain; a project that brings to four cities all the value and potential of the Foundation, in terms not only of training, but also of practical content and motivation; and it does so in a format that attracts young people, and which is complemented by all kinds of leisure and cultural activities and a large networking space. We are particularly excited to see how, thanks to the Tour, the name of the Foundation and Girona is spreading throughout Spain and its repercussions in each of the cities where it stops, becoming an asset and an excellent opportunity wherever it takes place, both for City Councils and for Autonomous Communities. Proof of this are the more than 20,000 young people who have participated directly in the activities of the Foundation in the Tour or the nearly 50,000 total participants throughout the stages of Zaragoza, Valladolid, Cordoba, Lugo and with the "Setmana del talent" in Girona, as the closing of the tour".
New format of the International Award
During his speech, H.M. the King highlighted the new format of the International Award and explained that "with a desire for reach, influence and growth and with our sights set beyond our borders, we want to build bridges with Latin America, that great Ibero-America of which we are part in soul, culture and heart, connecting its talent to ours, uniting our cultures through the new generations. For this reason, we are all delighted that the Princess of Girona International Award will have two (annual) categories: Scientific Research and Business".
Other activities
The events organised to mark the presentation of the 2023 Awards began with a meeting between HRH the Princess of Asturias and HRH the Princess of Girona and Infanta Sofia with young people participating in the Foundation's different programmes. Afterwards, taking advantage of their stay in Girona, they had a meeting with the Foundation's employees at its headquarters, and then travelled to Roses for a meeting-workshop on innovation, teamwork and creativity with Ferran Adrià.
Their Majesties the King and Queen presided over the meeting of the Advisory Council, while Their Royal Highnesses the Princess of Asturias and Girona and the Infanta Sofía got to know more about some of the Foundation's programmes and initiatives, as well as taking part in the AmplificARTE workshop-concert.