The Advisory Council

Advisory Council

Presidency and born members of the council

Louis Recoder

President of the Advisory Council. Lawyer specializing in urban planning and environmental law. He has been a member of the Congress of Deputies and the Parliament of Catalonia, mayor of Sant Cugat del Vallès and Minister of Territory and Sustainability. Since November 2024 he has been the new president of the board of trustees of the Ramon Llull University.

Michael Vilardell

Vice President of the Advisory Council. Emeritus Professor of Medicine (UAB). Editor of the Journal of Clinical Medicine, vice president of the Royal Academy of Medicine, emeritus member of the IEC and senior internal medicine consultant of the Dexeus University Institute, president of the Mutual Living Foundation and President of the Galatea Foundation.

Hope Esteve

President of the Board of Trustees of the Ajuda i Esperança Foundation. Social worker (UB) and graduate in Business Administration and Public Administration Management (Fundemi and ESADE). She was a member of the General Parliament (2004-2015) and director of Welfare Services, director of comprehensive plans for the City Councils of Barcelona and Santa Coloma de Gramanet, among others. She has served as director of the Ajuda i Esperança Foundation and now chairs its board of trustees.

Rosa Navas

Honorary President of the Board of Trustees of the Ajuda i Esperança Foundation. She is one of the first volunteers who worked for the Hope Phone during its founding. She currently works in the business world and manages Beautiful Corner, a property that hosts public and private events.

Enric Morist

General Director of the Help and Hope Foundation since May 2023. He has been coordinator of the Red Cross in Catalonia and a volunteer in social and humanitarian organizations. He is also a patron of the Àuria Foundation and the Catalan Football Federation as well as a member of the advisory boards of Fundesplai and FEPA. Since November 2024 he has chaired the Third Sector Board.

Council Members

Montserrat Ballarin

Doctor of Law. Full Professor of Financial and Tax Law at the UPF and Member of the Tax Council of the Barcelona City Council. She has been Councilor for Education, Finance, Commerce and Internal Affairs of the Barcelona City Council, and Deputy Delegate for Social Welfare of the Barcelona Provincial Council and Vice-President of Social and Economic Development of theMetropolitan area of Barcelona.

Joan Berenguer Maimo

Specialist in intensive care. Graduated in Hospital Management from ESADE. Healthcare manager as Managing Director in different Hospitals in Catalonia, Territorial Manager of the City of Barcelona and Metropolitan Area of the Catalan Health Institute (ICS). Since 2017 he has directed the Mémora Foundation and now chairs the Advisory Council of this entity.

Cecilia Borras

Doctorate in Psychology (UB). Master's degree in Scientific, Medical and Environmental Communication (UPF) and
Social Gerontology (UB) and other postgraduate courses.
Founding President of After the Suicide. Survivors Association.

Maria Rosa Buxarrais

Degree in Psychology and PhD in Pedagogy (UB). University professor in the area of
Theory and History of Education.

Monsignor Jaume Aymar

Priest of the Archbishopric of Barcelona (1986) and rector of the parish of Santa Maria de Badalona. Doctor in History of Art (UB). President of the Roca i Pi Legacy Foundation, from the Catalonia-America Foundation Sant Jeroni de la Murtra and the Calongines Studies Circle.

Josep Lluís Cleries

Higher industrial engineer, diploma in Managerial Function in Public Administration (ESADE) and in Management in Public Administration (IESE). He was Minister of Social Welfare and Family of the Generalitat, deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia and general director of Civic Action of the Department of Welfare and Family.

Montserrat Canton

Teacher and graduate in Psychopedagogy (URL). Veteran volunteer of the Ajuda i Esperança Foundation.

Carlos Campuzano

Minister of Social Rights between 2022 and 2024. He has chaired the ACSAR Foundation (Catalan Association of Solidarity and Refugee Aid) and was a member of the Advisory Boards of the Catalan Leisure Foundation, the Third Sector Observatory, the Pere Tarrés Foundation and the Training and Work Foundation and vice-president of Cocarmi (Catalan Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities), among other social entities.

Edu Esteve

A singer and songwriter, he began as an independent artist, but rose to fame by participating in the musical program Eufòria. Since the beginning, he has used his influence to fight the stigma of people with mental health problems, normalizing them and urging those who suffer from them to seek help.

Francesc Fajula

General Manager of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, he is considered one of the pioneers of the digital industry in Spain. He has served as Director of Innovation at Grupo Santander and later as Director of Digital Transformation and Innovation at Banco de Sabadell. He also has a wealth of experience in promoting the technological field, both in large-scale innovation projects, and in accelerating start-ups and promoting young talent.

Louis Foix

Journalist and Law graduate. Director of La Vanguardia and correspondent in London and Washington. He has covered seven wars and has traveled all over the world sending reports and analysis from 82 countries.

Antoni Fogué

Graduate in Biological Sciences (UB) and teacher in different schools and universities. Technical advisor to the Presidency of the Barcelona Provincial Council, he was president of the Barcelona Provincial Council, president of the Democracy and Local Government Foundation and president of the Commission of Provincial Councils, Town Halls and Island Councils of the FEMP (2008-2011).

Antoni Garrell Guiu

Industrial Engineer from the UPC, Master's degree in Management and Administration and PhD studies in Decision Support Systems. He is a specialist in management, digital economy and innovation. Dedicated to organizational and strategic consulting, he has been part of entities such as Fundació FUNDIT and Fundació Universitat i Tecnologia La Salle. He is currently president of HM Hospitales Catalunya.

Javier Martinez

Manager with more than 15 years of experience in General Management positions in different companies and organizations in positions always related to organizational improvement processes and strategic orientation. He has been secretary of the board of trustees of the Ajuda i Esperança Foundation. He currently serves as manager of the Municipal Institute of Social Services of Barcelona.

Vincent Martinez

Degree in Pharmacy (UB) with master's degree in Pharmaceutical Company Management (UAB). He has been area director in Catalonia at Janssen as well as national director of psychiatry at Janssen, now Johnson&Johnson. Currently, he is part of the Institutional Relations Department of this pharmaceutical laboratory.

Ramon Nicolau

Director of Social Services (in private entities, Barcelona City Council, Barcelona Provincial Council, Generalitat de Catalunya and Government of Andorra). Director of the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy (2006-2011). Since 2022 he has been president of the Catalan Federation of Social Volunteering.

Ramon Olarán

Industrial Mechanic Master and in 1964 he was ordained a Salesian priest, currently married with children. He has been a volunteer listener at the Telephone of Hope and a volunteer at the Clot Social Center for 28 years. He was a teacher and director of the Clot Vocational Technical School.

Victor Perez

Specialist in psychiatry, doctorate in medicine (UAB). Director of the Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Addictions of the Hospital del Mar and director of the Mental Health Research Group (IMIM), national coordinator and currently treasurer of the EAAD as a collaborator in the prevention and treatment of depressive illness.

Josep Oriol Pujol

General Director of the Pere Tarrés Foundation and member of the Executive Council of the Ramon Llull University and professor of social psychology in different university courses and postgraduate courses. Member of the board of trustees and board of directors of several entities and part of consultative bodies of the Generalitat de Catalunya and Barcelona City Council.

Didac Ramirez-Sarrió

Professor Emeritus of the University of Barcelona, of which he was rector. During his period as rector he was President of the Catalan Association of Public Universities. Doctor from the UB in Philosophy and Educational Sciences (1982) and in Economic and Business Sciences (1989). Extraordinary Award for Degree in Philosophy.

Albert Saez

Doctor in Journalism (URL). He is the director of El Periòdico de Catalunya and deputy general director of content for Prensa Ibérica. He has also served as professor and director of the Communication Degree at Blanquerna University.

Marta Subira

A graduate in Law, she was appointed Secretary of the Environment and Sustainability of the Government of Catalonia. She has been president of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya and in November was appointed member of the board of directors of Bonpreu, as president of the company's sustainability and society committee.

Maria Angels Tejada

General Manager of Public Affairs Randstad Spain. Businesswoman since the age of 26, always involved in projects aimed at promoting female entrepreneurship, focused on social projects to help people with fewer resources and animal projects.

Raventos Sea

Graduated in Economic Sciences (UB) and Philosophy. At the age of 24 she began working in the family business until 1998 when she assumed the position of president of the Codorniu Group.

Mireia del Pozo

Graduate in Law, qualified in Communication and Diploma in Direction and Management of Social Entities and the Third Sector. She is President of the Center for Women's Studies of Europe and consultant in diversity, equality and gender for companies and institutions.