- Madrid Foro Empresarial and Envera bring together Iberia, AXA, the Spanish Paralympic Committee and triathlete Jota García at the meeting The profitability of sponsoring the impossible
Madrid | October 18
Spanish sport has shone in Paris 2024 thanks to the performance of our Paralympians. Thanks to milestones like this, society in general is increasingly aware that diversity is enriching, not only from a social point of view, but also from a competitive and strategic point of view, achieving successes that would not be possible without it.
For this reason, the Madrid Business Forum's Competitive Social Responsibility (CSR) Roundtable, coordinated by Envera, brought together representatives of the Spanish Paralympic team and companies this Friday at the PONS Foundation in Madrid to talk about The profitability of sponsoring the impossiblea business meeting to reflect on the successes of Spanish athletes and the companies that support them.
The president of Madrid Foro Empresarial, Hilario Alfaro, was in charge of presenting an enriching round table discussion that included the Paralympic triathlete Jota García, Iberia's Social Impact Manager, Ainhoa Serrano; the manager of the AXA Foundation, María José Ballestero; the deputy general director of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, Susana Gaytán; and the general director of Envera, Enrique Grande, as moderator.
"Supporting the impossible is not only an attitude, it is also profitable," said Grande at the beginning of the day before giving the floor to Jota García, an athlete who became blind at the age of 29 and who said that "Paralympic sport has a plus. In addition to the values of the Olympics, athletes with disabilities have to go one step further every day. That plus means that there is an essence in the business world".
The triathlete from Madrid has defended that "Paralympic sport should be the tip of the iceberg to change things and make life easier for people with disabilities in general. Hopefully in Los Angeles we can go one step further but we must work every day to have a better society".
A point of view shared by Iberia, sponsor of the Spanish Paralympic Team since 1996 due to "a decision that came from the top management" of the company, where they are convinced that accessibility is profitable.
As Serrano explained, "it is always a great experience to travel to the Paralympic Games with our athletes and to facilitate the logistics of these trips" and highlighted the airline's commitment to continue this support "continuously and not just every four years".
Both Iberia and AXA agreed that "much remains to be done" to support Paralympic athletes. From the insurance company they work "in a coherent way from our values to prevent and protect people". For Ballesteros "we have the responsibility to give visibility to athletes with disabilities" and he pointed out that "in the case of AXA, the sponsorship that employees value most is that of Paralympians".
In this line has also expressed the Committee's directive highlighting the benefits that companies have by sponsoring athletes such as support for internal sports initiatives, inspire and train in the development of talent and human resources, strengthen the sense of belonging among employees and the bet, not only for sporting values and incredible people, but also for a unique and differentiating model since in Spain, unlike other countries, 95% of the budget of the Paralympic Team comes from the private sector.
Gaytán also explained the efforts being made by the Consejo Superior de Deportes to ensure that there are no segregated federations, as well as the achievements that have been reached and that seemed impossible years ago, such as the fact that in Paris, for the first time in history, the economic endowment of Olympic and Paralympic medals has been the same.
By way of summary, Grande pointed out that today "diversity is in, and large companies are betting on the priceless value of people with disabilities, a population which, on the other hand, is increasing every year and which is demanding its place in all areas of society".
Envera's CEO ended the event with a thank you to the "extraordinary companies that are committed to winning in life and in business by giving wings so that others can fly with only one arm, without legs, unable to see, with intellectual disabilities... But with perseverance, determination and an invincible courage to live that is unbeatable and profitable".
