Podcast: Silver Economy

Manuel Castro

CEO of MensajeroSAD

Born in Vizcaya, Manuel Castro completed his pre-university studies in the Basque Country and moved to Madrid for his university education. He holds a degree in Psychology from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), specializing in Health Psychology; a master’s degree in Gerontology from the University of Salamanca; a master’s degree in Business Management and Administration from the University of the Basque Country (UPV); and a PhD in Adult Development and Aging from the University of Salamanca.

In his professional career, he has held various management positions in organizations such as Mensajeros de la Paz, Mapfre Quavitae, Eulen Servicios Sociosanitarios, and Igurco (Grupo IMQ). He currently serves as the Director of the Home Social and Health Care Service at Mensajeros de la Paz, Mensajerosad.

Eleonora Barone

Founder and Director at mYmO Intergenerational Innovation

As a PhD holder, she has facilitated various types of training sessions at conferences, master’s programs, universities, and business schools.

Six years ago, she founded mYmO, an intergenerational innovation consultancy that helps organizations create processes.

At mYmO, she has experience in innovation methodologies, which she uses both in training sessions and co-creation labs.

Currently, she is a consultant, communicator, and facilitator of participatory dynamics that link innovation to diversity and participation.

Carlos Pérez

Founder of the SeniorTIC Blog

After some time writing for an educational resources community, Didactalia, Carlos decided to be more directly involved online and dedicate more time to this purpose.

He is the founder of the blog SeniorTIC. Although he was born in Madrid, he has lived in Seville for a long time, so he considers himself more Sevillian.

Carlos is self-taught and highlights his connection as a student and collaborator with the Instituto Internacional San Telmo, where he has completed several programs: AD1 Program for Senior Management and Digital Transformation Program for Senior Management, as well as numerous continuous training courses.

The most challenging period of his life was when he could not overcome the last crisis, and in 2013, he was forced to close a company to which he had dedicated more than 30 years.

Nevertheless, he considers himself optimistic, motivated, goal-oriented, persevering, and focused on solving problems.

He believes that the problems of an aging society will largely be solved with technology, as long as it is person-centered.

His goal with SeniorTIC is to contribute by helping older people to use technology as soon as possible and in depth.

Carmen Sam

CEO of Humaniza Social Care

Carmen Sam has been a social health consultant for the last 5 years.

Activist of Social Humanism.

She has an educational background in Social Work and complementary studies in Law.

Master’s degree in Business Management and Management of Social and Health Care Centers.

For over 15 years, she has managed Centers and Residences for the elderly.

Creator of new business models in the social health sector with recognized success.

She currently runs her consultancy, Humaniza Social Care, specializing in the social health and healthcare sector.

Aware of the need to evolve a sector such as that of people in situations of Dependency, she works with companies, entrepreneurs, and social agents to improve the type and quality of services without losing focus on their optimization and profitability.

Gonzalo Castellanos

Sales Director for Southern Europe and the Americas at Legrand Care

Gonzalo Castellanos holds an Advanced Degree in Business Management from the University of Wolverhampton in England.

He has developed his entire professional career in the area of technology applied to the elderly.

He started in this sector in 1998 by creating a marketing plan for the introduction of telecare technology in Spain.

Since then, he has held various positions at NEAT, now Legrand Care, including New Business Development, Marketing Director, and currently he is the Sales Director for Southern Europe and the Americas.

One of the most important challenges Gonzalo has faced is leading the internationalization of Legrand Care by developing, adapting, and commercializing technological projects that apply to service models in the social health sector.

Legrand Care currently operates in more than 40 countries across 5 continents.

Aitor Pérez

Promoter and Managing Partner of GEROKON

Diploma in Social Education from the School of Education at the University of the Basque Country.
Expert in Socio-Cultural Animation from UNED.
Postgraduate in Social Education from the Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Sciences at the University of the Basque Country.
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences at the University of the Basque Country.
Postgraduate in Social Innovation from the Faculty of Social Work at the University of the Basque Country.
He has over 30 years of experience in designing and managing social and socio-health services.

Laura Rosillo

Age Management Consultant

Laura has been working in Human Resources for over 30 years, especially in training and professional development.

She worked for 11 years (from 1999 to 2010) in the HR department of “La Caixa” in the Training and Development area as Head of Training, leading training projects and the creation and promotion of the Virtaula e-learning platform, which later became a Corporate Social Network to share collective intelligence. From 2006 to 2009, she was the Human Resources Director of the Southern Territorial Directorate of La Caixa (Andalusia, Extremadura, Ceuta, and Melilla), which had a workforce of 3000 people at that time.

Previously, she was the Head of Training for the Department of Justice of the Generalitat de Catalunya (1985-1995) and then Head of the Training Service of the Generalitat de Catalunya from its School of Public Administration and coordinator of the network of Training Managers of the various departments (1995-1999), promoting the modernization of learning and lifelong training systems.

She holds a degree in Hispanic Philology from the University of Barcelona (1977), a Postgraduate degree in Training of Trainers from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (1986), a Master’s in Human Resources from the HR Education Program at La Caixa, ESADE (2000), and she specialized as a Community Manager by AERCO (Spanish Association of Online Community Managers) (2010).

Currently an active retiree and consultant specializing in the Digital Transformation of Organizations and Professionals, in Business Digitalization Strategies, in the creation of Corporate Communities and Networks, Digital Skills Training for Executives, specializing in Innovation in Training, New Training for Trainers, and combating Ageism. She focuses on Age Management, intergenerational collaboration programs, Career Management and Relaunch for Senior Workers, and is a founding member of the TalentoCoolSenior Network and a volunteer consultant at ASENCAT (Associació de Sèniors de Catalunya).

Fernando Fantova

Social Consultant

Fernando Fantova (Bilbao, 1961) began his career in the late 1970s in voluntary action with people with disabilities, working with families and community development. He started his paid professional work in these areas in the mid-1980s. He is qualified as a social educator, holds a degree in Philosophy and Education Sciences (Psychology), a master’s degree in Management and Development of Human Resources, and a PhD in Sociology and Political Sciences (Sociology).

From the mid-1990s until 2009, he worked as a consultant in Latin America (living in Ecuador from 1993 to 1997) and in Spain on social intervention, strategic management of organizations, and social policies. From 2009 to 2013, he dedicated himself full-time to political responsibilities and public service in the Basque Government, serving as Deputy Minister of Social Affairs in the Department of Employment and Social Affairs of the Basque Government.

Since 2013, he has returned to his voluntary intervention activities and professional consulting in the field of social services and social policies in general.

Most of his ten books and two hundred chapters, articles, and speeches are available at www.fantova.net.

Santiago Canales

CEO of Igurco

Santiago Canales Abaitua holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Deusto.

He built his professional career for over 15 years as a strategy and business organization consultant at KPMG Consulting. During this period, he advised and executed multiple projects across various functional areas for numerous companies and economic sectors.

In 2003, he joined Igurco Gestión, S.L. as a Manager when the company managed 3 day centers serving 140 people. Currently, he serves as the CEO of IMQ Igurco, which provides diverse sociosanitary services to over 2,000 individuals through 7 care centers, 9 day centers, and various telecare and home support services.

Additionally, as the Director of IMQ Servicios Generales, he is a member of the management team of the IMQ Group and a board member of several companies related to the sociosanitary field.

Mikel Agirregabiria

Secretary of Nagusiak Bizkaia

Mikel is a theoretical physicist with advanced studies in Industrial Engineering and Computer Science, and an Expert and Master in Museology. He is Associate Professor of Didactics of Mathematics and Experimental Sciences at UPV-EHU. He served as Director of Training at EITB for eight years. He has experience in four departments of the Basque Government: Education, where he was Head of Technology and Education Services; Culture, as an advisor on Science, Technology, and Informatics; Presidency, in Drug Addiction Prevention; and Industry, as Head of the Euskadi Service in the Information Society. He has also been responsible for Educational Innovation in Bizkaia and at central services.

Author of numerous publications, presentations, programs, and works, starting from the first book written on Logo (Urmo, 1984), editor of the compendium “Technology and Education” (Narcea, 1988), to drafting institutional and policy plans, such as Hezkuntza XXI: Education for the 21st Century (2006).

An active and influential blogger, he is President of GetxoBlog and promoter of BlogEu and GetxoWeb, recipient of the 2014 honorary award from Internet&Euskadi, DEIA’s best blogger in 2015, and listed among the top educational blogs (2016), with a strong presence on social media.

Among his current interests as Secretary of Nagusiak and Communication Manager of Euskofederpen are active aging, disruptive innovation, and digital transformation in various learning and coexistence contexts.

Mar Entrambasaguas

Social Innovation/Strategic Business Development Director. Tunstall Televida.

Mar Entrambasaguas holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Granada.
She began her professional career coordinating social services for a municipality in the province of Jaén, but her background in business management and innovative spirit led her to play a key role in shaping Telecare services in Spain.
She has been instrumental in developing and evolving this service since its inception. Together with her team, she developed the first model of personalized care in Telecare, a model that is now being replicated in several European countries and has received multiple awards.

Mar has actively participated in numerous studies on the impact of service and technology on people’s lives and care. With over 25 years in the sector, she has served as Secretary General of the Telecare Employers’ Association and currently serves on the Board of CEAPs, the largest employers’ association in the dependency sector. She has been the CEO of Televida Servicios Sociosanitarios and is currently the Director of Strategic Development in Telecare at Tunstall Televida.

Javier Yanguas

Expert in care and intervention with older adults.

Javier Yanguas holds a PhD in Psychology from the Autonomous University of Madrid, a master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of Barcelona, an MBA from the University of Deusto, and is an expert in Advanced Statistical Methods from UNED (National Distance Education University). He is also an expert in Adult Education from the Pontifical University of Salamanca.

He worked at the Egogain Gerontological Center of the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council (1989-1998). From 1999 to 2017, he held various managerial positions at Matia Fundazioa and Matia Institute. From 2015 to 2019, he served as President of the European Section of Social Sciences and Behavioral Sciences of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. He has taught at various Spanish universities (such as the University of the Basque Country, University of Deusto, and University of Valencia) and international institutions (Catholic University of Chile and Cornell University, among others). He has also been involved in national and international research projects and has received several awards for his work in the fields of old age and aging.

He is the author of numerous articles and several books on care and intervention with older adults. Since 2017, he has been the Scientific Director of the Seniors Program at the “la Caixa” Foundation and Director of Projects at Aubixa Fundazioa.

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Karmele Acedo

CEO at Grupo SSI

Karmele Acedo, graduated in Psychology from the University of Deusto (1989), completed her doctoral internship in Quality Management at Crownsville Hospital Center, Crownsville, M.D. 21032, USA (1990), and began her professional career in the field of Public Administration at the Ministry of Health, Quality Unit (1990-1992). She then transitioned into HR management consulting. In 1999, she joined Grupo Servicios Sociales Integrados as the Quality and Training Manager, and for the past 11 years, she has held the position of CEO within this cooperative group.

Throughout these three decades, she has combined her professional activity with teaching, providing training in various master’s and postgraduate programs. Currently, she serves as the Secretary General of EFFE (European Federation for Family Employment).
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Oriol Fuertes

CEO and Co-Founder of Qida

Oriol Fuertes is the current CEO and Co-Founder of Qida, the home care company that aims to improve the lives of elderly, dependent, and/or chronically ill individuals, and to make the world a better place.

He has devoted a significant portion of his professional life to advising on health-related issues. For over 10 years, Oriol has advised governments worldwide at McKinsey & Company, ranging from regional and national governments on their healthcare strategy to the MedTech industry on international business strategy.

He has also worked at the General Secretariat of Health of the Government of Catalonia during Boi Ruiz’s tenure as counselor of that department.

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Cristina Cuesta Lerín

Founder and CEO of “COHOUSING SPAIN”

Cristina is the founder and CEO of “COHOUSING SPAIN” and co-founder of “COVIVIENDA RURAL”, which provides consultancy and a roadmap for the development of Cohousing, Coliving, and hybrid projects in rural environments. She is also the President of the Spanish Cohousing Association.

Cristina specializes in collaborative housing models (Cohousing, Coliving), consultancy, outreach, and training. She collaborates with, among others, the Basque Government, Pamplona City Council, Cáceres Provincial Council, and Chamber of Commerce, and has conducted the Cohousing Model Diagnosis for the Basque Country, aiming to lay the groundwork for regulatory frameworks and public policies that support these more humane and sustainable models.

She is also an expert in the management and direction of residential and care services.
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Alfredo Alday

Expert in Social and Healthcare Teleassistance

In his early career, Alfredo worked for 13 years in the private sector in consultancy and software engineering, focusing on projects such as deploying electronic health records, digitizing radiological images, and implementing voice recognition for clinical report generation.

In 2010, he joined the Basque Government to launch a Multichannel Healthcare Services Center. From 2011 to 2019, he was responsible for the Public Teleassistance Service of the Basque Country (betiON).

In 2019, he began his role as a promoter at ALDA2U (www.alda2u.com), leading consultancy and design for the digital transformation of care, specializing in innovating home-based care. This effort resulted in NEREA CARE (www.nereacare.com), a non-presential care service oriented towards home care providers.

Since January 2020, he has been involved in coordinating the Electronic Socio-health History of the Basque Country.

Dra. Ana Urrutia Beaskoa

Managing Director at GRUPO TORREZURI and President at FUNDACIÓN CUIDADOS DIGNOS

Ana is a geriatrician, doctor in geriatrics, gerontologist, and expert in bioethics and biolaw. She is also the driving force and President of the Fundación Cuidados Dignos. She created the “Norma Libera-Care, Person-Centered Care Model Without Restraints” applied at all care levels.
She is also the Ashoka Social Entrepreneurship Award winner in 2016.

PapyHappy

We launched our Silver Economy podcast on Kwido with Ignacio Sánchez, Business Developer at PAPY HAPPY Spain. PAPYHAPPY was founded in July 2016 in France as a comparative and collaborative platform for seniors looking for all types of accommodations. Created to help individuals and their families find the most suitable residence with peace of mind, the platform has been recognized by industry professionals as an ideal solution for showcasing accommodation options online.

Today, PAPYHAPPY has completed two rounds of financing and has been active in Spain since 2019, aiming to become the European reference for advising and supporting seniors in accommodation matters.