Margarita del Val and Alicia Sintes, among the winners of the Women to Follow Awards

The VIII Women to Follow Awards They have returned to the presence to celebrate female talent. During the award ceremony of this eighth edition, led by journalist Teresa Viejo and held last night at the Rafael del Pino Auditorium in Madrid, the names of this year’s winners have been announced.

In Science, the winner has finally been Alicia Sintes, director of the Gravitational Physics Group at the University of the Balearic Islands, whose research on gravitational waves can offer crucial information to learn more about the mysteries of the universe and of whom the Jury has also highlighted their outreach commitment to science and the role of women in STEM careers.

In Communication, Hayat Traspas, co-founder and communication manager of Save a Girl Save a Generation, a Spanish NGO that fights against female genital mutilation, forced marriage and any form of violence against women was awarded. Traspas is, in the opinion of the Jury, an example of how new media and even art can be used to raise awareness about a social cause.

The young pianist Isabel Pérez Dobarro has been chosen in the Culture section. Pérez Dobarro is not only one of the most promising Spanish pianists of her generation (she has developed her concert career in the United States, Spain, Russia, Belgium, Argentina, Italy and Portugal), but also does important work as a teacher and in the recovery of works by women composers.

A social commitment that also stands out in the case of the winner in Sport, Queralt Castellet, considered the best Spanish snowboarder of all time (and the third internationally), and also collaborator of the Dent Disease Association and Wings for Life, an organization that works to find solutions to spinal cord injuries.

In Economics and Business, the chosen one was Carmen San Martín, manager of the Hijos de Alberto Gutiérrez winery and president of the regulatory council of the Rueda Denomination of Origin. In 2016 she became the first woman to head DO Rueda, which last year celebrated its 40th anniversary.

The engineer and entrepreneur Rosa Monge, founder of Beonchip, has been the winner in Technology. Monge is the creator of a cell culture system that opens new avenues for experimentation and drug testing without using animals. In 2016 he founded Beonchip, a spin off of the University of Zaragoza, for its commercialization.

Both they and the rest of the finalists are professionals who, as Esther Valdivia, editor of Women to Follow, indicates “with their work they go further and are helping to define the world to come, with a vision of the future and social commitment”. Their complete bios can be consulted on the Women to Follow website.

In addition, as already announced, this year three special prizes have been awarded. The Association of Women Researchers and Technologists (AMIT) has received the MAS Community of Madrid Award, Awarded in collaboration with the Community of Madrid to recognize an association or group that works for the advancement of women. In addition, the MAS Talent On Board Award, awarded together with Iberia to highlight women capable of imagining new horizons and transcending their limits, has been for the medical doctor and Paralympic champion Susana Rodríguez. Finally, the MAS Lifetime Achievement Award went to Margarita del Val, virologist and researcher at the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC).

The Jury that has chosen the winners has been formed by Beatriz Becerra, general director of citizen participation of the Malaga City Council; María Blasco, Scientific Director of the CNIO; Irene Cano, CEO of Facebook; Alfonso Fernández, director of corporate marketing at Samsung Spain; Charo Izquierdo, journalist and writer; Vicente Jiménez, director of As; Ana Lamas, president of WomenCEO; Mònica Margarit, director of social action at Grupo Agbar Spain; Marina Specht, CEO of McCann Worldgroup Spain; Jaime del Valle, vice president of business development at Modiface (L’Oréal Group); Teresa Viejo, journalist and writer; Esther Valdivia, president of Professional Publications and president of the jury, and María Lizarraga, MAS adviser and secretary of the jury.

The Capek and Fiverooms agencies have created the image and the production of the 2021 Women to Watch Awards, which have the support of companies committed to equality and the Sustainable Development Goals such as Facebook, Coca-Cola, Shiseido, Correos, Iberia, Community of Madrid, Banco Santander and McCann.