Social Innovation Awards Finalist Projects

The three semi-finals have now been held. It is now time for the nine finalists who have the chance of winning an award to prepare for the grand final taking place on 17 October in Madrid.

The first three semi-finals for our Fundación MAPFRE Social Innovation Awards took place in Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Madrid.

For all the semi-finals the jury panel, made up of experts from Fundación MAPFRE and the IE Business School, the collaborating body for these Awards, chose the projects that had most potential for having a social impact and that were most viable from a technical, economic and organizational point of view. The experience of the candidates was also taken into account in terms of their ability to implement the idea and to demonstrate its potential for becoming a reality through completed pilot tests and prototypes.

For the semi-final event, the judging panel’s deliberations took place in the Interactive Museum of Economics in Mexico City. The jury was composed of: Jesús Martínez Castellanos, CEO of the MAPFRE LATAM North Region; Concepción Galdón, director of Social Innovation for the IE; Juan Cumbrado, CIO and CPO of  MAPFRE LATAM North; José Luis Silva, managing partner of DUX Capital; Julio Salazar, executive director of Cirklo; Mario Romero, managing partner of Impact HUB; and Hernán Fernández Lamadrid, managing partner and founder of Ángel Ventures. 

For its part, the Judging Panel responsible for assessing the projects from Brazil was composed of the following members: Wilson Toneto, CEO of the Regional Area of BRAZIL, MAPFRE, and Chairman of the Judging Panel; Mercedes Sanz, director of Fundación MAPFRE and secretary of the IE; Newton Campos, country manager of the IE; Rodrigo Menezes, founding partner of Derraik & Menezes Advogados; Stephanie Sacco, program manager for the AMANI INSTITUTE; Ruy Bueno de Arruda Camargo Neto, Impact HUB; Mirella Domenich, director of ASHOKA.

In Madrid, which held the European semi-final, the panel of judges, comprised of managers, representatives from the innovation ecosystem and social investors, evaluated each one of the projects in terms of their innovative potential and social impact, their scalability and feasibility as well as the abilities and experience of the team.

The European judging panel consisted of the following people:  Chairman of the panel (Fundación of MAPFRE), José Manuel Inchausti, Third Vice-president MAPFRE S.A. and CEO of the MAPFRE Iberia Territorial and Regional Area; Secretary (IE): Concepción Galdón,  IE Social Innovation Director; José Antonio Arias, MAPFRE Chief Innovation Officer, MAPFRE Group Chief Operations Officer; Max Oliva, IE Social Innovation Deputy Director; Francisco Soler, CREAS Investment Director; Silvia Leal, Speaker specialized in innovation, leadership, employment and digital transformation at Grupo BCC Conferenciantes.

To ensure that the finalists are well prepared for the big day in October, they are going to receive coaching to be able to communicate and prepare their proposals in the most effective way possible. They will also be given access to a public relations plan to improve the visibility of their projects to potential investors and backers.