On 10 June 2024, the Rafael del Pino Foundation organised the dialogue "Better Spain: How to strengthen democracy through Civil Society", with the participation of Miriam González, Elena Pisonero, Víctor Lapuente, Manuel Villoria and Elisa de la Nuez.
Miriam González Durántez is a lawyer specialising in international trade, founder and president of Better Spain, a non-profit organisation whose aim is to encourage civil society to participate in the development of public policy proposals in an open, inclusive, non-partisan and ideologically cross-cutting manner. Miriam is also a member of the Diversity Council of Toyota Europe and an independent director of Atrys Health. She is also a member of the international advisory board of the Círculo de Empresarios in Spain, the European Council on Foreign Relations and several educational institutions and has been a professor of international trade policy at Stanford University, California. Miriam is also the author of "Devuélveme el Poder", a book focused on the need for political reform in Spain. In 2015 she founded Inspiring Girls International, a global charity in 36 countries dedicated to raising the aspirations of young women by connecting them with female role models from all sectors. Miriam is married to Nick Clegg, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and President of Meta Public Affairs, with whom she has three sons. She currently lives between the UK and Spain.
Elena Pisonero is an economist with a strategic and global vision who has developed transformational projects in her more than 30 years of experience. She is currently Executive President of Taldig, has been President of Hispasat, Director of Hisdesat and is voluntarily involved in projects that contribute to society, maintaining her links with geopolitics as an independent advisor to the European think tank Bruegel and member of the Scientific Council of the Elcano Royal Institute. She is also a member of IWF (International Women Forum) and WCD (World Corporate Directors) promoting women's leadership. Her previous positions include analyst at Siemens, economist at the IEE and Secretary of State for Trade, Tourism and SMEs, National Deputy and Spokesperson for Economy, Spanish Ambassador to the OECD and partner at KPMG. She holds a degree in Economics from the Universidad Autónoma and has studied management programmes at the most prestigious business schools. Among other awards, in 2000 she received the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, awarded by His Majesty the King of Spain, and the French Legion of Honour in 2016.
Víctor Lapuente holds a PhD in political science from Oxford University and is currently Professor at the University of Gothenburg and Visiting Professor at ESADE. His research analyses why some countries enjoy a higher quality of government than others, and has been published in scientific journals such as The Journal of Politics, European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, Governance, Party Politics, Political Research Quarterly or Local Government Studies. His analyses have been mentioned in international media such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, The Guardian, Politico, BBC Radio, CNN, Time Magazine, Foreign Policy, among others. He is a columnist for El País and a contributor to Cadena SER. He is the author of Organizando el Leviatán. Why the balance between politicians and bureaucrats improves governments (Deusto, 2018; in English, Cambridge University Press 2017) and The Return of the Shamans (Península, 2015).
Manuel Villoria Mendieta is Professor of Political Science and Administration at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid. He holds a PhD in Political Science and Administration from the Complutense University of Madrid, a degree in Law and a degree in Philosophy and Letters; he was a Fulbright scholar in the United States, where he studied for a Master's degree in Public Affairs at Indiana University. He is Director of the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset, where he currently directs the Senior Public Management Programme and the Advanced Course in Public Security Management. He is the author of more than one hundred publications (books and articles) on public administration and administrative ethics. He has held different positions in the Spanish public administration, such as Secretary of Education and Culture of the Community of Madrid. He has been a member of the Commissions for the Modernisation of the State Administration between 1988-1993 and of the Commission for the study and creation of the State Agency for the Evaluation of the Quality of Services and Public Policies. He is also a member of the Public Policy and Administration Committee of the World Political Science Association. Visiting professor at different national and foreign universities (Indiana University, Deutsche Hoghschule für Verwaltungwissenschaften (Speyer), Universitat Pompeu i Fabra, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid...) and at national and foreign civil servant training institutes.
Elisa de la Nuez Sánchez-Cascado is a State Lawyer on leave of absence and a partner in Public Law. A graduate in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid (1980-1985), she joined the Corps of State Lawyers in 1988. She has held various positions in the public and private sectors, having been secretary of the Board of Directors of several companies. She was a founding partner of the consultancy firm Iclaves. She has taught at ICADE, the Complutense University of Madrid, the San Pablo-CEU University, the Institute of Tax Studies and ESADE. She is co-editor of the blog Hay derecho, as well as of the books published by the Foundation with the publishing house Península under the collective pseudonym "Sansón Carrasco": "¿Hay Derecho?" and "Contra el capitalismo clientelar", in addition to numerous specialist works.
