Sir:
On this special day, and on behalf of all of us at FRdP, THANK YOU for joining us; your presence among us this afternoon honours the memory of our father, grandfather and great-grandfather, the founder. Rafael del Pino y Moreno lived a life of effort and sacrifice that culminated in a successful business career. His commitment to society, his generosity and his vocation of service to Spain, moved him, on the verge of turning 80, to create the Foundation that bears his name. With a clear vision: contribute to Spain's economic and social developmentthrough the promotion of talent, the training of leaders and the promotion of the values of entrepreneurship, innovation and freedom. It was a courageous commitment to the future, guided by the conviction that a free and prosperous society can only be built on the basis of merit, effort and education. He believed, in short, in the transformative power of knowledge. A modern and profoundly humanist vision.
A project for the continuity of which he had, and still has, the commitment of his family. Starting with our mother and continuing with all of us. For those of us who work at the Foundation, her commitment and legacy continue to inspire our daily work.
Minister, dear trustees, board members, partners, collaborators, alumni, fellows, R2P professors, scholarship holders, staff members, friends, the Foundation has come a long way since then.
We wanted to celebrate this anniversary with those of you who have made it possible. Thank you for being with us today, and thank you for being with us all this time.
In these 25 years, we have accompanied hundreds of brilliant young people, who today lead companies, transform research, and contribute to the common good from different fields. We have witnessed how a scholarship can become a bridge to discovery; how an encounter can inspire a vocation; how a Foundation can be a seed and a driving force for transformation.
We have opened our doors to rigorous dialogue, independent thought and debate on the challenges of our time. We have promoted research, economic analysis, entrepreneurship, and the creation of talent networks that are now a benchmark.
The programme with which the Foundation began, and which we continue to care for with the same care and attention as on the first day, is the Excellence Scholarship Programme. Our scholarship holders are at the heart of this mission. I say to you today, to the veterans and to those of you who are joining us this year. Keep dreaming big, keep being agents of change, keep proudly carrying the name of Spain and the Foundation wherever you are. Because the future is also built with memory, with gratitude and with responsibility.
If the Excellence Grants contribute to improving the training of a brilliant but necessarily small group of beneficiaries, 348 to date, the Keynote Lectures Programme helps to spread the world of ideas to a wider public.
Since the first one held on 18 May 2001, which featured President Clinton, the Foundation has organised almost 500 keynote lectures and dialogues in which 40 Nobel laureates have participated, among other relevant national and international experts from the world of science, economics, culture and politics. The number of events is close to 1,000 if we add other seminars and meetings.
In the field of training, I would like to emphasise that the Foundation attaches particular importance to the training of trainers. As the Founder recalled, "It is not so much knowledge as the transmission of knowledge that has enabled us to survive and to dominate the Earth". Helping to train trainers guarantees high rates of return, with multiplier effects, on the educational system as a whole and on society in general.
It is also fair to highlight the good reception of the INICIA Programme, which aims to bring the values of free enterprise and entrepreneurship to secondary and baccalaureate students, and which has enjoyed the collaboration of entrepreneurs from the Community of Madrid. So far, 134,356 young people have participated in the programme and we plan to extend it to other Autonomous Regions.
The Founder also attached great importance to knowledge of the past in order to understand the present and better plan for the future. The research promoted by the Foundation in the field of history has earned two National History Prizes, to José Antonio Escudero and Feliciano Barrios, and a United States Academy of History Award to Felipe Fernández Armesto.
In the field of Economic History, our professor Leandro Prados de la Escosura, whose latest work has received 244,000 downloads to date, deserves a special mention. And in the field of Research, our professor Javier García, winner of the National Research Award 2023.
Complementing the above, the Founder's desire to contribute to alleviating the pain of those who suffer the anguish of illness has led to collaborations with the National Paraplegic Hospital in Toledo and the Puerta de Hierro Hospital, which have materialised respectively in the construction of the Rafael del Pino Sports Complex in Toledo - the first high performance sports centre for Paralympic athletes in Spain - and the NC1 drug, the first public cell therapy drug authorised in Spain.
The Foundation, based on new technologies, has made its frptv platform available to all citizens of the world to monitor and consult its activities. Anyone, from anywhere in the world - and we know that we are joined by people from all five continents - can follow the Foundation's activities live or consult them at any time.
The platform has registered more than 7.5 million downloads to date.
But beyond the numbers, what we are really celebrating today is the impact. The impact on the individual trajectories of so many young people who found opportunity here.
The impact on civil society, by generating spaces for reflection and intellectual freedom. And the impact on the entrepreneurial spirit of those who believe that improvement is always possible.
A Foundation is nothing without people who believe in its mission and who are willing to devote their time, effort and intelligence to it,
For this reason, today is above all a day of gratitude, for if generosity beautifies the soul, as Seneca said, gratitude ennobles it. Many of you have participated in this collective task. Without all of you we would not have achieved the results we have achieved. On behalf of the Founder's family, thank you very much. To those of you who are here, and to those who could not come.
To the Board of Trustees, its Advisory Council and the Investment Advisory Board for their vision and ongoing support.
To the effective team of the Foundation, for their tireless work.
To the two directors who have led it throughout these 25 years, always attentive to the fulfilment of the Foundation's objectives and the mandate of its Board of Trustees. Until 2013 Amadeo Petitbo and since then, Vicente Montes.
To our partners in various programmes, who have shared the Foundation's values by pooling your efforts and resources with ours.
To the Rafael del Pino professors and researchers, who have contributed their knowledge by promoting singular activities, or by publishing works that have become indisputable references, as I mentioned earlier.
To the Association of Fellows of Excellence, its successive presidents and their respective boards, who have made a vital contribution to the good name of the Association, and of the Foundation.
To the speakers, leaders and thinkers for enriching our programmes.
To each and every one of those who attend our events, in person or through social networks.
To the media, for publicising our activities.
And, of course, to all the collaborators, from those who manage the foundation's assets to those who maintain the building's facilities or ensure its security.
All of you mentioned above, as well as many others, have been the necessary co-operators of our exciting project.
Sir, dear friends, today, as we look to the future, we renew our commitment to the principles that inspired the creation of the Foundation.
The future is here, and like the past, it is inspired by the words on the wall of this auditorium to your right. Words which, because of their power, I repeat often.
They were delivered by the founder at the ceremony of his investiture as Doctor "Honoris Causa" by the University of Castilla-La Mancha on 18 September 2002:
"We all have a great task ahead of us: that of helping to ensure that the knowledge inherited from others, together with our particular added value, continues to be passed on to the next generations in freedom. All this in the service of others, through our dedication, our effort and our sacrifice. And if we apply our knowledge in this way to improve the well-being of more people, we will have done our duty and we will have contributed a little to making it easier for the inhabitants of the Earth to live together.
Your Majesty, we live in times of accelerated change, of global challenges - technological, geopolitical and social - that demand calm reflection and ethical and responsible leadership.
The Foundation wants to continue to be a place of trust for the free and critical thinking that every democracy needs. We will continue to support talent, initiative and a more cohesive, just and prosperous society.
The commitment of the Founder's family, our family, to the future of the Foundation is clear and is endorsed by the incorporation of the younger generation into the Board of Trustees and the day-to-day tasks.
Thanks again to those of you who have made this journey possible. Thank you for believing, for participating, for inspiring.
Sir, your constant support for education, entrepreneurship, young talent and the values of democracy in Spain is an example and an inspiration to us all.
Thank you very much