Judith Viader, CEO of Frit Ravich, national winner of the ‘CaixaBank Women in Business Award’ 2024

Recognising female talent

• The bank recognises the executive for her enterprising spirit, strategic vision, transformative leadership and commitment to society
• Viader started her career at the company in 1991 in the marketing department and worked across various departments, and developing a comprehensive understanding of the organization before advancing to upper management in 1997.
• CaixaBank has been promoting these awards since 2017 to recognise the decisive role played by female executives
• The chief executive officer of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Gortázar, presented the award at a ceremony held at the ‘all in one’ branch in Madrid, which was attended by the finalists and winners of previous editions

Judith Viader, CEO of Frit Ravich, has been chosen as the national winner of the eighth edition of the ‘2024 CaixaBank Women in Business Award’, which every year recognises the talent and professional excellence of businesswomen in Spain who are a benchmark for their career, strategic vision, capacity for innovation and transformational leadership.

The awards jury, made up of a group of CaixaBank executives and managers, chose Judith Viader among the twelve regional winners for her entrepreneurial spirit and strategic vision. The jury valued her merits both in terms of the success of her business activity, recognising her leadership skills as well as her involvement in mentoring initiatives for women and her participation in networks of women entrepreneurs and leadership groups.      

Viader began started her career atin the company in 1991 in the marketing department and worked across various in different departments, and developing a comprehensive understanding of the organization before advancing to upper management in 1997.

The chief executive officer of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Gortázar, presented the award at a ceremony held at the ‘all in one’ branch in Madrid, which was attended by the finalists of this year and winners of previous years.

For Viader, “it is an honor to receive this prize, both on a personal and professional level. Professionally, it acknowledges the dedication and work of the 1,200 individuals at Frit Ravich who support me through all stages of life. Personally, it is a profound pride to receive an award that celebrates female leadership, and I would like to dedicate it especially to my mother”.

For his part, the CEO of CaixaBank stressed that at the bank ‘we are very aware of the important role played by the business sector and female talent in economic and social development. Both Judith Viader and all the finalists are clear examples of strategic and transformative vision, creating value and employment through the companies they run’.

The event was also attended by the other eleven regional winners competing for the national CaixaBank Women in Business 2024 Award: Virginia González Lucena, executive president of Grupo Dian; Susana Juan Baras, CEO of Invisa Hoteles; Paula Rodríguez Pelaez, CEO of Grupo Cafento; Beatriz Magro Nogales, CEO & cofounder of Komvida Kombucha; María Esther Cabrera Quintero, CEO of Arrecife Bus; Marta Antich Díaz, managing partner of Fertilab; Elena Martínez Garnica, CEO of Martínez Somalo; Isabel Rodero Baños, manager of Dominio del Águila; Ana María López Arjona, General Manager of Grupo Connect Are Us; Zulema Beresaluce Salinero, general manager of Aceitunas Cazorla; and Dolores Marín Sánchez, General Manager of the La Ciezana Venta del Olivo Group.

Women in Business Award Community

Judith Viader will be part of the LinkedIn Entrepreneur Award Community created by CaixaBank, which promotes relationships and networking between all the territorial winners of all the previous editions and gives them access to exclusive activities. In addition, she will have the opportunity to attend a prestigious international event to connect with leading global businesswomen.

As winner of the ‘CaixaBank Women in Business Award’, Viader joins Inés Juste, president of the Juste Group: Rocío Hervella, founder and CEO of Prosol; Arancha Manzanares, Vice-President of Ayesa; Lina Mascaró, Chair of Grupo Mascaró; Pilar Martínez-Cosentino, vice-president of the Cosentino Group; Maite Casademunt, chairwoman and creative director of Lola Casademunt; and Maria José Cascajo, founder of HC Clover, all of them winners of previous editions of the ‘CaixaBank Women in Business Award’.

CaixaBank's commitment to diversity and business excellence

CaixaBank is aware of the importance of female business professionals for the strength of the economy and is launching this award as a show of support and acknowledgement for this key group. These awards are part of the Wengage diversity programme, a CaixaBank-wide project developed by people from all areas of the bank based on meritocracy and promoting equal opportunities, striving to encourage and implement diversity in all its dimensions: gender, functional, generational, cultural and more.

CaixaBank also supports various awards and acknowledgements for academic excellence (WONNOW Awards), female business leadership (CaixaBank Women in Business Awards and Self-Employed Businesswoman Award), sports-related initiatives (sponsorship of the women's national basketball team) and the rural environment (AgroBank Chair: Women, business and rural environment, or a study of the gender gap in the agricultural sector by Closingap). 

A total of 43% of managerial positions at CaixaBank are held by women, and the Board of Directors is made up of 40% women.