To bid farewell to European Diversity Month 2023, we talk to Imma Folch (Barcelona, 1965), CEO and founder of the communications agency LF Channel, and President of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the international public relations network Worldcom for EMEA. Since 1996 she has been helping more than 500 companies to increase their visibility and market share through communication and marketing strategies; currently leading diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in organisations.

TB: What is the purpose of your project?

IF: Enabling businesses as leaders of change for a more inclusive and socially responsible society.

TB: A good idea you have had.

IF: At a time when it was difficult to set up a company being a woman and being 29 years old, I had the idea of creating the LF Channel agency with the aim of training and informing the distribution channel about new technologies. 27 years later and after having helped in the development of communication and marketing strategies for more than half a thousand companies all over the world, I can say that I had a good idea.

TB: A bad professional experience.

IF: I think that all experiences are good, because they all give you the opportunity to learn, to see reality from other perspectives.

TB: The best advice you’ve ever been given.

IF: Always surround yourself with people smarter than you.

TB: A professional reference that inspires you.

IF: All women who break down barriers, who dismantle silos, and who make their dreams come true are references. On a professional level, my maternal grandmother, who, from sewing aprons in the post-war period, ended up owning a small textile factory.

TB: A technology that will shape the future.

IF: Artificial intelligence is already changing our present, and I believe it will define a future and new social paradigms. But I look forward to seeing technologies focused on the use and regeneration of water, so necessary for life.

TB: What are you worried about?

IF: I am concerned about inequalities, wars, climate change…. It’s all the result of mismanagement for selfish purposes. We should all be more empathetic.

TB: A startup.

IF: Holaluz, a pioneer in the use of green energy in Spain, is already a large company.

TB: A book to recommend.

IF: “La mujer habitada”, by Gioconda Belli, and any poem by Miquel Martí i Pol.

TB: A series, film or song that defines your moment in life.

IF: A song from 1990, written on the occasion of the fall of the Berlin Wall. “Winds of Change” by Scorpions. It talks about the brotherhood of peoples. And looking at what is happening now in Europe and other parts of the world, this song is a reminder that there is hope.

TB: A recipe, a meal, a restaurant.

IF: A good grilled fish accompanied by wine. By the sea.

TB: A city, a journey.

IF: Chicago, for its architecture, its canals, its people and its cultural offer.

TB: Where would you invest 100k?

IF: In my company, to strengthen equipment, infrastructure, research and non-profit projects.

TB: And a million euros?

IF: In training and awareness-raising projects on inclusion in companies. If all people in leadership positions were aware of the change in society that inclusive and equitable environments bring about, the world would be a much kinder place.

TB: If you weren’t an entrepreneur…

IF: I would dedicate myself to acting, my hidden facet.

TB: What is Tech Barcelona for you?

IF: Tech Barcelona is a network, a meeting point, a point of trust where we can count on the great professionals we love in Barcelona.