Sandra Figaredo: A Life Dedicated to Innovation, Strategy, Equality, and Digital Transformation

From the halls of European institutions to the most vibrant ecosystems of technological innovation, Sandra Figaredo has built a career where strategy, digitalization, and public affairs intertwine with a single purpose: driving change.

Her career began in the institutional sphere — an environment that allowed her to deeply understand how public policies are shaped and how decisions impact society and the business fabric. For more than three decades, she has worked both in the Spanish central government and in the Spanish and European Parliaments. She served as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State for Equality and played a key role in the Home Affairs Committee of the Spanish Congress. Beyond national borders, she collaborated with the European Parliament’s Presidency for Mercosur, strengthening her global vision and her ability to build strategic alliances.

But her drive for transformation and innovation took her beyond the public sector. With a natural instinct for strategy and business development, Figaredo made the leap to the private sector, where she has worked on cutting-edge projects involving disruptive technologies, digitalization, and entrepreneurship. She has been a key figure in renowned consultancies such as Llorente & Cuenca (LLYC) and has led strategic initiatives in technology firms such as Innocv (Alkemy Group). At ManpowerGroup, she spearheaded the Change Agents HUB, creating collaborative spaces between talent and technology.

Her impact on digitalization and innovation has been undeniable. As a technology enthusiast, she has been part of the Project Board of the Alastria consortium, the Advisory Council of the IDB LAB, and the Technology and Gender Expert Group of ONTSI. Her ability to connect innovation and strategy has been instrumental in the development of high-impact projects in Latin America and Spain.

One of the most remarkable milestones in her career came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she led the CovidRobots initiative, a project that brought 195 PCR-processing robots to 18 hospitals across Spain. This effort — combining technology, public health, and international collaboration — was recognized by the European Parliament as one of the ten most important altruistic projects in the EU. Moreover, she secured €7 million in funding in just three months, demonstrating exceptional execution capacity in high-pressure contexts.