Barcelona International Community Day 2023

Svetlana grew up in Ukraine when the Soviet Union collapsed. She had a difficult childhood but was still able to start her career in the media, later studying financial engineering and receiving a scholarship to study in Barcelona. She fell in love with the city, but before returning to Barcelona she first worked, achieving great success, in global banking institutions in Switzerland.

Before becoming an EdTech entrepreneur, she was a banking director in the field of FICC structured product creation. She joined VTB Capital and supported clients across multiple asset classes, focusing on products including structured loans, structured deposits, and swaps. She became the number one FICC producer, and before joining VTB worked at Goldman Sachs.

She had dreamed of creating the University of the Future from the age of 25. It took her a decade to gather the necessary funding and expertise to embark on the journey. After travelling to Tibet, in 2016 she decided to found Harbour Space, a cutting-edge university for technology, design and entrepreneurship based in Barcelona. It aims to create a learning space where talented young people from all over the world can emerge as the most ground-breaking graduates in their field. Well integrated into Barcelona and the Mediterranean way of life and gastronomy, Svetlana has become an expert in olive oil.

Lázaro Campoalegre grew up in a coastal town in La Habana with a long seafaring tradition, famous for being the birthplace of Havana Club rum. There, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Exact Sciences and studied Computer Science Engineering at university, specialising in virtual reality and scientific visualisation.

While studying, Lázaro was a member of student organisations, part of a Cuban medical mission in Venezuela, became a tutor, volunteered in the Liga Contra la Ceguera (Anti-Blindness League) and won the prize for the best graduate in his class. Later, on arriving in Barcelona, he studied a master’s degree in computing at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, where he was awarded the 2009 UPC Research Staff Training Scholarship, with which he completed his PhD in Computing. He presented his doctoral thesis on the visualisation of volumetric medical images on mobile devices, and upon completion of his PhD he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at Trinity College Dublin.

He currently lives in Barcelona, where he has been working in the IT industry for several years. He feels fully integrated and happy in Barcelona — in the city, in its culture, and in its traditions — and says that he experiences this on a daily basis. He describes Barcelona as a modern and vibrant city.

Liling Qi is a Chinese entrepreneur and businesswoman. She is the president and founder of Puente China Holding, a business group made up of companies from a range of sectors. She is also an Honorary Citizen of Yiwu and President of the Asociación de Industria y Comercio de Shenzhen en España (the Shenzhen Industry and Commerce Association in Spain). Her professional career is marked by a desire to build bridges between China and Europe, and she is the driving force behind agreements between Barcelona and other Chinese cities.

Excellence, commitment and efficiency are her driving principles, and, thanks to her background, she is convinced that things can only be achieved through hard work and that sacrificing a comfortable life is fundamental to achieving a better future. Her culture has also taught her the importance of being grateful when receiving help.

The Qi family moved to Barcelona when Liling was 18, after first living in Andalusia. When she arrived in Barcelona, she found a very open city, full of joy, culture, welcoming people, and a great environment for doing business. She defines Barcelona as an internationally open and welcoming city. Here, she built a family with her husband, who is of Chinese origin, and their two children. The Qi family has always remained connected to its origins with frequent trips to China. Liling stresses that, despite having travelled all over the world, it is a luxury to live in Barcelona, a cosmopolitan and welcoming place, with a magnificent climate surrounded by beaches and mountains.

Mirjam was born in the Netherlands and enjoyed a successful business career in her home country before moving to Barcelona in 2015. She visited the city 25 years ago and fell completely head over heels for it. She loves Catalan culture, in particular the Castellers tradition. She says that the combination of passion, teamwork, diversity, communication and trust behind the construction of these towers is a true reflection of the spirit of Barcelona. As a Barcelonian by choice, she feels she has a responsibility to give something back to the city; she is convinced that there should be a partnership and mutual empowerment.

In 2020, after years of working in the recruitment industry in Barcelona, she wanted to put her own expat experience into practice and make the move to Barcelona easier for others. She created Barcelona Expat Life, the one-stop shop for everything you need to know about living and working in Barcelona. She also organises professional networking events for female entrepreneurs and is the community manager of a Dutch network in Catalonia with more than 9,000 members, as she loves bringing people together. Finally, the advice she would give to people moving to Barcelona is to enjoy everything they see and experience, all of the time.

Reimund is the Head of Communication and Business Development at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) and was involved in its creation when science was not yet on the agenda in Spain. Today, the PRBB is one of the top 5 locations in Europe for science and research and a destination for international scientific talent. In this role, he is responsible for activities in the areas of science support, communication, external relations, innovation and business development.

Reimund is a registered nurse, biologist, science graduate, with a PhD in molecular genetics, and a public relations journalist. Before his move to Barcelona, he gained experience in German PR agencies and founded a business consultancy specialising in biotechnology, counting among his clients the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council, among others.

While studying abroad, he met a girl from Barcelona. They got married, and she lived in Germany for 13 years, before moving to Barcelona in 2000. Music is their outlet to recharge their batteries and connect with people. In the PRBB, they founded an orchestra and are still playing today. He describes Barcelona as a transformative city, and what he likes most is the beauty of its buildings and its outstanding scientific infrastructure.

Marion Sánchez, born in Perpignan, moved to Barcelona in 2020 as a family with her husband and 3 children. When she decided to return to Europe after several experiences abroad, Barcelona was her first choice. Yet, she was surprised to find that the Pyrenees were both a cultural and physical barrier, because of how different the Catalan and Spanish cultures and ways of life can be in comparison to those of the French.

Marion has been working in the public sector for more than 15 years. She started her career at the Bank of France in Paris, where she held various positions in banking supervision and financial market stability, before spending 4 years on the Board of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC.

When they decided to move to Europe to allow their children to finish school, Marion and her husband chose Barcelona, starting off by working remotely before moving on to new sectors and positions. Thanks to Barcelona's welcoming community and networking resources, Marion has been working with an impact investment foundation, Ship2b, as a content curator for their last 2 annual forums. She also enjoys the sport and outdoor culture of the city. Marion thinks Barcelona boasts a wonderful location close to a natural and diverse environment with excellent connections to the rest of Europe.