The award recognises the professional excellence of leading businesswomen for their careers, as well as the degree of development and success of their business. María José Félix was chosen alongside 11 other regional winners at the national premiere.

María Rosé Félix, general director of Helados Estiu, an enterprise dedicated to the production of ice cream, has been recognised as the winner of the ninth edition of the ‘CaixaBank Businesswoman Award’ in the Valencian Community. These awards have been consolidated in recent years within the Spanish Panorama, particularly in the context of diversity and equality. Its objective is to enhance the visibility of leading businesswomen and to establish an international network that fosters interaction and collaboration among its members.

An Economic Sciences and Business graduate at the University of Valencia; she completed her studies at the University of Madrid in the Institute of Business with an MBA (master’s in business administration) and began her career there. M. José Félix has always had a business-oriented vocation, so after passing through ‘Edival’ as Commercial Director, in 1998, she put forward the brand ‘Helados Estiu’ (summer ice creams); the entrepreneurial project that involved her family members, Pons y Félix. Since the year 1999, she has occupied the role of General Director of the company, and for the last 27 years has consistently remained in the role without giving up; always reinventing, negotiating and innovating with great strength and passion, with the support of her team. They employ over 750 people per summer.

Nowadays, the founder of the ‘Helados Estiu’ group, M. Rosé Félix, is the corporate director and counsellor of the global companies ‘Helados Estiu’ and ‘Hecomed’. Helados Estiu has been a supplier of Mercadona for 25 years and has produced 45 million litres of ice cream for consumption. In the last 5 years, they have poured over 43 million Euros to improve and improve the effectiveness of their production equipment, innovation, sustainability and technology. The Valencian ice cream producers already export to over 35 countries thanks to the innovation of their products.

1. José Félix was a student at the first edition of EDEM’s “15×15”, where she continues training students, teaching classes and serves as vice president. Félix is also currently president of the Topgel group, a member of the board of directors of AVE (Valencian Business Association), and a trustee of the Chair of Business Culture, the LAB Medeterráneo Foundation. She also serves on the executive committee of FEDACOVA and as a member of the Chamber of Commerce. She is also the second vice president of Casa Caridad.

Olgia García, CaixaBank’s regional director for the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia, emphasised that the CaixaBank Businesswoman Award is “a recognition of those women who, with their strategic vision, capacity for innovation, and transformative leadership, have made their mark. With this award, we not only highlight the achievements of these leaders, but we also promote gender equality and the visibility of women in business, where their presence is essential for progress toward a more equitable and diverse society”.

To select the winner, the jury, made up of CaixaBank executives, has highly valued the success of her business and professional trajectory, such as her leadership skills and their participation in female mentoring initiatives, networks of female entrepreneurs, and business leadership groups. The jury also took into consideration the company’s goods and services, its foreign trade activity, and its level of innovation, job creation, financial solidity, environmental and sustainability aspects of the business and its support for diversity. Félix will compete, along with 11 other regional awardees, for the national award. All of them have been invited to join the LinkedIn Businesswoman Award Community, a space created by the organisation to foster networking and collaboration among the winners of all editions, as well as to offer them access to exclusive activities.

Alongside this, the national Businesswomen’s Award will have the opportunity to assist in a prestigious international event to connect with leading businesswomen on a global level. The Caixabank Businesswoman’s Award is a demonstration of the organisation’s commitment to equal opportunities and diversity in the business world. This award recognises the efforts, innovation and leadership of women who contribute to the economic and social progress of Spain.

To be eligible for these awards, candidates must be shareholders in a company and actively involved in day-to-day operations. The company must be at least 3 years old and hold a minimum annual turnover of the equivalent of $1.5 million.

CaixaBank is aware of the importance of women entrepreneurs in the economy and is launching these awards as a show of support and recognition for this key group.

These awards are part of CaixaBank’s Wengage diversity program, a cross-cutting project developed by people from all areas of the entity based on meritocracy and equal opportunity promotion, which works to promote and visualise all dimensions of diversity: gender, disability, generational, LGBTQ+, culture, and cognition.

CaixaBank also promotes various awards and recognitions for academic excellence (WONNOW Awards ), lines of action linked to sport (sponsorship of the women’s basketball team) and the rural environment (AgroBank Chair: Women, Business and the Rural Environment, or the study of the gender gap in the agricultural sector by Closingap).

Report by Elliot Fryat

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’