Team Member Category: Expert Partner

Álvaro Fernaández, named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, is a Brain Health expert, speaker, and writer. For over 15 years, he’s led SharpBrains, a research group studying how brains work in everyday life, bringing together lots of scientists, experts, and tech folks. He’s been mentioned in big newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Álvaro writes important reports about Brain Health and Innovation and has written papers on helping everyone’s mental health using new technologies. He’s written cool books like The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness, translated into many languages.

Before he became deeply involved in brain-related projects, Álvaro was busy helping start online bookstores and launching learning platforms. Additionally, he joined councils and groups that aimed to make the world a better place.

Álvaro Fernández went to Stanford University and got a BA in Economics from a university in Spain.

He loves skiing, tennis, reading non-fiction, and exploring new places. After living in the US for a long time, he and his family moved back to Spain. He’s from Bilbao and speaks Spanish and English fluently.

Lisa Neuberger Fernandez is a sustainability strategist, social innovator, and thought leader. She is Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at SharpBrains Advisors, a boutique consultancy offering strategic advisory and ‘innovation as a service’ in partnership with Axialent to high growth, purpose driven organizations.

Lisa has twenty-five years of experience leading global strategy and innovation teams to deliver value for business and society as Managing Director at Accenture, Head of Sustainability at a cleantech startup, and Senior Advisor to the World Bank.

She advised pioneers at Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and multilaterals on how to apply technology and innovative business models for sustainable and inclusive growth. She launched social businesses, shaped and implemented sustainability strategies, and built purpose-driven collaboration platforms to upskill thousands.

Recognized as an Unusual Pioneer by Yunus Social Business and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, she holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a Master’s from the Fletcher School at Tufts.

She enjoys unlocking human potential teaching at IE University, mentoring youth and social entrepreneurs, and hosting #rebalancetothrive workshops. She recently moved to Madrid with her family and loves to ‘walk and talk’ in beautiful places, sing jazz, and play tennis.

Borja is a successful entrepreneur and intrapreneur, and is a recognized expert in the field of innovation. Starting as an entrepreneur very early in his career, he then created and grew new successful businesses while working in companies such as DHL, Altran, Capgemini or frog design​.

He has also helped blue-chip companies in creating new products, services, solutions, and businesses, as well as becoming more innovative organizations, implementing all innovation processes and methodologies. He’s been Vice President of Capgemini Invent and frog design, the iconic brand noted for disrupting so many markets.

He was also the founder and leader of the Altran Innovation World Class Center, and ACIE, the official certification agency for innovation in Spain. He is now involved in launching new ventures merging Innovation and social and environmental Impact.

Borja is an awarded innovation professor at IE Business School, and has written seminal books in his field, including the first-ever Innovation dictionary published in any language.

Borja holds an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from MIT-Sloan, an Executive MBA from IE Business School, an Honors Degree in Business Administration from Humberside University and ESIC, and has pursued studies in Civil Engineering and Political Science at UNED.

In his spare time, you can find him piloting light experimental aircraft around Madrid, Spain, where he resides with his family.

Paloma brings over three decades of experience in the IT sector. Currently, she serves as the President & General Manager for Xerox Spain, a position she’s held for 11 years, and has been the Southern Europe President for the past two. Her leadership has spanned managing multicultural teams in intricate business landscapes.

She previously managed Xerox Large Accounts, Distribution Channels and Outsourcing & Services organizations, acquiring an extensive operational and business transformation experience. She also hold the Human Resources Director position, which gave her a broaden vision of an organization and reinforced her focus on people as the key company asset.

A stellar communicator, Paloma possesses extensive board experience in both the corporate and non-profit sectors. Since March 2015, she’s been a non-executive board member at Spain’s insurance company, Mutua Pelayo. And as of January 2022, she joined the advisory councils of PROA, a communication and reputation management consultancy, and CEG, Spain’s management excellence club.

Her educational milestones include a degree in Information Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid, she is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and has participated in several leadership and executive development programs at Insead Executive Education (Fontainebleau, Francia), High Performance Center Development (London, UK) and Centre for Creative Leadership (North Carolina, USA).

Based in Madrid, Paloma is a proud mother of three and is married. She is celebrated for her enthusiasm, commitment to diversity, networking prowess, and championing inclusion and equal opportunities. In recognition of her work, she was honored with the “Women Leadership Award” by the Spanish Federation of Women Managers and Entrepreneurs in 2018.

For more than 12 years, Mirea has been at the forefront of applying behavioral science in the financial industry. She held senior positions at the Dutch Central Bank and ING Bank. At these institutions, she was responsible for building behavioral risk capabilities from scratch. She is well-known for her expertise, thought leadership, and her ability to implement behavioral change strategies that deliver results.

Mirea is considered a pioneer, as she was the first psychologist ever appointed by a central bank to use her specific skillset in supervision. For 6.5 years, she spearheaded numerous culture inspections under the Dutch Central Bank’s (DNB) supervision on Behavior & Culture – the well-known Dutch Approach that is globally considered as one of the most successful post-financial crisis innovations in supervision. She collaborated with global regulators, including those from the ECB, the US, Australia, and Asia.

After DNB, Mirea worked as Global Head of Behavioral Risk Management at ING for 5 years. Here, she was responsible for the identification and assessment of behavioral risks and directed the business towards effective mitigation of these risks. She built this capability, which is now an integrated part of ING’s risk function and strategic decision-making.

Mirea studied organizational psychology and holds a doctor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences. She is the chief editor and lead author of the highly influential handbook – Supervision of Behavior & Culture. She is a thought leader in the field of Behavioral Risk Management and is frequently invited as a keynote speaker.

Mirea lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She is married and has two children. In her spare time, she enjoys her family, friends, reading books, and playing sports, especially basketball with her kids.

Alex has 17 years of experience in the field of Business and around 8 in B2B Sales Management consulting. Alex’s approach involves crafting a strategy grounded in the company’s mission. He excels at translating overarching visions into actionable plans to meet organizational objectives.

Starting his career, Alex worked primarily with multinationals from various sectors, including Biofuels, Oils, Engineering, and Software (Tech). He also has experience with SMBs and has taken on roles as an entrepreneur.

Along with joining Axialent, Alex is a Managing Partner at Raisethebar.tech, a hybrid consultancy and training company helping founders, owners, and executive teams grow. The focus is always on the individual, developing their position, and aligning the team to hyper-grow your company.

Previously, Alex set up two different entrepreneurial ventures and is involved in several startups and SMBs as a mentor and minority shareholder. As an Executive Director, Alex showcased exceptional leadership qualities, demonstrating a remarkable talent for crafting and executing visionary strategies that propel organizations to new heights. Under Alex’s leadership, CTAIMA Group not only met but consistently exceeded expectations, establishing industry benchmarks and earning accolades for excellence. This success culminated in a purchase by a PE group.

Alongside his vast Sales experience in the B2B space for consultative sales, Alex possesses a deep understanding of people and their development. He finds it intrinsically rewarding to aid in their growth.

Alex holds a degree in chemistry from URV in Tarragona, located in one of the most significant chemical hubs in Southern Europe. He also pursued an MBA from the same university. More recently, he completed an Executive Program on General Management (PDD) at IESE Business School.

Based in Barcelona, Spain, where he was born and raised, Alex brings to the table extensive work experience from across Europe — including Spain, Germany, Italy, and Belgium — as well as Southeast Asia, with stints in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Outside his professional commitments, Alex is passionate about sports, with a particular love for fitness and marathon running. He’s also keen on exploring facets of business, leadership, and talent management.