Team

José is a Professor at ESADE Business School and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair-ESADE. He is also a Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and Vicepresident of the Spain-USA Council Foundation. He has been Visiting Professor at INSEAD Business School, Fontainebleau, London Business School and WIlliam and Mary School of Law, Virginia. He has worked as Advisor to the Spanish Prime Minister on European and North American affairs. He writes a weekly column on international affairs at the ABC newspaper and is a Trustee of the Spanish Navy Museum. José M. de Areilza received an LL.B. degree with Special Graduation Prize from Universidad Complutense de Madrid and holds a Masters degree (LL.M.) and Doctorate degree (S.J.D.) from Harvard University and an M.A. from The Fletcher School

Isabel joined Aspen Institute España in September 2013. She holds a Degree in Journalism from Universidad CEU San Pablo and an Executive Media MBA from Universidad de Navarra. She has worked for two years as a writer and editor for the gastronomical magazine Club de Gourmets, coordinating the Press Department of Grupo Gourmets (first publishing company in Spain specialized in gastronomy) and Salon de Gourmets (the major European international fine food and beverage fair), where she was also responsible for the website and the Social Networks of the group. Isabel has previously worked at Christie’s and LVMH Watches and Jewelry. She speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Santiago joined Aspen Institute España in May 2014. Santiago holds a Masters in International Relations at the University Institute for European Studies from the CEU San Pablo University and a Degree in Journalism form the CEU San Pablo University. Previously, he studied Political Science and the Palestinian and Arabic Studies Program at Bir Zeit University, in Palestine. He has worked at the press department of the Elcano Royal Institute, at the graphic department of the Agencia EFE and has done voluntary work at the Palestinian Agricultural Union in Hebron, the West Bank. He speaks Spanish, English and has basic knowledge of Arabic.

Diego has a wide range of professional experience in both the private and public sectors. He has worked in companies, business associations, European institutions, and the Spanish administration.

He has developed and coordinated twinning projects with EU candidate and neighbouring countries, participated in election observation missions, and worked on national and international projects in the maritime and fisheries sector.

He holds a degree in Law and a master’s degree in International Development Cooperation. He speaks English and French.

Gabriela joined Aspen Institute Spain in October 2015. She holds a degree in Tourism from the University of Seville and a Master's degree in Congress, Convention and Business Tourism Management (OPC) from the European University of Madrid. She has worked at the NH Eurobulding Hotel in Madrid in the meetings and events department. During the three years she lived in Santiago de Chile (2012-2015), she worked organising and coordinating medical congresses in the company Eventual Chile.

She joined Aspen in June, 2018 as Program Assistant, and, after 6 months in Brussels, Montse rejoined Aspen in January, 2020 to coordinate Aspen Programs and its Communication strategy. She holds a degree in Journalism and a Master Degree in Corporate and Politic Communications from the University of Navarra, and a four-week political affairs program at the School of Political Management at the George Washington University. She has worked in Reputation and Crisis Department as a trainee in two communication agencies: Burson-Marsteller and Atrevia, in the Communication and Institutional Relations department of Inditex as a trainee and at El Mundo País Vasco. She speaks English and Spanish and she is studying French.

Mariana joined Aspen Institute España in March of 2025. She has an undergraduate degree in Communication from the University of Southern California (USC) and a Masters in Art Direction and Graphic Production from Centro de Estudios de Innovación- Diseño y Marketing in Madrid. She has worked in corporate communication and public relations for restaurants, hotels, and luxury products at MMGY Wagstaff in Los Angeles, USA. Further, she has interned in internal communication at DHL in Chile, and in evento organization for sustainable fashion brands in Brazil, Colombia and the United States. She speaks Spanish, English, and Portuguese fluently and a basic level of French.

Juan joined Aspen Institute Spain in September 2025. Previously, he was a Researcher at ESADEGeo – Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, where he worked on issues related to global governance, public policy, and geopolitics. Before that, he held positions at the Union for the Mediterranean (Barcelona) and at the Cato Institute (Washington, DC). Juan studied Law and Global Governance at ESADE in Barcelona and holds a master’s degree in International Politics from SOAS University of London.