Ten major companies have joined an alliance between academia and business to turn corporate purpose into research, training and method. This is what it looks like when purpose becomes structure.
On Monday 23rd June, we presented the Chair of Purpose-Driven Companies at the Madrid campus of Universidad de Navarra. A milestone we are proud of — and one that belongs as much to the ten companies that have joined us as it does to us.
This is not a declaration of intent. It is a structure: applied research, training for leadership teams, and a programme to disseminate best practices across organisations. It will run for a minimum of three years as part of the Universidad de Navarra’s 2025–2030 Strategy, within the research line on professional meaning, purpose and business ethics.
We built this because we believe the gap between declared purpose and lived purpose is one of the most urgent problems in business today. And closing it requires more than good intentions — it requires rigour, method and the kind of knowledge that only emerges when academia and business work together.
Ten companies, one shared conviction
We are proud to share this Chair with MasOrange, Atresmedia, Iberostar, Elecnor, Cinfa, Baviera, Ferrer, Fundación Cantabria Labs and Zurich Seguros — companies spanning telecommunications, energy, media, healthcare and insurance, all united by the same conviction: that purpose, to be real, demands the same rigour applied to any other strategic decision.
Álvaro Lleó, Director of the Chair and lead researcher of the Purpose Strength Project — a university observatory that since 2017 has analysed over 80 organisations across 12 countries, gathering data from more than 30,000 employees and 5,000 executives — captured it perfectly at the launch: academic knowledge and management experience are not separate worlds. They are complementary and essential.
Three pillars that make it real
The Chair works around three axes. Research: new lines of study on the actual level of purpose implementation within organisations. Training: specialised sessions and working spaces for leadership teams. Dissemination: professional conferences and best practice guides to spread what we learn beyond the walls of academia.
The conversation that matters
The launch brought together around fifty attendees and featured a roundtable moderated by our President, Ángel Bonet, with the senior leaders of all member companies: Alberto García de los Ángeles (CEO of Elecnor), Mario Rovirosa (CEO of Ferrer), Patricia Pérez (Chief Corporate Officer of Atresmedia), Ana Torres (Director of Social Impact at MasOrange), Juan Matji (President of Cantabria Labs), Eduardo Baviera (CEO of Baviera), Enrique Ordieres (President of Cinfa) and Santiago Insula (HR Director at Zurich Seguros).
Vice-Rector Paloma Grau underlined that the Chair sits at the heart of the University’s priority research agenda. Dean Antonio Moreno reminded us of something we deeply believe: a company is not a unit of production. It is a community of people called to generate real and lasting impact.
We couldn’t agree more — and this Chair is our commitment to making that belief actionable.
At ImpactCo, we have always argued that purpose is not a message. It is a management philosophy. Today, it is also a university chair. And that, for us, changes everything.