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On June 24, the Advanced Management Program closing ceremony took place in the Aula Magna at IE Business School. Over one hundred senior managers gathered in Madrid to celebrate the closure of the Advanced Management Program. A new stage is starting for them, with great challenges ahead.

The ceremony began at 2 p.m. with a few words from Mr. Alfonso Martínez de Irujo, President of Executive Education at IE Business School. He not only congratulated the students, but also the program directors who played a key role in accompanying and supporting students during the intense months of the program.

Then, Manuel Bermejo Sánchez, Director of Executive Education, took the floor to give a speech in which humanistic references took center stage. Quoting Ernesto Sábato, he reminded the audience that, “History is not mechanical because people are free to transform it,” and encouraged all of the students to be the ones who will lead that transformation to their areas. We heard some lines from maestro Gardel (Volver con la frente marchita, las nieves del tiempo platearon mi sien) on the day marking 81 years since his death. Manuel Bermejo caused the audience to break into applause throughout the room with optimistic statements like, “The sun has come out today and it will also come out tomorrow.”

Stephen Adamson, Director of General Management and Leadership Programs, was in charge of explaining the practical aspects of one of the most highly anticipated moments: the presentation of diplomas. The eight regional groups walked across the stage to collect their diplomas from the program directors. The room was filled with applause, smiling faces, and lots of people taking pictures when the AMP students from Asturias, the Canary Islands, Castile and León, Galicia, León, Murcia, the Basque Country and Zaragoza collected their diplomas.

The last institutional representative to speak was Juila Sánchez, Head of Global Alumni Relations. She explained to the new alumni the relationship that they could continue to maintain with IE and its students: clubs, activities, benefits, the Alumni Weekend or the Alumni Forum recently held in Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.

It goes without saying that the speech made by Dunia Moreno Ojeda, AMP Canary Islands participant, was the most moving, bringing some tears and lots of laughter. Dunia was able to convey the most special moments of each one of the regional programs, sharing anecdotes that everyone will remember.

She derailed the rivalry stereotypes that are presupposed in senior management environments: they had learned (with a capital L) from each other more than they could have ever imagined when beginning this adventure. Some say that Spaniards do not take risks and that they do not have an entrepreneurial mindset, but Dunia does not see this in her colleagues. She sees her colleagues as people who will fight to reach the top.

The applause that was heard in the Aula Magna during those moments was only for them, for having achieved it, for the challenges, and for the future that awaits them.

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