Spain: Noelia Lavara, director of Entorno Social

Noelia Lavara Extremera, 35, is director of Entorno Social, Spain?s first and only independent magazine dedicated to the Spanish social sector.

How long have you been working in/with the non profit sector?
Since 2004

What did you do before?
I graduated from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1995 and began my career as a journalist for a variety of magazines, writing mainly about economics, current affairs with a special focus on different markets.

How and why did you become interested in the third sector and civil society issues?
I have always had a personal interest in social issues, such as poverty, the elderly and children. But in my work I was used to looking at the economic aspect of issues and was therefore interested in that kind of information as a reader. When I became the director of Entorno Social, I was able to match my personal interest in my job. I discovered a world where people worked without earning a cent; the world of volunteers, who work for the sake of others. I found people who didn?t mind stealing time from their families, their hobbies and from their own leisure time so as to have time to dedicate to those who needed it. This realisation had a great effect on me, and nowadays I admire those people more than politicians, employees or even the managers of NGOs.

What are, in your opinion, the main challenges for the Spanish third sector today?
Professionalism and transparency. There are many NGOs, perhaps too many, and sometimes they overlap ? sometimes there are two NGOs performing the same job, and they would be better off joining forces, thereby reducing expenses. At the same time, sometimes there are too many volunteers carrying out management tasks like accounting, strategy-making, marketing and so on. I think that this can make an organization ineffective, and encourage the dispersal of resources. Transparency, on the other hand is vital if NGOs want Spanish people to trust them. Spanish society is generally considered to be one of the most solidary societies in the world, but if you betray its trust there is no hope. In my mind, if people begin to distrust it, the Spanish third sector will die.

What lessons do you think Spain has to offer Europe?s non profit sector?
Generosity and the work ethic. Spain can consider itself a leader of a few theìing only. One of these is generosity. If there is a tragedy, Spanish people are always there. And I mean real people, not just politicians, managers or directors.

What would you say are the main challenges faced by European civil society today?
Attempting to find cohesion. To work together and put pressure on the governments. We must get used to thinking about Europe as the second economic power in the world: the European social sector has a lot to say.

What would you say you have learned from working with/in the third sector?
To be generous. This is the most apt term to describe what I have learned. I have also learned that the world is not all good. There are people without scruples out there capable of stealing money meant to feed the world?s starving ?

What, in your opinion, is the potential for partnerships to be established between the profit and the non profit sector?
I think it is enormous and I truly believe it is the future. There are an increasing number of consumers who look for products that come from enterprises that can prove they care about society: elderly people, children, the environment. The business world is beginning to come to grips with this realisation.

Do you have a particularly interesting or favourite website to suggest to our readers?
www.caritas.es, www.cruzroja.es, www.savethechildren.es, www.entreculturas.org

More info:
www.entornosocial.es