Sonia Etxebarria – Get to know our VAB member
It is our pleasure to introduce you to our member Sonia Etxebarria who joins VAB from Madrid, Spain. She is founder and CEO of Akuyari, a strategic design consulting firm focused on aligning customer experience (CX/UX), employee experience (EX), innovation and sustainability to drive organisational transformation. Prior to launching Akuyari, Sonia served as country manager for Sketchin and held seats on the boards of Women in CX, the Customer Experience Foundation and Asociación DEC. She has donated her time as a mentor to The Power MBA programme, acted as a CX ambassador for the Contact Center Hub and as an ambassador for Noaway, while also serving in a collaborator role with The Valley Digital Business School. Sonia brings a wide array of executive and board experience to the VAB community and we encourage you to reach out to her to learn more about her professional journey.
What inspired you to become a member of the Virtual Advisory Board community?
Definitely the interest all the members showed in me and my wellbeing. Also, VAB has a good name (reputation) when it comes to helping people advance in their board journey. I feel the extensive network will help fulfil my wish of becoming a board advisor and, at the same time, I can help others.
In what area do you feel board advisors can add the most value for Boards of Directors (BoDs) and executive teams?
Providing a different, more neutral and external view in specific fields of expertise (usually cross-industry) or in specific industries. Advisors can generally help businesses and their boards consider other options for strategy that being involved in the day-to-day business makes it hard to see.
What would be your dream company/organisation to work with as a board advisor/NED?
A medium sized company with an innovative culture where culture and people are important. It should be a business that wants to have a positive impact on society and the broader market ecosystem. I particularly like the health industry but other sectors or projects with purpose would do.
What book or podcast would you recommend to VAB members that might improve their skills in corporate governance, board advisory or boosting board-to-executive team communications?
I would definitely recommend Entrena tu cerebro (Train Your Brain) by Ana Ibañez.
