The Aula Magna of the Paraninfo at the University of Zaragoza brought together more than 100 guests for the award ceremony, including members of the organization, audit professionals and representatives from business, finance, politics and academia. The Institute’s president, Lidia Sierra, said that the ICJCE “defends, as non-negotiable pillars of the auditing profession, independence, objectivity, technical rigor and, above all, service to the public interest over private interests. These are exactly the same values that any public or private organization that truly wants to be transparent must uphold. That is why we believe there is no one better than auditors to recognize it.”
Sierra also stressed that the jury for this ninth edition “wanted to look toward a field in which transparency is, if anything, even more decisive: the third sector, made up of organizations that manage public and private resources to directly serve the most vulnerable people in our society,” and that the Rey Ardid Foundation, since its establishment in 1991, “has embraced transparency as one of the pillars of the way it operates and presents financial and non-financial information.”
MANAGING RESOURCES TO GIVE PEOPLE A BETTER LIFE
Alfonso Vicente, president of the Rey Ardid Foundation, accepted the award. In his acceptance speech, he highlighted the work and commitment of all the stakeholders involved in the process: employees, clients, suppliers, as well as auditors and other professionals who, “through their high standards, help us work in a more transparent and rigorous way.”
"If we are unable to explain a decision, an action or how resources are used clearly and simply, while looking people in the eye, we should probably ask ourselves whether we are doing the right thing. This is especially important in a foundation. Because we manage resources with the commitment to transform them into opportunities, care, support and, ultimately, a better life for other people," he added.
The Rey Ardid Foundation stands out for voluntarily subjecting its accounts to two external audits—the financial audit by PwC and the transparency audit by Fundación Lealtad—and for maintaining a management system certified under international standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, UNE 158101, UNE 93200 and the National Security Framework, in addition to the RSA+ 2025 seal. Its public work in favor of transparency is reflected in its collaboration with 79 organizations and its active participation in 13 national and two European networks, where it promotes good practices, impact measurement and transparency in grants.
The organization has developed a comprehensive, accessible and open transparency portal that includes audited accounts, detailed public funding, strategic planning, an organizational chart, an activity report and impact measurement aligned with the SDGs. It also assumes transparency commitments that go beyond legal requirements, such as the early publication of audits, a comprehensive breakdown of grants and the dissemination of reports with key indicators, including 9,941 people served and 2.3 million hours of intervention carried out.
Its activity on social media reinforces this commitment to openness, using platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram and YouTube as channels for institutional communication and accountability. This is complemented by its ethical framework, which includes an Ethics Office and an Ethics Channel open to all citizens, with guarantees of confidentiality and independence that exceed the requirements of Law 2/2023.
