Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco

Senior Advisor, BOLDT BPI — Brussels

Elena Valenciano has 20 years’ experience as a parliamentarian, a career she began in the European Parliament from 1999 to 2008, coming back in 2014 as head of the Socialist Party. She was Vice-President of the Socialist and Democrat Group from 2015 to 2018, responsible for foreign policy, cooperation for development, international trade, and Human Rights. She was a member of the Spanish Congress from 2008 to 2014 and was elected Vice-President of the European Socialists Party in 2012.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs appointed her as Head of the EU Election Observation Missions in Senegal (2019), Lebanon (2017) and Haiti (2015-2016).

In March 2023 she was appointed “Consejera de Estado”, Member of the Higher advisory body of the Spanish State. She is currently Senior Advisor at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.  

Her commitment to gender equality and feminism is a constant factor throughout her political career. She is Chair and Founder of the Fundación Mujeres, a reference organisation in Spain in the field of gender equality.