Carolina Troncoso Álvarez

UPF Barcelona School of Management

“From community work in vulnerable contexts to public leadership, advancing human and sustainable systems.”

Hometown: Santiago, Chile

Fun fact about yourself: I am currently developing a serialized digital content project that integrates both my professional and personal perspectives. I am writing two parallel pieces: a psychologist’s diary of the MBA experience and an editorial series titled “Me in the Age of the Algorithm,” where I explore my generation’s relationship with AI.

Both projects are conceived as real-time reflections, with the intention of evolving into a book that brings together lived experience, critical thinking, and observations of the contemporary context.

Undergraduate School and Degree:

• Psychology, Universidad de Las Americas
• Master’s in Community Psychology, Universidad de Chile
• Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology, Universidad Diego Portales
• Diploma in Qualitative Research Methods, Universidad Diego Portales
• MBA Candidate, UPF Barcelona School of Management

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Chief of Staff to the Minister of Sports, Government of Chile.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? No formal internship; I focused this period on academic development and professional transition.

Where will you be working after graduation? I aim to pursue strategic roles in sustainability and ESG, where social impact and governance are central to decision-making.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Class Representative of the MBA cohort, fostering a collaborative culture and encouraging participation in spaces such as the debate league and cultural initiatives, contributing to a more inclusive and conscious learning environment.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Being elected Class Representative. I am deeply proud of fostering a collaborative culture in an environment that was initially highly competitive. By encouraging my peers to engage in the debate league and cultural programs, I’ve worked to prove that business leadership is more robust when built on empathy and mutual support rather than just individual success.

Also, the debate league. It represents a culture that fosters critical thinking, active listening, and respect for diverse perspectives, becoming a space where leadership is built through dialogue rather than performance alone.

What achievements are you most proud of in your professional career? My greatest pride is having transformed a path of limited opportunities into a career with national impact. I grew up in one of Chile’s most emblematic vulnerable neighborhoods—one that often constrains the future of those who live there. Inspired by my family’s resilience, I chose not to escape that reality, but to professionalize my vocation to change it.

I began my journey as a volunteer in the same marginalized environments I knew and was able to scale that experience to the level of public decision-making. As a psychologist, I contributed to the design of the first National Census and social characterization instruments for people experiencing homelessness in Chile—tools that are still used by the State today. Later, as Head of the “Programa Familias,” I led a social protection system reaching over 1.5 million families nationwide.

Closing this circle—from growing up in a vulnerable neighborhood to contributing to the design of structural public policies—allowed me to ensure that policies were not merely bureaucratic, but tools grounded in both technical rigor and human understanding for those who need them most.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose it for its “Management with a Purpose” philosophy. As a community psychologist, I sought a school that integrates ethics and social impact as core strategic pillars, allowing me to translate a human-centered experience into the language of senior management.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? It was my professor of Operations and Global Supply Chain Management, Oriol Montanyà. In addition to holding a PhD in Economics and being a renowned columnist in Spain, one of the key aspects of his teaching is that he served for six years as Director General of Logistics and a member of the executive committee at Mercadona. It is one of Spain’s leading retailers and the supermarket chain with the largest market share in the country’s distribution sector, employing a total workforce of 99,000 people and generating revenues of €35.6 billion.

It was a deeply inspiring personal and intellectual challenge; we even began interacting on LinkedIn before meeting in the classroom. His ability to connect operational efficiency with human impact transformed what initially felt like a distant and theoretical subject into a deeply meaningful experience, allowing me to recognize in it learnings already present in my professional trajectory.

He gave me the tools to ground, contextualize, and improve that experience, making it one of the fundamental pillars of my learning.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Operations Management. It allowed me to structure, from an academic perspective, the management of large budgets and complex logistics operations that I had previously led in the public sector, validating that experience under business management standards.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have shared my “Diary of a Psychologist in an MBA” more openly from the beginning. It is a powerful tool to challenge the culture of “the ends justify the means” and to promote the ethical leadership that is so urgently needed in today’s corporate world.

What was the most impactful case study and what was the lesson? More than a written case, it was an ethical simulation during a leadership bootcamp. The exercise forced us to choose between collaborating for the common good or breaking an agreement for individual gain. While my group upheld the agreement, another chose to break it to “win.”

That was my turning point: I realized that concepts such as Fit and Trade-offs are not only technical, but moral. Witnessing future leaders prioritize personal success over their word inspired my master’s thesis on ethical gaps in MBA education.

What business leader do you admire most? Douglas Tompkins. After living in Chilean Patagonia, I was able to directly observe the impact of his conservation model. I admire his ability to make a radical trade-off: leaving business success to restore ecosystems. He represents the balance between private sector efficiency and a purpose that transcends generations.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Publish my research and writings on leadership gaps in business schools to help humanize management education.
2. Lead a global sustainability or ESG function where social impact and ethical governance drive business performance.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? The school has promoted the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence, integrating it into strategic simulations, data analysis, and guided exercises that reinforce its role as a co-pilot for efficiency.

What insights did you gain from using AI? Using AI transformed not only how I work, but also how I communicate and relate. This experience led me to develop my editorial series “Me in the Age of the Algorithm,” where I reflect on how we interact with systems that don’t truly know us, yet respond accurately to what we are able to articulate.

One of my key insights was that interacting with AI can create a false sense of connection. Because it learns from our input, doesn’t challenge us, and responds coherently, it can function as a mirror — one that is easy to “get along with.” This creates a risk: without awareness, we may lose critical distance and confuse assistance with relationship.

At the same time, I realized that AI doesn’t replace thinking — it reveals it. It amplifies both the clarity and the limitations of the user, pushing us to be more rigorous, intentional, and conscious in how we ask and decide.

This reinforced a core belief in my leadership: AI can optimize processes and expand capabilities, but judgment, social awareness, and ethical responsibility remain inherently human. It’s not about delegating decisions, but about leading them better.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Barcelona’s ability to integrate quality of life, culture, and a global business perspective. It is a city that invites reflection while remaining deeply connected to innovation and international dynamics.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I deeply admire Lili Urrutia, a classmate from Colombia, for her resilience and her constant ability to reinvent herself.

Her strength is rooted in a life story shaped by significant challenges: she became a teenage mother and later chose to pursue her undergraduate studies as an adult. Despite these circumstances, she remained committed to her goals, eventually earning a scholarship to pursue this MBA.

What stands out most is her clarity of purpose, which consistently guides both her personal and professional growth, even in demanding contexts.

What made Carolina such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“On behalf of the Academic Direction of the MBA Full Time at UPF Barcelona School of Management, we have no hesitation in nominating Carolina Troncoso for this list.

Carolina has been an invaluable addition to the program: she was elected MBA class delegate by many of her peers and has performed this role with exceptional dedication, consistently supporting academic direction and contributing to the continuous improvement of the program.

She demonstrates a remarkable ability to communicate feedback in a constructive and thoughtful manner, while also positively influencing her peers to bring out their best. Her background in psychology shapes a distinctive leadership style—one that is both warm and empathetic, yet firm and assertive when needed.

Carolina also stands out for her strong analytical skills and her ability to gather and synthesize insights. She listens carefully, understands underlying needs, and translates them into meaningful actions and improvements. She approaches challenges with a people-centered mindset, always incorporating diverse perspectives to enhance processes and outcomes.

In addition, she is a highly driven, curious, and self-initiated individual. Her master’s thesis focuses on improving leadership management within MBA programs. As part of her research, she has proactively engaged with key stakeholders both within UPF-BSM and at other institutions, generating insights that are already contributing to how we reflect on and evolve our practices.

Carolina has also been actively involved in broader school initiatives. She has contributed to the UPF-BSM Quality Committee and has participated in multiple focus groups and external activities, consistently providing valuable ideas and thoughtful feedback.

Above all, Carolina demonstrates strong ethical principles in everything she does. She possesses a clear moral compass and consistently strives to act with integrity and fairness.

We strongly recommend Carolina as a candidate who not only drives meaningful change but does so with a genuine commitment to positive transformation—for herself, for her peers, and for the institutions she engages with.”

Ramón Bastida, PhD. Academic Director of the MBA Full Time

Nia Plamenova, PhD. Academic Coordinator of the MBA Full Time

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