Last update: 27/10/2025

For the past 15 years, Banco Santander has been running one of the world’s best women leadership programmes: Santander W50.

This international initiative, in partnership with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), seeks out women in senior management positions in every industry to help them refine their leadership style, increase their visibility, gain recognition, and form part of a prestigious global network of women leaders.

At Santander we are firmly committed to women leadership and equal opportunity. The Santander W50 programme showcases the role of women in business. Over 1,300 women from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Uruguay and the US have taken part in its 15 editions.

What's Santander W50 all about?

SW50 runs contests in several countries to choose the 50 women who stand out for their high potential and leadership, as well as for their excellent track record and transformative vision. This programme uncovers their experience, talent and professionalism, and helps them take the next step in their career. 

In the first section, successful applicants attend an in-person event where the 50 local winners are announced and invited to join the global SW50 community, which enables them to build relationships with each other and with Banco Santander directors. Moreover, they get access to an exclusive online course on women leadership, certified by the LSE.

In the programme’s second section, they take part in the Santander W50 global contest, where LSE selects 50 women to receive in-person training of the highest quality at its London campus.

These 50 women leaders are not only singled out for driving change in their organizations, but also because of their ability to inspire, empower and lead the way for other women and build international leadership networks due to their position. The course they undertake in London will be supplemented by conferences and individual and group coaching sessions. They will also share career experiences and broaden their international network.

The SW50 Summit has become a key meeting point for high potential women directors and middle managers. In its second year, 500 participants of the Santander W50 programme from 24 countries gathered in London to share experiences and tools to lead teams, manage crises and transformation, drive diversity and inclusion, and harness artificial intelligence to make more informed and responsible decisions.

In addition to the thematic sessions that took place over the Summit's two-day itinerary, the participants were able to grow their professional network and forge close, long-term ties that bolster the SW50 community, which today boasts over 1,300 women from 11 countries.

This ecosystem strengthens Santander’s commitment to talent and equal opportunity alongside London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Santander W50 is an initiative that showcases the role of women in business and reflects the bank's support for women leadership. Contests are run through Santander Open Academy, which offers courses and grants for people all over to boost their job skills and become more employable.

This is just further evidence of Santander’s dedication to education, employability and entrepreneurship for close to 30 years. In that time, we’ve deployed over EUR 2.4 billion and helped more than 3.5 million people and businesses through agreements with some 1,100 universities and organizations from 14 countries.