Naiara Goia is currently the Managing Director of Arantzazulab, a leading democracy innovation lab and reference centre for collaborative governance in the Basque Country (Spain). Since 2020, she has been responsible for the design, launch and development of the lab. An expert in innovation, Naiara brings over 20 years of experience in directing complex, strategic public-private initiatives on an international level. Prior to her role at Arantzazulab, she worked for many years at MONDRAGON Corporation (world leader in the cooperative movement and the largest business group in the Basque Country), where she led various initiatives focused on open innovation, promoting technological and social innovation strategies aimed at business transformations in the cooperative sector.

Naiara’s work is driven by a deep commitment to democratic innovation, fostering collaborative networks and developing comprehensive strategies for systemic governance transformation. She is also deeply invested in examining the influence of gender within collaborative governance and is actively working to highlight its role in shaping effective relationship networks and transformative leadership models. She also participates in numerous think tanks and forums on the challenges facing the Basque Country and collaborates with several universities as a lecturer.

Naiara holds a Masters in Telecommunications Engineering (UPV/EHU – ENST Bretagne) and an MBA in Business Management. She has broadened her professional expertise with additional training in open and collaborative governance (UNED), leadership, public communication, and innovation and process evaluation, among others.