Josep Desquens

He holds a degree in Business Administration from ESADE and a diploma from the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS), which he obtained further to studying at the Haute École d’Études Commerciales (HEC), Paris. Mr Desquens also holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC.

Josep Desquens was the Managing Director of the CCCB from November 2016 until July 2021. He was also, in representation of the CCCB, vice-president of the Tot Raval Foundation. He currently is the general director of Development Cooperation of the Catalan government.

Prior to joining the CCCB, Mr Desquens worked for a decade in development cooperation in conflict-affected countries, with a focus on private sector development. From 2010 to November 2016, he was a programme manager at the Jerusalem Office of the European Union Representative to the West Bank and Gaza. Previously, he worked in Kabul as resident representative in Afghanistan of the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), as well as head of the Regional Office of the Kosovo Trust Agency in Peja/Peć within the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). He also collaborated with the United Nations Development Programme in Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

Previously, his professional career had been built in the financial sector, notably in mergers and acquisitions advisory roles. For seven years he worked for several banking institutions in London (Salomon Brothers; Rothschild), Paris (Crédit Lyonnais) and New York (Crédit Lyonnais Americas).