Following the Youth Presidency elections that finished last Saturday, the ICA Youth Committee has announced that Ana Aguirre, won the elections through an electronic vote from 11-16 April, and therefore she will represent our committee and network for the next 4 years.
Who is Ana Aguirre?
Original from the Basque Country in Northern Spain, Ana is co-founder and worker-owner at TAZEBAEZ S.Coop, an innovation group that focuses its activity in the creation of learning and training ecosystems for companies and education institutions (Travelling U.); visual communication (MakeItVisual); and participates in various companies in emerging sectors. In TAZEBAEZ Ana leads the Cooperative Development line and is a member of the innovation consultancy team. Since 2020 she is COO of Platform Cooperatives NOW! (Mondragon University and New School) and she was one of 12 participants at the Harvard Research Sprint on Data Cooperatives.
Ms Aguirre currently serves as vice president for Europe in the ICA Youth Committee and has been involved in the ICA Youth Network over the course of its development into the ICA Youth Committee.
Please find below a few thoughts that she would like to share:
The last weeks have been very hectic, and I feel extremely honored to have been chosen as the next Youth Representative and President of the Global Youth Network. This is the result of the work and dedication of the last years, and I have big shoes to fill taking over from Sébastien Chaillou - Gillette. I look forward to working with all of you in taking aligned and strong action to empower, visibilize, support, and celebrate young cooperators and the impact and space they have in the Cooperative movement. As I always love to say: Youth may be the future, but it is also the present.
I will work hard with my fellow Youth Representatives to create an action plan for the years to come that is co-created, shared, inclusive, and aligned within the youth network but also with other committees, the regions, and the global cooperative movement. And as I shared at World Cooperative Congress in Seoul, I strongly believe that the best years of the cooperative movement are yet to come, and ours to make, together. This is just the beginning.
To quote José María Arizmendiarrieta: "There is always one more step to take. Forward, always forward".
Please take into consideration that her position will be ratified by the board of the ICA during the ICA General Assembly in Seville on 20 June.
