The evolution of the international CoopYouth Movement this century has been an immense effort of many young people. While the work has been and always will be collective, some key individuals have contributed a great deal of their labor and spirit to foster this movement that now has a clear identity, community membership, and philosophy. A few of those especially impactful people, who deserve much acknowledgement and thanks for their work through the years, are as follows:
Gretchen Hacquard
She has provided invaluable institutional memory and guidance, as a young person involved at the first flutterings of international CoopYouth Movement organization and, later, as the first staff person to support the movement’s development. Gretchen (Mrs/her) first began working in the cooperative movement in the United States in 2001 when she was a youth. She attended the ICA General Assembly in 2005 as a youth representative for the U.S. cooperative movement. In 2006, she began working at the ICA, and in 2011 was asked to coordinate the ICA Youth Network. She has enjoyed her time working as a youth and for youth in the cooperative movement and has tried to help youth increase their voice during that time.
Gaby Buffa
She was elected president of the Global Youth Network at the Cape Town Assembly and served from 2013 to 2017. During this period, the Network was formally formed, its Rules of Procedure were established, and an Executive Committee made up of representatives from the four regions began to function. Numerous global meetings were held. research on youth participation in cooperatives was collected, and the Network's newsletter was published, which gave voice and dissemination to the concerns and proposals of the youth. Most importantly, she effectively knit together the network by fostering strong and enduring relationships among its organizers. In 2010, she became a member of the Youth Committee of Cooperar, the Cooperative Confederation of the Argentine Republic, where she worked on the integration of youth into the national and regional Cooperative Movements. An educator in practice and at heart, she has worked as a teacher in a cooperative school and is currently a member of Idelcoop (Cooperative Education Foundation). She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation: Instituto Movilizador de Fondos Cooperativos and contributes as a member of the international team of Cooperar together with President Dr. Ariel Guarco.
Sebastien Chaillou-Gillette
He is the Global Youth Network President responsible for commissioning this toolkit, led the international CoopYouth Movement as a key period of exponential development and growth. He first initiated his commitment to the cooperative movement as a co-founder of the first campus cooperative in France. Doing so was a natural progression after almost a decade of organizing work in student unionism, which is a different way to promote and support youth and student self-organization. He became president of his campus cooperative in 2014, and then began work on developing both a national French and a regional European network of young cooperators. Ultimately in 2017, he became president of the International Cooperative Alliance’s Youth Committee through the organization’s first fully open and accessible election, made possible by a direct, online voting process.
Thank you to Gretchen, Gaby, Sebastien, and all the youth who co-authored CoopYouth Statements, attended Network meetings, created countless documents, connected with one another across language and culture, and make the CoopYouth Movement what it is today. Through your efforts, more youth have been and will be supported in taking on cooperative work and lifestyle, and doing so with integrity and community. In solidarity and care! <3