Ariel Guarco

President
International Cooperative Alliance

Recently elected President of the International Cooperative Alliance, Ariel Guarco has led a cooperative development movement in his native Argentina and has built strong bonds with the rest of the cooperative movement in the Americas by serving on Cooperatives of the Americas’ Board of Directors other regional bodies. Since 2014, he has served as Deputy Vice-President of Cooperatives of the Americas.

Ariel’s roots are in the public services cooperative movement, particularly electric cooperatives. Today, he heads up COOPERAR, the apex organization in the Argentine cooperative movement.

Ariel started in the cooperative movement over 20 years ago in his home town Electric Cooperative, holding different positions until the presidency, which he has held since 2007. In 2008 he was elected President of the Cooperative Federation of Electricity and Public Services of Buenos Aires, a position he still holds. Since 2011, Ariel has served as President of the Cooperative Confederation of the Argentine Republic. He has served on the International Cooperative Alliance’s Global Board since 2013.

Ariel is a regular speaker in numerous universities, seminars, conferences and congresses related to the Solidarity Economy sector both in his home country and internationally. He is the author of the book The Argentine Cooperative Movement: A Hopeful Look Into the Future.