The meeting, held in Olesa de Montserrat, was attended by the mayor of the town, Marc Serradó; the director of Social and Solidarity Economy and Cooperativism, David Bonvehí; and the secretary general of Social Rights and Inclusion, Raúl Moreno, representing the president of the Generalitat.
Participation is one of the core values of cooperatives like Suara. We, the working members, are the ones who decide the present and future of our organization and, for this reason, our highest governing body is the General Assembly that met this Saturday in ordinary session in Olesa de Montserrat.
Under the premise of “one person, one vote”, the members decide with equal rights, voice and vote the present and future of our organization. Therefore, it is the main tool for expressing the participation of the members in the development of our cooperative.
This Saturday, approximately 1,900 members, nearly 1,500 of whom were eligible to vote, were called to attend the 38th Ordinary General Assembly of Suara Cooperativa, which had as key points the reform of part of the Internal Regulations, to adapt it to the reality of the moment, and the renewal of five members of the Governing Council. In this, 1182 people attended, of which 1170 had the right to vote while there were 298 delegated votes.
Therefore, 1,468 voted, nearly 98% of the members, in full right who have chosen by vote: Laia Bonastra, until now the president of this organization; Esther Olivares, director of the Dependent Justice Units of Martorell and Terrassa, Maria Parera, from the People team, Víctor Alonso, director of the SAEJ 3 services of Girona and Sostre 360º of the Girona regions; as well as Mireia Guitart, from the service of the Comprehensive Homelessness Care Center.
During the Assembly, the consolidated accounts for 2025 and the distribution of results were also approved, as well as the reform of the Internal Regulations and the statutes, which was developed in a participatory manner by more than 800 members within the framework of the Suara es Teva project.
Another demonstration that at Suara Cooperativa participation is developed in different spaces throughout the year. As a result of the Suara és Teva project, members have been able to participate in different working groups to debate different points of the reform of the internal regulations and the statutes. Six of them were already approved in the Extraordinary Assembly last November and, now, the members have approved the remaining ones.
Throughout the year, we have other meeting spaces beyond the General Assembly, which meets in person in May and in an extraordinary manner in November, such as the General Assembly Pre-Payment Spaces (EPAGs), the Open Circles or the meetings with the Governing Council.
Institutional interventions
In this year's Assembly, we had the honor of having the participation of the mayor of the town, Mr. Marc Serradó, who welcomed his town, where Suara has different educational services, care for young children and the elderly. According to "Little by little the cooperative model is taking over important services", Serradó assured that he values that the town councils and the cooperative model share the service for the community. He also had a very special reminder for the women who work in the care sector: "You take care of our most vulnerable people. You do an immense job. Congratulations to Suara Cooperativa and the project: you are very important and welcome to Olesa de Montserrat".
We were also accompanied by Mr. David Bonvehí, General Directorate of Social and Solidarity Economy and Cooperativism of the Department of Work of the Generalitat of Catalonia, who had three messages. He assured the members that they should be proud of the cooperative they have built both in terms of people and business; to the governing bodies, their willingness to always help the rest of the cooperative movement and the social economy. "You are very generous", he assured. The third message was addressed to society: "We need more Suaras in Catalonia, which have an impact on society both economically and socially, a real impact".
Finally, representing the President of the Generalitat, Mr. Raúl Moreno Montaña, Secretary General of Social Rights and Inclusion of the Department of Social Rights, pointed out that he is a social educator and therefore understands the demands of the sector. Like Bonvehí, he agreed that we need more cooperatives like Suara. He also highlighted that our organization has a lot to contribute to the main challenges we have as a country, such as the care and attention of the elderly, those in a situation of homelessness or the protection of vulnerable children or victims of sexual violence, among others. "We need more cooperatives like yours, committed people like you and more people with your commitment to making Catalonia a place where citizens can live better," concluded Moreno.
