Éthel Côté has been involved in the economic, social, cooperative and cultural fields for 30 y... more

Éthel Côté has been involved in the economic, social, cooperative and cultural fields for 30 years. As general manager for the Cooperation Council of Ontario (CCO) from 1994 to 2000, with a team, she revived this movement and fostered the implementation of some fifty work, services and production cooperatives in addition to supporting agricultural, agri-food, housing and child care cooperatives. She holds a Canadian university level certificate in Agricultural Leadership (CALL 2001) and obtained her Masters Degree in Community Economic Development from Concordia University. She took part in several fact finding missions in Europe, Latin America and East Europe to investigate the cooperative movements, the mobilization and socio-economic consensus-building processes, and the impact of globalization on the socio-economic development of rural communities in these countries. Through Uniterra, she participated in skills strengthening missions in Mali, Niger and Senegal for the social and solidarity economy networks of these countries and was also part of the organizing committee for the 3rd and the 4th World Conference on Globalization and Solidarity held in Dakar in 2005 and in Luxembourg in 2009. She was the Canadian representative on the Board of the Réseau intercontinental de promotion d’économie sociale et solidaire (RIPESS) and now act as coordinator in transition of a new board. In addition to teaching Community Economic Development at Concordia University and Hearst University between 200-2008, she has also mentored hundreds of communities and promoters of socio-economic development initiatives: social enterprises and cooperatives. She has been involved with the Canadian Community Economic Development Network for eight years and Co-Chair the National Policy Council and member of the International Committee. She currently chairs the Ontario Solidarity Economy Network. She is also founding member of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada, Social Enterprise Ontario, L’Art du développement. A few years ago she joined the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal as a Community Economic and Social Enterprise Developer. less