ISABEL URIBE - The Inspiring Origins of the Mondragon Cooperatives
Event Date: May 21, 2026
Time: 4:00 pm
Live on Zoom from Guadalajara, Mexico
Isabel Uribe, PhD is the co-author, with Armin Isasti, of a seminal book about the Mondragón Cooperatives, their origin, initial visionaries and the challenges they faced and overcame. The book, Mondragon: Collective Intelligence, Solidarity, and Competitiveness is one of the most inspiring books about both the possibilities and realization of human potential. José Maria Ormaetxea, along with Father Arizmendiarrieta were the original founders of the Mondragon Cooperatives in the Basque region of Spain. In the midst of national and world turmoil, it’s important to learn from people who not only overcame great obstacles (they began during Franco’s regime) but exceeded beyond all expectations!
As Uribe noted in her book, both Arizmendiarrieta and Oraetxea had the ability to anticipate the future by exploring every corner of the present and taking the necessary steps to achieve their goals. Through the many interviews that Uribe and Isasti conducted with Ormaetxea before he passed on, we are able to see a step-by-step process that not only changed business but an entire culture. From being the poorest area of Spain in the 1950s to becoming the wealthiest region of Spain today, Mondragon lifted an entire culture to the point where poverty has been eradicated and everyone has security and support. “People over profit” is the guiding principle.
Overcoming the poverty and hardship of the 1940s and 1950s, the visionaries and builders of Mondragon embedded the principles of solidarity, collaboration, and empathy into the culture. Learning how others overcame adversity and built a new social structure that triumphed over the repression of the Franco era is just the kind of information we need today. Don’t miss this relevant and uplifting interview with Isabel Uribe! Indeed, another world is possible!
Isabel Uribe worked at Saoilan, a Research Center at the Mondragon Cooperatives for eight years and was a lecturer at the Praxis-Mondragon seminar several times. Her PhD paper was on the “Challenges and Opportunities for the Mondragon Cooperative Companies in the Face of Globalization.” Learning how others overcame adversity and built a new social structure that triumphed over the repression of the Franco era is just the kind of information we need today. Don’t miss this relevant and uplifting interview with Isabel Uribe! Indeed, another world is possible!
Tickets: $21 – ($16 for Praxis Members) REGISTER HERE