Javier Sotil appointed President of the MONDRAGON General Council

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Javier Sotil is the new President of the MONDRAGON Corporation’s General Council. The first milestone in his new role will be his presentation to the forthcoming 2014 Congress, to be held on 15 December, on the fist period of reflection undertaken in recent months by the corporation’s authorities, which concluded with the creation of the “MONDRAGON of the Future” project. The General Council’s new Chairman is set to outline the main results of the period of reflection, and the corporation’s basic lines of action vis-à-vis the future at the congress.

Javier Sotil’s appointment completes the work of the Management Committee, of which he was a member, which has been handling the corporation’s day-to-day management, and inspiring and coordinating the period of reflection on the future of MONDRAGON. Javier will now lead the transformation of MONDRAGON in the years to come as its President.

Javier Sotil was born in Bergara, Gipuzkoa province, in 1951. He studied Industrial Engineering at the University of Navarre and has a Master’s Degree in Executive Management from Mondragon University.

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Professional experience

Javier Sotil has in-depth knowledge of the business world, with a career spanning 38 years at the cooperative group. His presidency of the General Council follows five years as Vice-president of Innovation, Promotion and Knowledge.

He has worked for a number of different cooperatives during his career. He was Plant Manager at Ulma S. Coop., Production Manager at Impreci S. Coop., Manager of the Cooking, Comfort and Small Appliance business units at Fagor Electrodomésticos, later becoming Marketing Manager, Managing Director of LKS S. Coop. and also held the post of Managing Director of the Engineering and Business & Educational Services Division at MONDRAGON.

He is currently also President of Mondragon University and the Garaia Innovation Park

Javier has direct experience of the development of international markets (China, India, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, among others) and also in promoting new business. He was one of the founders of the ISEA Technology Centre and the mcctelecom cooperative and, as Vice-Chairman of Innovation, Promotion and Knowledge, launched the MONDRAGON Health and MONDRAGON Eko platforms for promoting new businesses in the fields of health and green economics.

He is currently also President of Mondragon University and the Garaia Innovation Park, and has been on the board of directors of Laboral Kutxa, Enpresagintza (MU), GSR and MIK and has been a member of governing board of the Basque Knowledge Cluster, IK4’s advisory board and the board of directors of Etorbizi.

Javier Sotil announced that he was delighted to take on this new challenge, which he considers “very ambitious and intriguing, and which involves transforming MONDRAGON to better respond to the challenges it faces today and in the future”. “I am well aware of the uncertainties present around the world and what these mean for our cooperatives’ businesses,” he affirmed, “but I have full confidence in our teams, our project and the competitive edge provided by our cooperative model”.