Grupo SSI: Four Decades Transforming Care Through Cooperative Innovation and Social Commitment
06 Mar 2026
For nearly 40 years, Grupo SSI has been a leading social initiative cooperative in the Basque Country, providing integral, innovative, and transformative responses to the needs of people experiencing fragility, dependency, or social vulnerability. Rooted in strong cooperative values—equality, decent work, participation, and community care—SSI has not only supported thousands of individuals but has also dignified and professionalised a historically undervalued and feminised sector: care work.
Created in 1986 through the support of public institutions and social organisations, SSI began when 35 women, all home-care assistants in Bilbao, decided to transform their working conditions by forming a cooperative. Their decision laid the foundations for what is now a group of five cooperatives, employing more than 640 people across the three provinces of the Basque Autonomous Community. Today, Grupo SSI operates across four strategic areas: social intervention, employment-focused training, R&D&I, and entrepreneurship in the silver economy.
Social Innovation, Dignified Care Work, and Women’s Leadership
One of Grupo SSI’s defining features is its commitment to dignifying care work and promoting women into leadership positions. Over the years, the cooperative has demonstrated that empowering people who began in vulnerable labour conditions is possible through quality employment, training opportunities, and active participation in organisational life.
The cooperative’s success is grounded in core cooperative values: transparency, solidarity, worker participation, and mutual care. Grupo SSI believes that a cooperative dedicated to caregiving must also care for its own members. This principle is reflected in its initiatives in corrective exercise, stress management, empowerment training, and programmes that strengthen workers’ physical, emotional, and professional well-being.
The journey has not been without challenges. The entry of private companies into the care sector created competitive pressures and threatened the social value generated by the Social Economy. In response, SSI embraced innovation as a strategic pillar for sustainability and competitiveness. In 2012, it created Home Care Lab, its R&D&I unit, and joined the Basque Network of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Since then, SSI has participated in more than 75 innovation projects—12 of them European—focusing on social, technological, and skills-related advancements in the field of care.
The knowledge gained from daily service provision, supporting more than 2,000 service users directly, combined with insights from R&D&I work led to the creation of SOCEM HUB (Social Care & Employment Hub) in 2016. The HUB supports entrepreneurship and the development of the silver economy in the Basque Country, offering guidance and mentoring to more than 80 business initiatives. Through SOCEM HUB, Grupo SSI returns part of its accumulated expertise to society, multiplies its impact, and strengthens a sustainable ecosystem grounded in quality employment and innovation in care.
Looking Ahead: Emerging Challenges and a Renewed Commitment
Approaching its 40th anniversary, Grupo SSI faces new challenges in a rapidly changing social landscape. The vulnerability experienced by the cooperative’s first workers in the 1980s takes on different forms today, shaped by cultural diversity, evolving models of ageing, and the need for continual innovation to maintain a strong, sustainable, and socially just care system.
Yet SSI stands ready. Its history proves that with a solid cooperative foundation, a shared project, and a deep commitment to mutual care, it is possible to confront any challenge. Grupo SSI continues to build a person-centred model of care that is humane, sustainable, and transformative, improving lives, strengthening communities, and shaping the future of the care sector.
About “Women Transforming Cooperativism”
This is an initiative of the Gender Equality Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), developed within the framework of the ICA Action Plan 2025.
The campaign highlights real stories of women who, through their cooperatives, are driving economic, social, and community transformation in their territories. During the month of February 2026 and up to 8 March –International Women’s Day– representative stories from around the world will be shared on ICA’s official website and social media channels.
Aligned with the International Year of Cooperatives 2025, this initiative celebrates the leadership and contributions of women who are building a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable cooperative movement.
💜 If you have a story and would like to share it, please write to us at gec@ica.coop.
