Co-operative Leaders Elected to ICA Global Board 2026–2030

The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) has elected its new Global Board for the 2026–2030 mandate during its General Assembly, held on 15 September in Panama.

Dr Ariel Guarco was re-elected unopposed as ICA President, while 15 At-large Directors were elected from 24 candidates. The new Board brings together co-operative leaders from 16 countries, reflecting the diversity of the global co-operative movement.

Among the newly elected Directors is Ryszard Jaśkowski, Vice President of the National Co-operative Council of Poland, President of the National Union of “Społem” and Board Member of Euro Coop. His election further strengthens the representation of the consumer co-operative movement within the ICA’s global governance.

The new Directors include both experienced leaders and new voices from across the co-operative movement. The seven returning Directors are Márcio Lopes de Freitas (Brazil), Attilio Dadda (Italy), Douglas O’Brien (United States), Simona Cavazzutti (Paraguay), Rose Marley (United Kingdom), Íñigo Albizuri Landazabal (Spain) and Maria Eugenia Pérez Zea (Colombia).

The eight new Directors are:

• Marie-Josée Paquette (Canada)
• Dileep Sanghani (India)
• Yuyan Wang (China)
• Yoshito Shinno (Japan)
• Ünal Örnek (Türkiye)
• Ryszard Jaśkowski (Poland)
• Abdul Fattah Abdullah (Malaysia)
• Bastien Sibille (France)

The 30-member ICA Global Board also includes the Presidents of the ICA’s four geographical regions, one representative appointed by each of its eight Sectoral Organisations, and the Presidents of the Youth Committee and Gender Equality Committee.

The General Assembly took place during the ICA Global Conference in Panama, held under the theme Building Bridges: Co-operative Contributions to a Peaceful World. The meeting also provided an opportunity to review the ICA’s work during the 2025 International Year of Co-operatives and to look ahead to the organisation’s 2026–2030 strategy, Practice, Promote, Protect.

Euro Coop congratulates all newly elected and returning Directors and wishes the new ICA Global Board a successful mandate in strengthening the co-operative movement worldwide.