Members of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) have elected its new board for the 2026-2030 period, during its 2026 General Assembly in Panama.
The meeting, which took place at the Panama Convention Centre on Tuesday 15 September, saw Dr Ariel Guarco elected unopposed as President, and 15 At-large Directors elected from 24 candidates, including 7 returning directors and 8 who are new to the ICA Board. The last elective General Assembly was held in Seville, Spain, in 2022.
In total, 116 voters representing 193 Members from 66 countries attended the meeting, with the event taking place during the ICA Global Conference week hosted in Panama. The conference is being held under the banner Building Bridges: Cooperative Contributions to a Peaceful World; Peace is a theme that has marked Dr Guarco’s premiership since he was first elected President at the 2017 ICA General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Dr Guaco thanked directors who chose not to stand again for their service, and welcomed the new board.
He said: “Democracy is not just an election mechanism; it’s a way to relate to one another …in a cooperative, everyone counts and we must be participatory, democratic and inclusive.”
Returning to the board are:
Márcio Lopes de Freitas (Brazil), who has served as President of OCB since 2001.
Attilio Dadda (Italy), who currently serves as President of Legacoop Lombardia, Vice President of Legacoop Nazionale, and President of the Alliance of Lombard Cooperatives.
Douglas O’Brien (United States), who serves as President and CEO of NCBA CLUSA.
Simona Cavazzutti (Paraguay), President of the Confederation of Rural Cooperatives of Paraguay (CONCOPAR Ltda.) and the Sectoral Organisation of Agricultural Cooperatives (REDACOOP).
Rose Marley (United Kingdom), who serves as Chief Executive of Co-operatives UK.
Íñigo Albizuri Landazabal (Spain), who currently serves as Head of Global Public Affairs at MONDRAGON Corporation and as President of its NGO MUNDUKIDE.
Maria Eugenia Pérez Zea (Colombia), a lawyer currently serving as Executive President of ASCOOP, principal member of the Board of Coomeva and director of CONFECOOP.
New Directors are:
Marie-Josée Paquette (Canada), who has been CEO of the Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité since 2021, and has served as Executive Director of the Office of the President of the ICA.
Dileep Sanghani (India), Chairman of IFFCO and a former President of NCUI.
Yuyan Wang (China), an economist who serves as President of All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC).
Yoshito Shinno (Japan), who is president of JA-Zenchu (Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives) and chair of JCA (Japan Co-operative Alliance).
Ünal Örnek (Turkiye), who serves as Education, Research and International Relations Coordinator of ORKOOP, Board Member of Cooperative Europe, and Advisor to the Board of ICAO.
Ryszard ja?kowski (Poland), Vice President of the National Cooperative Council, President of National Union of “Spo?em”, Board Member of Euro Coop, and the Polish representative in CCW.
Abdul Fattah Abdullah (Malaysia), who has served as President of ANGKASA, Malaysia’s national cooperative apex body since 2013.
Bastien Sibille (France), Secretary General of Coop FR, the confederation representing 21,600 French cooperatives.
Alongside the President and 15 At-large Directors, the 30-strong ICA global Board includes four Vice Presidents (the Presidents elected in each of the ICA’s four geographical Regions); one member appointed by each of the ICA’s eight Sectoral Organisations; the President of the Youth Committee; and the President of the Gender Equality Committee. Following Youth and GEC elections, Harsh Sanghani and Xiomara Nuñez de Céspedes will also be joining the board.
Blase Lambert, chair of the Elections Committee, said: “It has been a real honour for me to chair the elections committee process for the ICA. I am very pleased to see that the event and the election have gone off so well, and that we have got a strong board that’s very representative of the movement in place for the next four years. I’m looking forward to working alongside them as a member of the board representing Cooperative Housing International.”
Also during the meeting, Dr Guarco gave an overview of his activities undertaken as President during 2025, the International Year of Cooperatives. This included a number of IYC regional events and the second World Social Summit, where it was announced that an International Year of Cooperatives would be held every decade.
Presenting the 2025 Annual Report, ICA Director General Jeroen Douglas shared how the organisation’s 2026-2030 strategy, Practice, Promote, Protect, has led to five pathways of activity focussing on People, Data, Advocacy, Finance and Future. The full Annual Report can be found here.
Delegates were also consulted on a proposed overhaul of the ICA’s membership offer. Members tasked the incoming board with continuing to develop a new formula for calculating membership fees and voting rights.
Dr Guarco confirmed that the next ICA General Assembly will take place before 1 July 2027. The meeting closed with a ceremony welcoming members who had joined the ICA since the last in-person General Assembly.
