Speakers

Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who is serving as the Prime Minister of India since 26 May 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the member of parliament (MP) for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organisation. He is the longest-serving prime minister outside the Indian National Congress.

António Guterres is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socialist Party, Guterres served as prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002.

He is a cooperative leader that has undertaken a cooperative movement development process in his country and has built strong bonds with the rest of the cooperative movement in the American continent by becoming Cooperatives of the Americas’ Board member and through other regional integration sectors.

Dr. Udai Shanker Awasthi, born on July 12, 1945, is the Managing Director of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), the largest fertilizer producer and marketer in India. Graduating in Chemical Engineering from Banaras Hindu University in 1967, Dr. Awasthi began his career at Shriram Chemical Industries and later held significant positions in Zuari Agro-Chemicals, PPCL, RCF, IFFCO, and KRIBHCO. In 1993, he became IFFCO's Managing Director, substantially increasing its production capacity and turnover.

Under his leadership, IFFCO's turnover surged from Rs. 1,405 crore in 1992-93 to Rs. 39,330 crore, and its profit after tax increased from Rs. 116 crore to Rs. 2,443 crore by 2023-24. Dr. Awasthi also chaired the Fertiliser Association of India and served as President of the International Fertiliser Industry Association. He has represented the industry at various high-level international forums, including the United Nations.

Dr. Awasthi has been instrumental in various initiatives, including the creation of the IFFCO Kisan Sewa Trust, the launch of bio-fertilizers, NANO Fertilisers and the establishment of several organizations aimed at rural development. He is also involved in numerous national and international companies and has received many prestigious awards for his contributions to the fertilizer industry and cooperative development. He featured in most influential 50 persons list by Fame India.

The Hon'ble Tshering Tobgay, born on September 19, 1965, is the current Prime Minister of Bhutan, re-elected in January 2024 after his initial term from 2013 to 2018. A pivotal figure in Bhutan's transition to parliamentary democracy, he co-founded the People's Democratic Party, Bhutan's first registered political party, and continues to serve as its president.

The Prime Minister's academic journey includes a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Before entering politics, he was a dedicated civil servant, focusing on policies to enhance technical education and vocational training in Bhutan.

A strong advocate of Gross National Happiness, The Prime Minister has spoken globally on leadership, conservation, climate change, poverty, and happiness. His commitment to social welfare is evident in his founding of Bhutan’s first Youth Center and the Education Staff Welfare Scheme. His contributions have been recognized with honors such as the Royal Orange Scarf (2008, 2013), the Royal Lungmar Scarf (2014), the German Sustainability Award (2016), and the Distinguished Leadership Award (2022).

Married to Tashi Doma with two children, the Prime Minister balances his public life with personal interests in volunteering, trekking, bicycling, archery, and music.

The Hon. Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Trade, Co-operatives, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications - Hon. Manoa Kamikamica is a Proud Fijian with over 33 years of experience in the field of Finance, Aviation, Banking and Manufacturing at a senior executive level. A Chartered Accountant by Profession Hon. Kamikamica is the first indigenous Fijian to become a member of the Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants and is presently a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Hon. Kamikamica was the CFO and General Manager for the Lyndhurst Group of Companies and has served senior roles with ANZ in Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Before joining ANZ, Hon. Kamikamica worked for Fiji's National Carrier Fiji Airways for over 13 years as General Manager Finance and General Manager Strategic Planning. Hon. Kamikamica holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of NSW in Australia. He is married to Anne Steele and they have one daugther

Amitbhai Anilchandra Shah (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 32nd Minister of Home Affairs since May 2019 and the 1st Minister of Co-operation since July 2021. He is also the member of parliament (MP) for Gandhinagar. He served as the 10th president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 2014 to 2020. He has also served as chairman of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) since 2014. He had been elected as a member of the upper house of parliament, Rajya Sabha, from Gujarat from 2017 to 2019.

Dr. Amparo Merino is Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Cuenca, where she served as dean until 2001.

She is a full professor specializing in “Labor Law and Social Security” within the Department of Labor Law and Social Work at the University of Castilla-La Mancha.

She has also served as an expert in Spanish Economic and Social Council and has led extensive teaching and outreach initiatives in the field of Labor Law, with a particular focus on collective bargaining, corporate social responsibility, and gender equality.

He is a distinguished accountant, and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (FCPA).

He has over 20 years of professional experience in local and international Finance Management, Audit, and Business Consultancy. Additionally, he has had a successful and outstanding 20-year transformational leadership journey in public service.

He previously served as a Member of Parliament for Butere Constituency for 10 years, and Minister for State Planning, National Development, and Vision 2023 for 5 years. Furthermore, we was the first Governor of Kakamega County, through which he cemented his status as a pioneering figure in Kenya’s devolved governance system.

Under his leadership, Kakamega County was ranked severally as one of the best-performing county governments in development, demonstrating his commitment to public service and his passion for driving developmental progress.

Dr. Ali Agha Mohammadi, born in 1951 in Hamedan, Iran. His work experience is as follows:

• Vice Minister of Interior and Secretary of the Office for Empowering Underprivileged Neighborhoods in Iran since 2021
• Member of the Expediency Discernment Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 2009
• Secretary of the Supreme Council for the Supervision of the Implementation of Government Policies (2019 to 2021)
• Deputy for Supervision and Coordination of Economic Policies for the Vice President (two years)
• Deputy Director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (5 years)
• Second vice chairman of the Planning and Budget Affairs Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (1989 to 1992)
• Representative of the people of Hamedan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly

Dr. Agha Mohammadi received his PhD in sociology in 2022. Another PhD in management (development). He has a master's degree in economics and social sciences (welfare).

From his viewpoint, cooperatives are crucial in promoting economic growth, social equity, and sustainable development. He also firmly believes that cooperative development is essential to an inclusive economy. Socially, cooperative development can be viewed as a tool for empowering communities, fostering social cohesion, and promoting democratic decision–making. He believes that the UN’s decision to name 2025 to cooperatives acknowledges their importance as a viable and democratic business model driving positive change in communities worldwide; it also reflects a growing awareness of the need for more inclusive and equitable economic systems that prioritize people capital over profit.

Mr. Abdelfattah M. Q. Al-Shalabi has been serving as the Director General of the Jordan Co-operative Corporation (JCC) since 2021. He has actively contributed to the preparation and launch of the National Strategy for the Cooperative Movement (2021-2025). His extensive experience includes representing Jordan at various Arab and international conferences and Ministerial meetings. He brings expertise in financial management, accounting systems, and cooperative policy development. He is deeply engaged in promoting the role of Jordanian women and youth in cooperatives, as well as enhancing the agricultural sector’s credit tools and mechanisms. Additionally, Mr. Al-Shalabi holds significant memberships, serving as Vice Chairman of the JCC Board of Directors, Vice Chairman of the Arab Cooperative Union (ACU) in Cairo, and holding board positions at the Economic and Social Council of Jordan (ESC), Agricultural Credit Corporation (ACC), National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), and the International Cooperative Fisheries Organization (ICFO). He holds a Master’s degree in Banking and Financing for Development from the University of Bergamo in Italy (1998) and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Yarmouk University in Jordan (1988).

Director of Social Economy in the Basque Government since 2016.

Mr.Jokin Diaz has been committed to social cohesion. He has focused his work in the Basque Government on promoting decent and quality employment that really  puts the person at the centre.

He has been developing the values of the Social Economy and Cooperativism in the companies of the territory, as a fundamental pillar of the economy of the Basque Country and a hallmark of the Basque productive fabric.

He has been working intensively in developing policies to promote a business network and promoting economic policies that stimulate the Social Economy. In order to guarantee future generations to be able to develop “another way of doing business”

Ms. Aicha ERRIFAAI, is the General Director of the Office of Cooperation Development in Morocco, the organism in charge of the cooperative sector under the tutelage of the Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts, and the Social and Solidarity Economy.

She was appointed by the Moroccan Government Council on July 24, 2023, and has been working on designing, since her appointment, a strategy to enhance the cooperative sector in line with the aspirations of the new development model, in its section relating to the social and solidarity economy.

She initially worked in the private sector for two years before joining the Ministry of Economy and Finance in the Budget Directorate, where she gained experience in various fields, including monitoring ministerial sectors and related public institutions in formulating and implementing their sectoral strategies. She also worked on the proper and effective implementation of the organic Law relative to financial legislation through multi-year budget programming.

Aicha ERRIFAAI is a graduate of the Mohammedia School of Engineers in 2013, and holds a specialized master's degree in "Advanced Public Action in Morocco" from Mohammed VI University of Multi-disciplinary Sciences and the National School of Ponts et Chaussée in Paris. Her studies within this master's program provided her with the necessary skills to prepare, design, and evaluate various public policies.

Today, as the head of the Office of Cooperation Development, Ms. ERRIFAAI’s aim is to develop and promote the cooperative sector as one of the important fields contributing to Morocco's social and economic development, and lead the sector towards a bright future, aligned with the nation's ambitious development goals.

She has a degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures from the University of Turin (Italy), and a Master's Degree in Management of Non-Profit Organizations from the National University of Distance Studies (Spain).

Between 2006 and 2013, she has been the coordinator at the Semilla Association, promoting the creation of job opportunities, permanent training in the workplace and the certification of professional skills for people in vulnerable situations. During her time as coordinator of the Association, she has carried out projects to promote decent employment, protection and social dialogue. She has also participated in the design of active employment policies with a gender perspective and has led the promotion of sustainable companies as a source of growth.

Between 2017 and 2022, she has been the director of the Federation of Business Associations of Insertion Companies (FAEDEI), strengthening and making visible the Social Economy model as one of the best tools for socio-labor inclusion for people at risk of social exclusion. Specifically, it has developed tools for the creation of decent and inclusive employment in all sectors of the economy, especially in rural areas and non-metropolitan territories. This experience, combined with the comparative analysis of multilevel public policies, has allowed her to develop the transformative potential of social economy enterprises in the field of social inclusion.

At the same time, she has held positions of responsibility in different organizations and networks, such as the Council for the Promotion of the Social Economy, the Sustainable Development Council, the Social Inclusion Network or the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, among others.

During 2023 she was executive secretary of the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of the Social and Solidarity Economy (RIPESS Intercontinental) assuming its representation in the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on the Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE), in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and in the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF).

Currently, she is Director General of the Social Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility of the Government of Spain. This General Direction has, among other competences, the design of public policies for the promotion of the Social Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility, the dialogue with business entities and associations to boost corporate social responsibility.

She is the author of numerous publications related to Social Economies and Corporate Social Responsibility. In addition, due to her experience in the Social Economy, in 2023 she was named one of the hundred most relevant women in social enterprises in Europe and a member of the Women's Group LeaderES of the Social Economy.

Alexandra Wilson discovered a passion for co-operatives when she led her neighbours in a successful fight to create a housing cooperative, putting a stop to their landlord’s plans to evict 260 low-income households. Her involvement in saving her own home led to a career spanning 47 years in the cooperative housing sector. Alexandra spent three years working in the international cooperative development field and 22 years on the board of Cooperative Housing International. A member of numerous co-operatives in Canada and France, she is a past board member of Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada and serves today on the boards of the Funeral Co-operative of Ottawa; The Co-operators Group, a multi-line co-operative insurer; and the Canadian Co-operative Investment Fund. In 2021, Alexandra retired from her position as CEO of the Agency for Co-operative Housing, an organization she founded in 2005. Elected in 2017 to the global board of the International Cooperative Alliance and re-elected in 2022, she is leading the global consultation on the cooperative identity

Mrs. Mathis is currently director of Cooperatives Europe, the European organisation representing cooperatives at European level. Lawyer, graduated from the University of La Sorbonne (DESS Droit public et européen), she has worked within Barlow, Lyde and Gilbert sollicitors (London) and Wiener statische Insurance Group (Vienna). She then
has worked in the Cooperative mouvement. After being responsible for European Affairs at Febecoop (the Belgian federation of co-operatives), in 2006 she took over the position of deputy director at Cooperatives Europe, where she was responsible for advocacy and institutional relations. She was appointed Director in June 2016. Representing 176.000 enterprises accross Europe, CE advocates to create a level playing fields between coops and other forms of enterprises at trans-sectoral level and supports projects for the development of cooperatives

Gatti has a solid academic background and extensive professional experience in the cooperative sector. In 2024, he completed the Customer Centric Program at Wharton University of Pennsylvania. The year before, in 2023, he completed the ESG Strategies for Sustainable Coop Leaders course at the London Business School. He also took part in the Creative Leadership program at Kaospilot in 2022 and 2023. His educational path also includes the Prime Coop Management Program at Trinity College Dublin in 2019 and the Advanced Coop Management Program at the University of St. Gallen in 2018. In 2017, he completed the Coop Management Program at Catholica Lisbon, and in 2015, the Lidercoop program at Fundação Dom Cabral. He has a Master's degree in Business Administration since 2012, with specializations in Cooperative Management (2009), Business Management (2005) and Marketing Management (2002).

Since February 2014, he has been Superintendent of the Ocemg System. In addition, he has been a Fiscal Councilor at the National Confederation of Cooperatives (CNCoop) since April 2020 and served as a Fiscal Councilor at Sescoop Nacional from 2020 to 2024.

Ameya Prabhu is the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) & the Founder and Managing Director of NAFA Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd and a Partner in UAP Advisors LLP. Ameya has been designated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He is also a writer and the author of “The Rock Babas and other stories”, a book of short stories published by Amazon and sold in over 40 countries globally. He is also the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

NAFA Capital is an asset management firm headquartered in Mumbai, India and manages funds in public equities, private equity, venture capital, debt capital markets that invest in the Indianmarket.

Ameya is also a Partner at UAP Advisors LLP. UAP’s businesses include asset management, principal investing, investment banking, and sustainability in the agriculture space. UAP’s strategic investments include IFFCO Kisan Finance, a rural NBFC; Draslovka India, a chemical manufacturing joint venture with Draslovka from Czech Republic and investments in Ayurveda etc.

Ameya also serves as the Managing Director of New Age Financial Advisors, UAP’s joint venture with IFFCO, which is the world’s largest farmer’s co-operative organisation. IFFCO’s businesses range from owning Asia’s largest fertilizer company to insurance, lending, chemicals, and other businesses. New Age focusses on investment banking, sustainable investments in agriculture and sustainable agri-inputs.

The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) established in 1925 and headquartered in Kolkata, India, is the oldest chamber of commerce and industry in India.

Ameya is a BSc. in Economics, Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick, MSc. in Financial Management from IE Business School, Madrid and has been Awarded a certificate of completion for the Global Leadership and Public Policy ,21st Century Program in April 2022, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education.

Ameya is a trustee of Manav Sandhan Vikas Sanstha, an NGO focused on skill training and skill development in rural and semi urban India with an emphasis on job creation for women and the under privileged classes. He is also the Vice Chairman of Konkan Krida Prabodhini, promoting sports in the rural Konkan region of Maharashtra. Ameya is a member of the advisory board of Climate Group India and is also on the board of Miracle Feet India, an NGO focused on elimination of club foot in India. He was formerly the Chairperson of the Young Leaders Forum of the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is also the Brand Ambassador for start-ups in the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

He is a columnist and his writings have been published by well-known global media outlets such as the Huffington Post, The Quint, Business Today etc

She is co-founder and worker owner at TAZEBAEZ S.Coop, an innovation group that focuses its activity in the creation of learning and training ecosystems for companies and education institutions (Travelling U.); visual communication (MakeItVisual); and participates in various companies in emerging sectors. In TAZEBAEZ Ana leads the Cooperative Development line and is a member of the innovation consultancy team. Since 2020 she is COO of Platform Cooperatives NOW! (Mondragon University and New School) and she was one of 12 participants at the Harvard Research Sprint on Data Cooperatives. Ana serves as Global Youth President in the International Cooperative Alliance where she is the Representative of Youth in the Board of directors. She is also part of the Membership Committee and the Cooperative Identity Advisory Group.

Ann is an Emerita Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she was Chair of the Consumer Science department and a consumer cooperative specialist with a focus on cooperative governance. She has served on many cooperative boards of directors, including the University of Wisconsin Credit Union for 21 years, nine years as chair; the National Cooperative Business Association for 25 years, 2 years as chair; and the National Cooperative Bank for 6 years. She was inducted into the United States Cooperative Hall of Fame in 2015 and became an Emerita Director of the UW Credit Union in 2016. Currently she is Board Chair of the Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, and Board Facilitator for the Willy Street Grocery Cooperative in Madison. 

Anna Tibblin is Secretary General of We Effect, the international development organisation of the Swedish cooperative movement, currently supporting 160 partner organisations in 20 countries around the world.

She has more than 30 years’ experience in international development and has worked and lived in both Southern Africa (Zimbabwe and Zambia) and Latin America (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala).

Anna works to strengthen the involvement of the Swedish cooperative business sector in international development, advocating for cooperative development, both as a means and a tool for poverty eradication. She is a vocal spokesperson for cooperative solutions and participates regularly in the development debate and in media.

Anna is convinced that people are stronger when they work together – she often says that she has the privilege of seeing this every day.

We Effect works to end poverty and hunger worldwide. The strategy is to strengthen the organisation of women and men living in vulnerability so that they can improve their lives and move out of hunger and poverty for good. We Effect was founded 65 years ago and is funded by Swedish cooperative companies, individuals, and through institutional grants. We Effect is the worlds largest cooperative development organisation.

Anne Chappaz is a Senior UN Official at the International Trade Centre in Geneva. As Chief of the Institutions and Ecosystems Section she leads a team of experts that builds the capacity of business support organizations and co-operatives in developing countries. Prior to joining ITC, Anne worked in the shipping and manufacturing industries in New Zealand and France, followed by more than a decade working for the New Zealand trade and investment agency, as a sector expert, programme manager and as a senior commercial diplomat abroad.

Mr. Arjun Prasad Pokharel, Secretary of the Government of Nepal, is a distinguished leader in the civil service of Nepal with over 30 years of expertise in governance and public administration. Currently serving as Secretary of the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation, he is widely recognized for his impactful leadership across multiple government sectors, where he has championed sustainable development, public welfare, and efficient administration.

Mr. Pokharel’s strong academic background, including a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Public Administration (MPA), and Bachelor of Law (BL), reflects his deep understanding of public administration, law, and business management. Throughout his career, he has held a range of senior leadership roles, such as Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, and Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. He has also served as Secretary of the Public Service Commission.

In his earlier career, Mr. Pokharel held other critical positions, including Provincial Secretary, Chief District Officer, Chief Customs Officer, Chief Tax Administration Officer, and Chief of the Money Laundering Department. His tenure in these roles highlights his unwavering dedication to public service and policy advancement in Nepal. Today, his in-depth knowledge of public financing is pivotal to the ongoing reform in the cooperative sector of Nepal.

Rector of Mondragón México University since 2014 and director general of Mondragon Education International since 2023 which is a cooperative joint venture of Mondragon University, MONDRAGON Corporation and MLAKOOP S. Coop. Throughout his tenure, he has been in charge of implementing cooperative education and cooperative programs for undergraduate, masters degree and enthusiast students. Under his leadership and alongside Caja Popular Mexicana, Mexico’s largest and most prestigious cooperative, CEFIES (Center for research and formation in Social Economics) was born in Mexico, with more than 40 self directed cooperative programs and the first cooperative entrepreneurship model available online in latin america.

Mr. Ashish Shah has been working at the International Trade Centre (ITC) for 24 years in different capacities and is a member of its Senior Management Team. He currently serves as Director, Division of Country Programmes and previously held the post of Acting Deputy Executive Director. He has also spent several years in the Office for Africa, Office for Arab States, the Office of the Executive Director, where he was head of strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation. Prior to joining ITC, he worked first at the International Labour Office in Geneva and then at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for 6 years.

Mr. Shah brings with him 30 years of international and United Nations experience in the field of trade promotion and development working with policy makers, business support institutions and SMEs across the globe, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Arab Region.

He has extensive experience both in operations and strategic planning, resource mobilization, project design and management, client management and negotiations. He currently leads a team of over 200 people.

Mr. Shah leads, inter alia, ITC’s Innovation Lab. He is also the focal point for donor relations with two of ITC’s biggest donors.

An Indian national, Mr. Shah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, a Master’s degree in Cooperative Economics and a PhD in Economics from Philipps University of Marburg, Germany. He is fluent in several languages.

Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani holds a degree in Medicine (MBBS) from King Georges’ Medical College, Lucknow.  He is an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of 1992 batch of Assam-Meghalaya cadre and is presently posted as Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, Government of India.

Before joining Government of India as Secretary (Cooperation), he was posted as Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, in-charge of Departments of Agriculture & Transformation & Development and Chairman of State Level Recruitment Commission for all Grade-III Posts. He has also served earlier as Secretary in the Finance and Urban Development Departments in the State Govt. of Assam as well as District Magistrate in Kokrajhar and Nalbari districts.

He had earlier also served in Government of India from 2013-2021. Before reverting to Assam in October 2021, he handled the charge of CEO, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), in the rank of Additional Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. He was instrumental in drafting the PMFBY Scheme which is presently the 3rd largest crop insurance scheme in the world in terms of insurance premium and largest in terms of number of farmers insured. He was also instrumental in drafting the PM-KISAN scheme which is one of the largest income support schemes for farmers in the world.

He began working in the cooperative movement in 1990 in ALCST – Legacoop Lombardia. He was the General Manager of cooperatives in the service and ecology sector for over twenty years. He was the Coordinator of the Multiservice Department of Legacoop Lombardia, Territorial Coordinator of Lodigiano, member of the Management and Presidency of Legacoop Lombardia; member of the Executive and Assembly of ACI Lombardia, of the National Legacoop Management, of the National Management and National Presidency of Legacoop Produzione e Servizi. He was the Lombardy Referent of the Legality Protocol.

Axel Marx is Deputy Director Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (KU Leuven), an interdisciplinary research centre of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the KU Leuven. He has managed over 80 funded research projects and acted as a consultant to several national and international organizations including  the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, International Labour Organization, International Trade Centre, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards, UNCTAD, OECD, IDEA, Worldbank, the Belgian, Dutch and German Governments and several private actors. His academic publications (200+) have appeared in five dozen leading international peer reviewed journals and 10 languages. His research interests include voluntary sustainability standards, sustainable trade, human/labour rights, global governance, corporate social responsibility and EU trade policy. He is currently the co-chair of the Academic Advisory Council of the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards, a member of the Evidensia Research Council and a member of the steering committee of the ILO Labour Provisions in Trade Agreements Hub. As a guest lecturer he taught China University of Political Science and Law and several European Universities. He recently developed a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Sustainable Trade and sustainability certification on the EdX-platform: https://www.edx.org/course/sustainable-trade. The MOOC is freely available.

Dr. Bahman Abdollahi was born in 1958 in Tehran, Iran. His work experience is as follows:

• President of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC) since 2014.
• Member of the Board of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC) since 2011.
• Managing director and chairman of the board of the National Union of Consumer Cooperatives of Iran since 2009.

Membership in councils, associations, or committees:

• Supreme Council of Money and Credit
• Supreme Council of Standard
• Supreme Council of Higher Education, Vocational and Skills
• Head of Cooperative Arbitration Organization
• Board of Trustees of National Development Fund of Iran

Dr. Bahman Abdollahi received his PhD in Business Administration in 2019.

He has witnessed firsthand the transformative potential of cooperatives in promoting economic and social well-being. Throughout his career, he has been involved in establishing and managing various types of cooperatives. The cooperative model provides an alternative to traditional business structures, allowing members to pool resources, share risks, and work together toward a common goal. Effective management of cooperatives requires a deep understanding of cooperative principles and values and the ability to balance the needs and interests of individual members. Experience in this field has taught him the importance of strong leadership, clear communication, and ongoing education and training to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of cooperatives.

The UN has recognized the importance of cooperatives by declaring 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC). This designation presents an incredible opportunity to showcase the achievements of cooperatives and raise awareness about their potential to address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change.

Balasubramanian (Balu) Iyer is the Regional Director for the International Cooperative Alliance Asia-Pacific (ICA-AP), headquartered in New Delhi, India. ICA champions the cooperative social enterprise model and serves as a global platform for cooperatives worldwide. Balu brings a wealth of experience from working with organizations such as the Asia Foundation, International Development Exchange, ActionAid India, and the Aga Khan Rural Support Program. He has also served as Adjunct Faculty at Southern New Hampshire University. His academic background includes a master’s degree in public policy from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School, a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from IRMA, and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from NIT Durgapur. Balu is the Administrator for the ICA Domus Trust, an Advisor to the Institute for Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (Japan) and serves on the Council of Advisors for the New School’s Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy in New York.

Bhima Subrahmanyam has been associated with National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB) in India since 1982. He assumed the position of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) / Managing Director of NAFSCOB in 1990. He has around 50 years of experience in the areas of Rural communication, Rural Development, Agricultural Credit, Cooperatives, Banking etc. He is author of more than 100 Articles, Research Papers, Occasional papers etc. in the above areas. He has been instrumental in formulating Risk Management Policy, Information Technology Security Policy, Operational Manuals for Cooperative Banks, Human Resource policy for banks, Fraud Monitoring guidelines, Cyber Security Advisory Forum etc. He addressed and analysed the impact of Prudential norms on cooperative banks.

He was elected as President of ICBA in October 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda where he has commissioned and completed the following studies:

• Regulation and Sustainabilty of Cooperative Banks: A cross country Study

• Sustainable Development Goals & Objectives Contribution of Cooperative Banks

• ICBA Members Today: How Do They Contribute and Report on Sustainable Development?

He has been closely associated with a number of International organisations.

Blase became involved as a Board member of the UK representative organisation for co-operative housing, the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, in 1997 and has been its Chief Executive Officer since 2014.

He has been a Board member of Co-operative Housing International since 2015 and its Treasurer since 2017. He was appointed to the Board of the International Co-operative Alliance in June 2022.

He has provided support and advice to over 125 housing co-operatives and social housing providers in the UK. He has developed training programmes for housing co-operative boards, resident associations and panels and community led housing advisors and co-created the Wayshaper options planning tool for community led housing organisations.

His areas of expertise are corporate governance, risk management and financial control and he has numerous publications to his name including the Code of Governance for Community Led Housing and Financing Co-operative and Mutual Housing.

Dr Carlos Zarco has a degree in Medicine and post-graduate studies in quality management and senior management of health institutions. He has master’s degrees in Planning and Quality Management, Science in Health, and Advanced Clinical Management

He is President of the International Health Cooperative Organisation, IHCO; member of the Board of Directors of the International Cooperative Alliance, ICA; member of the Board and Director-General of Fundación Espriu; and member of the Board of the Spanish Business Confederation of Social Economy, CEPES.

As a member of the Asisa-Lavínia health cooperative, he is the Medical Director of the HLA Moncloa University Hospital in Madrid (Spain). He is also a member of Asisa’s Bioethics Committee and Vice-president of Asisa’s Quality Committee.

He is a teacher in the School of Industrial Organisation, the European University in Madrid and the Complutense University in Madrid.

czarco@fespriu.org

Cécile Berranger facilitates the cooperative and producer organization activities within the Rural Institutions Team in the Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP).

She provides technical assistance for cooperative development by supporting cooperative assessments at the country level, strengthening policy and capacity development, and producing knowledge-generation resources. Her work focuses on fostering inclusive cooperatives in agrifood systems, with an emphasis on removing barriers to ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups.

Chiara Carini is a senior researcher at the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (EURICSE, Italy). Her work focuses on data-driven projects investigating the characteristics, evolution and impact of social economy entities. She edited the European Commission's 2024 report on benchmarking the socio-economic performance of the social economy in the EU, as well as Istat-Euricse reports on Italian cooperatives. She has also been involved in the World Cooperative Monitor, a research project analysing the world's largest cooperatives, since its inception.

Ms. Chitose Arai is the Vice President of the Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU), a national federation of consumer cooperatives. She has been involved in the cooperative movement as a member of a primary co-op and has led co-op activities for more than 30 years. She is former President of Co-op Mirai, the largest consumer cooperative in Japan. Currently, she is the member of ICA Asia-Pacific Regional Board and the Chairperson of ICA-AP Committee on Women.

Dr. Chiyoge B. Sifa holds a Ph.D. Strategic Management and has had over 25 years of work experience cutting across communication, aviation, humanitarian services, academia, agriculture, and cooperatives development across Africa. She has also served as a Senior Lecturer and Examiner in several universities in Africa. She is widely travelled in promotion of higher education, agriculture and cooperatives development and marketing. She has also consulted for various local and international organisations, both profit and non-profit, and government on policy advocacy and reform, organizational development, business transformation, resource mobilization, and alternative financial instruments in human and sustainable development.

Dr. Sifa is the immediate former EU-Africa Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Representative on the European Commission Policy Forum on Development (PFD) and former Co-operatives representative to the European Economic and Social Committee – Africa Caribbean and Pacific- European Commission (EESC- ACP-EU) follow up committee of the (European Commission) EC, and the current Regional Director of the International Co-operative Alliance-Africa. Currently leading the development and operationalization of the Alliance Africa Agricultural Co-operative Organisation, a vehicle for smallholder producers to secure their livelihoods and play a greater role in meeting the growing demand for food on local, national and international markets, and to contribute to poverty alleviation, food security and the eradication of hunger.

Christine M. Merkel is an expert and Senior advisor in media diversity, international relations, strategy development and public policies in arts and culture. She is a seasoned designer and convenor of innovative multi-stakeholder dialogues. She was instrumental in writing the EU OMC report "Stormy times. Nature and humans - cultural courage for change" (2022) and authored the media diversity chapters of UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Reports 2018 and 2015. In 2021, she accomplished Oxford University’s Advanced Diploma in IT Systems Analysis and Design with distinction. Her expertise also includes cultural heritage programs, such as Memory of the World and UNESCO's Intangible Heritage Convention. Christine helped to successfully inscribie the idea and practice of organizing shared interests in cooperatives as representative of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity (Addis Ababa, 2016). She is a member of the UNESCO-EU expert facility on cultural governance, creative economies and sustainable development, designed to implement UNESCO's 2005- Convention. Assignments included expert missions for IDEA International, the European Union, Council for Europe and UNESCO, with projects and capacity building in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Lebanon, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Romania, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Turkey and Vietnam

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently THE BEZZLE (a followup to RED TEAM BLUES) and THE LOST CAUSE, a solarpunk science fiction novel of hope amidst the climate emergency. His most recent nonfiction book is THE INTERNET CON: HOW TO SEIZE THE MEANS OF COMPUTATION, a Big Tech disassembly manual. Other recent books include RED TEAM BLUES, a science fiction crime thriller; CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM, nonfiction about monopoly and creative labor markets; the LITTLE BROTHER series for young adults; IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; and the picture book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Professor of Management and Business Organisation at the University of Almería, Spain. Master of Environmental studies (York U). Her research focuses on transitions to sustainability in food and agricultural value chains and systems. Expert on cooperatives, innovative business models and collaborative enterprise. President of the Global Board of International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), Committee on Cooperative Research, past president of the ICA CCR European board. Member of the Board of Govenors of the Institut international des coopératives Alphonse-et-Dorimène-Desjardins.

She has led numerous European and international projects on Climate Smart Farming, innovative business models, sustainable agri-supply chains, and new technologies and digitalization processes. An experienced Barrister, Solicitor and Attorney qualified in Canada (Ontario), England and Wales and New York State, she has worked in both London and Madrid for the global law firm Clifford Chance LLP in structured finance and banking before switching her attention to social enterprise and cooperative business models. 

Danilo Salerno is the Regional Director of Cooperatives of the Americas, one of the Regions of the International Cooperative Alliance ICA since 2018.

Mr. Salerno, originally from Italy, is a specialist in International Development and passionate about multilateralism, with a deep sense of justice, equity and equality.

He has extensive professional experience in the cooperative movement, both national and international. He studied Political Science at the University of Bologna and completed a thesis on the birth of the cooperative movement and the Chilean social and solidarity economy during the Pinochet dictatorship.

Mr. Salerno has a master's degree in Non-Profit Organizations and European Project Management (ASVI, Rome) as well as a master's degree in European and International Relations (La Sapienza University, Rome). He also has a diploma in Latin American Studies from the Italian Latin American Institute (Rome).

Between February 2016 and August 2018, Mr. Salerno served as President of the Private Sector Engagement Working Group of the National Council for Cooperative Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Government.

In his professional career he also has several experiences of direct work with cooperatives and solidarity economy organizations such as Foundations, Fair and Solidarity Trade Associations in Italy and several Latin American countries.

Diana Dovgan holds a Master’s Degree in Political Sciences from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Since March 2018, she is the Secretary General of CECOP – European confederation of cooperatives in industry and services, and CICOPA – International organization of cooperatives in industry and services. Previously she was Policy Officer for 10 years for both organizations. She is member of the GECES (European Commission’s expert group on social economy), member of the Board of Social Economy Europe and of the Social Platform. From 2004 to 2008, she was a Policy Advisor for the Belgian minister in charge of Social Inclusion and Equal Opportunities

Doug O'Brien works with the cooperative community, both domestically and internationally, to deepen their impact and influence. NCBA is the primary voice for cooperatives in the United States for using the cooperative business model to empower people in their businesses and communities. Doug has been with NCBA since 2016 and became president and CEO in January 2018. Before coming to NCBA CLUSA, Doug led the work of the White House Rural Council and served in top positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Doug has also worked in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House and for two Governors. O'Brien's experience in academia includes teaching and writing at the University of Arkansas and Drake University Law School. O’Brien was raised on a diversified farm in Dubuque County, Iowa, and holds degrees from Loras College (Dubuque, Iowa), the University of Iowa Law School, and the University of Arkansas Masters in Agricultural and Food Law Program. O’Brien lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, with his wife, Alisa and three children. He enjoys biking, travel, his memberships in a number of consumer co-ops and credit unions.

Erbin Crowell serves as Executive Director of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA), a secondary co-operative of community grocery co-ops across the Northeast United States. He has more than 25 years of experience in the co-operative and Fair Trade movements, working across sectors and with various organizations supporting co-op development, education, and advocacy. Mr. Crowell currently serves on the boards of directors of DotCooperation LLC, the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA), the Cooperative Management Education Cooperative, and the New England Farmers Union, and is a member of the Cooperative Identity Advisory Group of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). He received his B.A. in Anthropology from Brown University and his Master of Management: Co-operatives & Credit Unions from Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, Canada, where he serves as an adjunct professor lecturing on co-operative business strategy.

Esteban Kelly is the Board Chair of NCBA–CLUSA, and a board member of CICOPA. He is the Executive Director for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), founding President of the freelancer platform co-op Guilded, and co-founder of AORTA– a worker co-op that has built capacity for hundreds of social justice projects through intersectional training and consulting. He was a co-founder and first board President of the cross-sector Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA) and has served on numerous founding boards including the Democracy At Work Institute, the US Solidarity Economy Network, Mariposa Food Co-op, Climate + Community Institute, and the Platform Co-ops Consortium. Esteban previously served on the boards of the Cooperative Development Foundation and the youth-led co-op association NASCO (North American Students for Cooperation). He was appointed to the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council under two different mayors, and also co-chaired that council under Mayor Jim Kenny. Esteban is a Ford Global Fellow, A Margaret Burroughs Fellow in the Social Justice Initiative at Univ of Illinois- Chicago, an Executive Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University, and a Fellow with the Equitable Enterprise Initiative at the Institute for the Future.

Erwin Novianto is a visionary leader in promoting sustainable trade and production, known for his significant contributions to advancing Fairtrade principles and cooperative growth across Asia and the Pacific. As the CEO of Fairtrade Network of Asia & Pacific Producer, Erwin has led transformative initiatives that have empowered thousands of smallholder producers, enhancing their livelihoods through ethical market access and sustainable agricultural practices. With over a decade of experience in regional leadership roles at Fairtrade, he has not only forged strategic alliances that advocate for living incomes, gender equality, and climate resilience but also worked closely with grassroots communities and cooperatives. His deep expertise in cooperative and sustainable supply chain development has made him a driving force in fostering equitable trade and social impact

She is a political scientist with a degree from the University of Brasilia (UnB), specialized in public policy and constitutional law, as well as a postgraduate in Business Management from FIA. Passionate about cooperatives, she has worked for the OCB System since 2007, when she joined as an intern, moving on to become an analyst and manager of institutional relations, a position she held for 9 years. Since September 2021, she has been general manager, working hard to consolidate Brazilian cooperatives as a benchmark for economic and social development

Francesca Federzoni graduated in Engineering and has been working in the Engineering & Architecture consultancy sector since 1994 at Politecnica Ingegneria ed Architettura soc. Coop., where she has served as Business Director and subsequently as CEO from 2011 to the present. Since 2023, she has been the national vice president of Legacoop, the National League of Cooperatives and Mutuals (formerly known as the League of Cooperatives), the oldest and primary association dedicated to the protection and representation of Italian cooperatives. Legacoop brings together over 10,000 cooperative enterprises active across all Italian regions and sectors, with a total membership exceeding 7,400,000.

Politecnica Ingegneria ed Architettura is one of the leading consultancy firms in Italy. Founded in 1972, the company provides integrated Engineering and Architecture services for the Construction Sector (Building and Infrastructure). With nearly 350 staff and an annual turnover of €30 million, Politecnica operates in Italy and abroad for both public and private clients. The company’s main focus areas are sustainability, gender equality, innovation, and human-centered projects. Politecnica has significant expertise in the restoration of historic buildings subject to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s regulations, employing an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to these projects

Francesca Ottolenghi, expert in international cooperation, she has acquired extensive professional experience within the cooperative movement both nationally and internationally. As biologist, after advanced studies in France and Australia, she founded a women research cooperative in 1995. Since 2005 he has contributed to the foundation of the Haliéus Association - of which she has been Director and today President - as a structure for the implementation of international development cooperation interventions within Legacoop, managing projects in many countries around the world.   From January 2022 she is chief of the International Relations Office and chief of the Sustainability and Cooperation office and Chief of the Equal Opportunity Office of Legacoop and is a professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza in courses dedicated to the use of cooperative business model in international development cooperation projects on "Cooperative business model for sustainable development". Chair of the International Cooperative Development Platform (ICDP) Committee of the ICA.

Fredrick O. Wanyama is Professor of Political Science at Maseno University and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Research and Student Affairs at Kisii University, Kenya. His academic and research experience spans about 30 years, with research interest in development politics in Africa; particularly the confluence between people’s organizations and contestations for development. This has led him to research on cooperatives and the broader social and solidarity economy in Africa; the results of which have been widely published as chapters in many books as well as articles in journals like Journal of Cooperative Studies and Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, among others. He is the author of Cooperatives and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Contribution to the Post-2015 Development Agenda (Geneva: ILO, 2014); and co-editor of Cooperating Out of Poverty: The Renaissance of the African Cooperative Movement (Geneva: ILO, 2008). He regularly contributes to seminars, workshops and conferences on cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy in Africa. He has consulted for the ILO on many projects on cooperatives and

was among the pioneer experts of the International Training Centre of the ILO’s Social Economy Academy. He once served as a member of ICA’s World Cooperative Monitor.

Gianluca Salvatori is Secretary General of the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (EURICSE, Italy), member of GECES (European Commission Expert Group on the Social Economy) and of the United Nations Task Force on the Social and Solidarity Economy, Vice-President of the Italian National Competence Centre for Social Innovation (SEED). Previously, he was a senior manager at the Bruno Kessler Foundation. He was also a member of the Council of the Autonomous Province of Trento (Italy), where he was responsible for research and innovation.

President of CECOP-CICOPA Europa the European Confederation of Industrial Cooperatives and Social Cooperatives, representing some 50,000 companies with more than 1.3 million workers in Europe, member of the Board in CICOPA and Cooperatives Europe. Member on the board of ICA.

Deputy President on Social Economy  Europe the voice of 4.3 million social economy enterprises and organisations in Europe. We are the social economy reference point at European level.

Member of the Board of Confcooperative, charged on relations with European institutions and international representative organizations of the cooperative movement in partnership with Alleanza Cooperative Italiane, the permanent coordination of the three most important Italian associations Agci, Confcooperative and Legacoop, represents around 90% of the national cooperative mouvement with a global turnover of around 150 billions of euro, approximately 1.150.000 employees and more of 12 millions of members.

Spokesperson for the Social Economy category of the EESC (European Economic and Social Committee). EESC member’s since September 2010 has been dealing in particular with the social economy and social enterprises, employment, finance for SMEs and social enterprises.

Vice-president of the Fondazione Comunità Bergamasca. A philanthropic foundation that provides funding for the social and cultural sectors in Bergamo.

Gretchen Hacquard joined the ICA in 2006 and is the Director of Membership. In this role, she coordinates often with colleagues, regions and sectors to provide better value to members and exchange information. She also supports the Membership Committee of the ICA Board, informs members, and is always happy to provide advice and connect members when asked.

Like most staff, she wears various hats. As a super user of computers, databases, websites, etc. she also plays the role of Technology Manager where she provides advice to colleagues and coordination for IT coop issues. She is also the coordinator of the ICA Youth Network. She also plays various roles in ICA’s General Assemblies and conferences, mainly voting and registration, as well as other roles depending on the needs of the event. She also supports various ICA Board Committees and Working Groups as relevant.

Ms. Hacquard comes from the US cooperative movement where she worked primarily in the areas of advocacy and development. She worked with the NRECA International Foundation on strategy and fundraising, consulted for Land O`Lakes International Development Programs, and was Legislative Director of the U.S. Overseas Co-operative Development Council (OCDC) where she not only represented cooperative members with various domestic and international government bodies but also did marketing, institutional development, communications, and management. Prior to that, she worked for United States Senator Max Baucus.

Gretchen has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Montana State University (USA) and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service. She studied music for over 20 years and played her flute for events and tutored. She also attended the University of Bologna’s (Canada) Summer Program for Cooperative Studies as well as the University of Missouri’s (USA) Graduate Institute for Cooperative Leadership

Guido Schwarzendahl owns a Master Degree in Geography, Political Sciences and Sociology and a Business Administrator for Housing.

He is a board member of Cooperative Housing International (CHI) since 2013 and currently president.

His primary interest, focus and drive has always been social housing and specifically cooperative housing.

He is managing director of a housing co-operative since 2001. He is also involved in various committees - both nationally and internationally - with a focus on cooperatives, housing and urban development.

Born in 1952 in Germany. High school in Germany and in the United States. Studies in law and French language in Saarbrücken and Geneva; qualification as a German judge in 1981. Post graduate studies in development issues and development law in Geneva and Paris. Licentiate, doctorate and professorship qualification in comparative law at the University of Helsinki.

Retired from the University of Helsinki since late 2020; Visiting scholar at that university. Prior to working at the University of Helsinki (2011-2020) Henrÿ worked as Chief of the Cooperative Branch of the ILO, as legal advisor to the German Federal Minister of Economy (1983-1991) and at the universities of Geneva and Saarbrücken (1977-1983). Since 1994 Henrÿ has consulted on cooperative policy and legislation in/for some 65 countries for national, regional and international governmental and non-governmental organizations, among which the ILO, the FAO, the World Bank, the EU, the OECD, the International Trade Center, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV). Since 2013 he has coordinated the ICA Cooperative Law Committee.

Henrÿ has published widely on development questions, land law, comparative law and cooperative law and has been a frequent contributor to seminars and conferences in many countries over many years. He is member of several scientific associations and of editorial boards of scientific journals. Since 2004 he has taught cooperative law and policy and comparative law at several universities and other institutions.

Harm Haverkort is a strategic leader in sustainable agriculture and climate resilience, focused on advancing the role cooperatives can play in climate adaptation. As Director of Partnerships for Asia & Pacific at Acorn – Rabobank, Harm oversees initiatives that connect over 80,000 smallholder farmers to carbon markets, fostering income generation and resilience through sustainable practices. With nearly two decades of experience across Asia and Africa, Harm recognizes the potential for cooperatives to become key actors in addressing climate challenges and achieving sustainable development.

Previously, as Country Director for Agriterra in Vietnam, Harm led projects that equipped cooperatives with climate adaptation tools and sustainable agricultural practices, benefiting thousands of farmers and strengthening rural livelihoods. This experience reinforced his commitment to building resilience in rural communities and highlighted the importance of cooperative action in sustainable development.

Harm’s vision aligns with the International Cooperative Alliance's mission to build inclusive, resilient economies. His work underscores how cooperatives could become integral to carbon markets and global value chains as a logical next step, enhancing their capacity for climate adaptation and inclusive growth

Executive Director of the Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation/ Fédération Canadienne des cooperatives de travail (CWCF-FCCT), Hazel Corcoran has been involved for over three decades in all aspects of worker co-op development and support including advisory services, research, writing, co-op development finance, and advocacy.  She is also on the board of directors of Co-operators. 

Trained as a lawyer and fluently bilingual (English, French, plus some Spanish), Hazel has worked in the co-operative movement since 1992 shortly after being admitted to the Law Society of Alberta. She is passionate about serving as a change agent to promote a more prosperous, sustainable community through economic and social development and public policy. Her career has centred around equity and justice for communities, with seeking as the ultimate goal economic transformation to a true Solidarity Economy based on co-operative values and principles.  She has served on numerous boards, including Calgary Co-op, Connect First Credit Union, le Conseil canadien de la cooperation et de la mutualité (CCCM), Western Canada Labour-Worker Co-operative Council, the Big (Co-op) Idea Rainbow Foundation, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada including as Vice President, and she is currently on the boards of The Co-operators Group Ltd., CICOPA, and Prairie Sky Cohousing Co-op Ltd.

Hirofumi Kobayashi has been in the position of the Executive Director, Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (IDACA) since 2019. The Executive Director is responsible for all management-related issues that include supervision of the budget, personnel affairs, organizing seminars and training courses, research and development consultations. The IDACA is an organization specialized in development and capacity building support for cooperative leaders in Asia-Pacific and other parts of the world, and accepted over 6,800 cooperative leaders in 135 countries as participants to its training courses since its establishment in 1963.

Has over 30 years' experience in international affairs including development cooperation, food security and trade policy at the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA Zenchu) in Japan.

Had been in the position of Treasurer, Auditor, and Board Member of the World Farmers' Organisation (WFO) respectively in 2010, 2010 - 2014, and 2017 - 2018. Had been a Japanese member to the APEC Policy Partnership for Food Security (PPFS) for over 10 years since 2011. Was born in Hokkaido, northern part of Japan, as a son of family farmer (rice, melon and other vegetables).

Hiroshi Inamura is the Managing Director of the Japanese mutual aid insurer, Kokumin Kyosai co-op (KKC) (with total assets of approximately 4.0 trillion yen (approximately 25.5 billion US dollars) and annual premium income of approximately 530.8 billion yen (approximately 3.4 billion US dollars)).

In April 1984, he joined KKC. He has been involved in human resources and labor management, coordination and external affairs with government and related organizations, and business innovation within the organization.

In addition, he has been the project leader for formulating business quality standards to improve customer satisfaction, and has held his current position since August 2021.

Currently, he is leading the organization to exceed customer satisfaction by creating excellent customer experience through digital transformation.

Howard Brodsky is a world leader of co-operatives and a prolific American entrepreneur. CCA is one of the largest Cooperatives in the United States with sales of over $12 billion. CCA Global Partners services 30,000 childcare centers, 2,000 nonprofits, and over 1,000,000 independent family businesses. 

Brodsky was the first American to be awarded the Rochdale Award, the “Nobel Prize of Cooperative Business” given every two years to an individual who has made the greatest impact in cooperatives worldwide. Additionally, he received the Business Leader of the Decade Award, Global Leadership Award by the World Affairs Council, inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame, and Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame. He is the Founder and Chairman of Cooperatives for a Better World, a worldwide non-profit, which aims to scale the global cooperative movement. 

Brodsky is the Global Chairman of the International Cooperative Alliance G20 Working Group. Brodsky is also a published author, and his theory on business can be seen on the highly rated TEDx Talks. Recently, he was invited to speak at the United Nations on the power of the contemporary cooperative. 

Hyunha Kim is a seasoned professional in cooperative policies and the social economy, with extensive experience in researching and supporting social enterprises and cooperatives. Currently, Hyunha serves as a Senior Team Leader at the iCOOP Federation of Consumer Cooperatives. Hyunha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea, and a Master’s degree in Development Policy from the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. Additionally, Hyunha is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and published a book titled Cooperative Close-up in 2020.

Ibon Zugasti is International Project Manager at LKS Cooperative (www.LKS.es - the Management Consulting Division of MONDRAGON Corporation), Deputy Director of the Millennium Project Global Futures Think Tank (www.millennium-project.org), Member of the Board of Foresight Europe Network – FEN (https://feneu.org/) and Associate Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (http://worldacademy.org/). Ibon is also the Managing Partner/Director in PROSPEKTIKER – European Institute for Futures Studies and Strategy (www.prospektiker.es), a member of the PREPARE Sustainability Network (http://prepare-net.com/) and is named by Forbes as one of Spain’s 40 leading foresight experts.

Since 1999, Ibon has led several high impact consultancy and research projects in fields like foresight, regional sustainable development, labor & training and energy for different Governments worldwide (e.g. USA, Canada, UK, Colombia, Uruguay), Cities (e.g. Montreal, Preston, New York City) and Corporations (e.g. Repsol, Telefonica, Iberdrola, Guggenheim). He has also advised the Committee of the Regions of the EU for the launching of a European Platform on Territorial Foresight. In the U.S., Ibon collaborates with North Carolina’s Industrial Commons, the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI) and Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City, Coop Cincy (www.coopcincy.org) in Ohio, and the nationwide 1worker1vote movement (www.1worker1vote.org).

Ilcheong YI is a Senior Research Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) in Geneva, Switzerland. Originally from the Republic of Korea, he holds a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from Seoul National University and a D.Phil in Social Policy from Oxford University. His research focuses on alternative economies, social policy, and international development cooperation, with a particular emphasis on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), sustainable development performance measurement, and transformative social policy. Prior to joining UNRISD in 2008, he served as an Associate Professor at Kyushu University, Japan, and held academic positions at Malaya University, Malaysia, and Bergen University, Norway.

Iñigo Albizuri is industrial engineer of business management (6 years degree) He has spent his all working life in different cooperatives of MONDRAGON Corporation around the world ( Spain, Italy, México, United States and China). He owns multiple patents as the result of his work. He is also the president of MUNDUKIDE , the NGO of MONDRAGON co-operatives, that works setting up new co-operatives in developing countries like Mozambique, Colombia, Brazil or Etiophy. He has been also honored with the prize “Fair Saturday” for his work and capacity of innovation and social impact in the cultural field.

He is president of CICOPA the international organization of industrial and service cooperatives.

He is member of ICA Board representing Spain

Isaac K. Nyamongo is a Professor of Anthropology. He currently serves as the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics, Cooperative Development, Research and Innovation) at the Cooperative University of Kenya. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Florida, USA and has over 30 years in teaching, research and consultancy. He has supervised and mentored students at Masters and Doctoral levels. Prof. Nyamongo has held research and training grants from many organizations including the European Union, World Health Organization, International Development Research Center, Wenner Gren Foundation and Toyota Foundation among others. His research and training experience spans several countries within the Africa region. Prof. Nyamongo has more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals. In addition, he has published books and book chapters. Further, he has held visiting Professor positions in the US as a Fulbright Scholar (2009-2010) and in South Africa where he was a Carnegie Mellon Fellow (2012). He is the President of the International Union for Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences and Chairs the Committee on Cooperative Research for Africa and a member of the ICA-Global Committee for Cooperative Research. He has received several awards including a Presidential Honor of the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS), an International Cooperative Champion from the US Overseas Cooperative Development Council and Pelto International Award by the Society for Applied Anthropology. He maintains a monthly advocacy column for cooperatives in the Daily Nation, Kenya’s leading daily newspaper. Most recently he has led the development of the cooperative transformation strategy for Kenya.

Jacqui Thomasen is CEO of the Co-operative College, an education provider established in Britain in 1919 with the same mission that we pursue today: to promote co-operative values, ideas and principles for public benefit, and to ensure co-operators are equipped and confident to enact the co-operative difference in their roles.

Today we support co-operatives in the UK and around the world, welcoming international visitors to the heart of the UK co-op movement for immersive learning visits, collaborating with fellow infrastructure bodies: Co-operative Heritage Trust, Co-ops UK and Coop News, and facilitating learning exchanges between co-ops of all shapes, sizes and sectors. Our curriculum spans the breadth of online self-paced learning, to a newly launched Postgraduate Certificate in Co-operative Studies, executive education workshops and open-enrolment CPD.

The College is proud to be the UK’s leading International Co-operative Development provider, a specialist service working in partnership with a range of funding organisations and in-country partners to develop co-operative ecosystems which bring sustainable benefit to co-operators, their communities and the economy.

With a background in Business Schools, it perhaps comes as no surprise that one of Jacqui’s key priorities is to mainstream co-operative education. Our Co-ops on the Curriculum Campaign aims to target education at all stages, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to learn about co-operative enterprise: a proven model which we believe to be the only viable one for a sustainable and equitable future.

Jeong-hee Kim joined iCOOP as a consumer member and obtained a master’s degree in Cooperative Management from Sungkonghoe University Graduate School in 2014. She served as the chairperson of Yulmok Coop, one of iCOOP's member coops, and as the representative of the COOP Store, a subsidiary managing iCOOP Natural Dream stores, starting in 2017. She was also a representative of the Anyang City Cooperative Association and served as the Chairperson of iCOOP Federation. This year, she was elected as the chairperson of the iN Lifecare Cooperative Federation.

With over 30 years of experience in sustainable supply chains across the tropics, Jeroen has influenced key commodity markets such as coffee, tea, cocoa, oil palm, soy, bananas, cotton, beef, and gold. His work has mobilised over 700 million consumers globally to choose sustainability and fair trade labels. 

A staunch advocate for systemic change, Jeroen believes that true sustainability requires a fundamental shift in business structures. They argue that sustainability labels and supply chain efforts alone are not enough. He champions the cooperative model as a powerful counterbalance to unilateral, capital-driven market forces.

Dental surgeon graduated in 1983 from the Faculdade Integrada de Marília, São Paulo. Founder and current President of Uniodonto Athenas Paulista. He chaired the Federation of Uniodontos of the State of São Paulo from 2004 to 2007. President of Uniodonto do Brasil since 2007. President of Cooperatives of the Americas, regional organization of the International Cooperative Alliance. He specialized in Health Management at FGV and in Negotiation Management at the University of California - Irvine. Participates in the coordination of the Health Branch of the Organization of Cooperatives of Brazil.

Jun He serves as the Team Leader of the Rural Institutions Team within FAO's Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division, where he focuses on strengthening rural institutions to promote socio-economic inclusion and empower individuals involved in the agrifood system and rural transformation.

As a technical expert, Jun leads FAO’s initiatives in inclusive agricultural insurance and de-risking schemes. He also serves as the focal point of the division's Digitalization Thematic Taskforce, coordinating cross-team efforts to foster digital inclusion in rural areas and advance the division’s role in FAO's innovation agenda. Through this work, Jun is dedicated to empowering rural communities and fostering sustainable development in agrifood systems.

Born in Sangmélima – CAMEROON, Dr Justin Bomda obtained an Engineering Degree in Agro Economy from the University of Dschang (Cameroon) in 1985, a Master Degree in Economic Development and Planning from the United Nations Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP) in Dakar (Senegal) in 1988 (Theses: “Input Output Analysis and Planning Perspective in Senegal”), and a PhD in Agricultural Economics (Finance as major) from the University of Hohenheim-Stuttgart (Germany) in 1998 (Theses: “The Determinants of Savings and Loan, and their Implication for the Development of the Rural Financial Sector in Cameroon”). He served as Engineer in charge of studies at the Ministry of Agriculture in Cameroon, and has done consultancy works for the World Bank, FAO, IFAD, European Union, KfW, GiZ, private banks, International NGOs, etc. From 1999 to April 2018, he was Executive Director of ADAF (NGO promoting financial institutions in Cameroon). He is since November 2019, the Managing Director / CEO of MUFID UNION (apex organ of a network of financial cooperatives in Cameroon). He is also Associate lecturer at the Catholic University of Central Africa (Master courses in finance and banking). He is a specialist in agricultural finance, and works in both French and English language

Kendra Faith Prestin is a 9-year-old Grade 3 pupil from Sagrada Elementary School in Manjuyod, Negros Oriental, Philippines. She is a member of the Aflatoun program of DCCCO Multi-Purpose Cooperative, an active Aflatoun partner of NATCCO in the Visayas. She is the daughter of parents who work as grocery store merchandisers. Her family is part of the government's 4Ps Program, designed to help poor people in the community improve their circumstances. Despite her family's financial challenges, Kendra has been able to save through her school’s Aflatoun Savings Program.

She was recognized as the Top Aflatoun Depositor for the school year 2023-2024 due to her consistent savings, even in small amounts. Even at a young age, Kendra appreciates and values savings as a way to achieve her goals. She actively participates in the laboratory cooperative activities of DCCCO MPC and is also involved in extracurricular activities at her school, joining the Inter-School Folk Dance Competition and the Search for Little Miss Manjuyod, where she won the Congeniality Award. Kendra is an active Girl Scout member and dreams of becoming a nurse someday.

Kenki MAEDA is General Manager of Team for Cooperative Identity, International Cooperation and Cooperative Research in the Japan Co-operative Alliance (JCA). The team was created in 2023 to respond to the ICA-initiated global consultation on the cooperative identity. He studied agricultural economics and joined JA-Zenchu (Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives) in 1989. Having worked in various departments and held several management positions in JA-Zenchu, he became Manager of Cooperation among Cooperatives Section in 2014, a section created to promote intersectoral cooperation among cooperatives, which was a theme recognized even more important by Japanese cooperators that had experienced IYC2012. In 2016, he moved to JC-Soken, a research institute for cooperatives, where he continued to promote cooperation among cooperatives and was involved in preparations for the establishment of the first national cooperative organization covering all the sectors of cooperatives, JCA. He had served as General Manager of Department for Cooperation among Cooperatives in JCA since its start in 2018, and has been in his current position since 2023. He teaches cooperatives in the Institute for Solidarity-based Society in Hosei University.

Mr. Kishor Kumar is currently the Chief Project Coordinator of ULCCS. At National Level, he serves as a director of the National Labour Cooperative Federation of India (NLCF), New Delhi, the apex body of 46953 workers/forest cooperatives in India. He was one of the founding members of UL CyberPark, the 1st Information Technology Special Economic Zone developed by a Cooperative and played a pivotal role in making UL Cyberpark one of the top IT/ITeS parks in the country. A Post Graduate in Sociology with PG Diploma in management, Mr Kishor Kumar is also very active in Transformational Social Development Projects in the region. Presently functions as a member in various committees in the Cooperative movement. He has also represented Indian Cooperatives in Spain, Italy, Australia, UK, Sri Lanka, Iran, Thailand and Philippines for propagating innovative ideas in the Coop sector. Kishor Kumar is also very active in Transformational Social Development Projects in the region. He is a certified mountaineer, trained from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkasi, India.

Mrs. Leire Muguerza holds an Industrial Engineer Degree from Mondragon University and an MBA, “Master in Cooperative Business Management” from Otalora-MONDRAGON Corporation.

She has worked in various cooperatives of the MONDRAGON Corporation. She began her professional career in 1998, in the industrial area of MONDRAGON, in EIKA S.Coop, where she held various responsibilities, Industrial and Systems Director of the Eika Group. She also became President of the Governing Council in this cooperative.

 In 2007, she continued her career as Managing Director in the Vocational School, “Lea Artibai Ikastetxea”, in the  Knowledge Area of MONDRAGON. Combining this position since 2012 with the Presidency of the Governing Council of Eroski S. Coop, cooperative in the Retailing area of MONDRAGON.

In January 2022, she was appointed as President of the Congress and the Permanent Commission of MONDRAGON Corporation, a position that she will continue to make compatible with her previous ones.

Since May 2022 she has been also appointed as 2nd  Vice-President of “CEPES”, Spanish Business Confederation of Social Economy and in November 2022 Board member of the “Consejo Económico y Social de España” in Madrid.

Liz is the lead at The Co-operative Heritage Trust; this is the independent charity (1179727) originally formed in 2007 to safeguard heritage assets in the UK on behalf of the co-operative movement.

The Trust was formed as an independent body to provide accreditation and protection for number 31 Toad Lane (a museum from 1931) – the original premises of the 1844 Rochdale Equitable Society where the ‘Rochdale Principles’ were founded and used by the international movement after the formation of the International Co-operative Alliance in Manchester, in 1895.

The Trust collects material heritage, records and objects reflecting the movement in the UK and makes these accessible to diverse audiences for the promotion of the co-operative identity as it’s charitable aims and objectives. The archive service is currently based in Manchester, at Holyoake House – home of Co-operatives UK.

Liz’s professional background is in museum and heritage management, and her collections experience is in British Industrial and Social History with a special interest in transport and logistics. She has worked in the public heritage field for over twenty years - previously working for Local Authorit

LuAnn Werner is an international development professional serving as the Deputy Executive Director of the US Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC). This is a member-based organization of international cooperative development organizations. Ms. Werner worked for cooperatives and non-profits throughout her career including leading two international cooperative development programs focused on increasing incomes and stimulating economic growth of farmers in several East African countries. Her market access, agriculture and youth development experience span multiple countries throughout Southern and Eastern Africa as well as Asia.

An enthusiastic networker, she is passionate about using her cooperative knowledge and management skills to promote effective international cooperative development.

Ms. Werner also serves as a Director on the board of her credit union in Minnesota. She holds a Master of Arts in Sustainable Development from SIT Graduate Institute and a bachelor's degree in social work.

Luiz Carlos Beduschi Filho is a Senior Policy Officer for Rural Development at FAO for Latin America and the Caribbean.

He is an Agricultural Engineer with a master’s and Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Before joining FAO, he was an Associate Professor at this University, where he coordinated the Doctoral Program in Environmental Sciences and served as Head of the Division of Science, Management, and Environmental Technology at the Institute of Energy and Environment.

He has over 20 years of experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating projects, programs, and policies focused on issues such as food security, rural development, and environmental governance.

He is the Coordinator of the FAO's Rural Development Program in the region, aimed at building prosperous and inclusive rural societies, and serves as the regional focal point for the Division of Inclusive Rural Transformation.

Manuel Leiva, 33 years old, is the President of FACTTIC, the Argentine federation that brings together technology-based, innovation, and knowledge cooperatives. With more than 40 associated cooperatives, it represents a key player in the sector, adding value every day through technology. Additionally, he is a member and promoter of Patio.Coop, the international community of technology cooperatives that brings together more than 80 entities worldwide. He is a strong advocate for using technology to achieve efficiency, social impact, and sustainability in both productive and social processes. He serves as a mentor in the incubation and support of cooperatives and is a speaker at various conferences and institutes

Lawyer, Specialist in Administrative Law and Socioeconomic Evaluation of Social Projects, leader of the Colombian Cooperative Sector, with extensive experience of more than 20 years, in Cooperative leadership at the Latin American level, holding positions in union organizations such as: Cooperativa de Las Américas, member of the Board of Directors of Confecoop, Gestando, Corporación Verde and CIDE, President of the Board of Directors of the Coomeva Cooperative Business Group.

In addition, she is Vice President of the Equity Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance and Member of the ICA World Board.

She is currently the Executive President of the Colombian Association of Cooperatives.

I consider myself to have a high social commitment, developing strategies through the social and cooperative economy that improve the living conditions of less favored populations and the well-being and empowerment of women.

Faithful to the cooperative principles and values ​​that allow me to exercise leadership in the national and international sector, always showing the leadership and power of women in favor of cooperative citizen and business well-being.

Melina was the driving force behind the formation of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) in 2013 after heading Australia’s Secretariat for the International Year of Cooperatives. Melina has led the movement to historic achievements. Her campaign for access to capital resulted in new laws and more than A$450 million released into Australian cooperatives and mutuals since 2019.

In partnership with Monash University, Melina has led the industry development of the Mutual Value Measurement Framework© to measure the value of cooperatives and mutuals. She has raised A$24.5 million in government funding for cooperatives in agriculture and care. Melina is leading a project to develop the first reporting framework for cooperatives for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). She is a director of Australian Mutuals Foundation which assists financial cooperatives in South-East Asia.

Melina has worked for more than two decades in the cooperative and mutual movement including editing the ICA Digest for five years and writing the message platform for the ‘Blueprint for a Cooperative Decade’. She was engaged to write a strategic communications plan and assist ICA’s media outreach in the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives.

Merav Niv is an expert in cooperative law. Currently heading the Cooperative Development Unit of the Kibbutz Movement and serving as Senior Legal Counsel for the Kibbutz Movement, Merav plays a key role in advancing cooperative initiatives in Israel and internationally. She is responsible for fostering partnerships across urban and rural sectors, developing cooperative research and education programs, and strengthening cooperative identity.

Merav’s career includes significant positions such as Chair of the Finance Committee of the Jordan Valley Regional Cooperative, Chair of Kibbutz Gesher, and Head of Legal Department for Cooperative Societies at one of Israel’s leading law firms. Her expertise spans legal advisement on cooperative governance, regulatory compliance, and policy advocacy. Her academic contributions include published chapters in works on the evolution of the kibbutz model. Representing the Kibbutz Movement in various international forums and on ICETT, addressing contemporary local and global challenges that cooperatives face, through innovative ideas, research, education, and cooperation.

She holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Haifa and an LLB from the same institution. Fluent in Hebrew, English, and highly proficient in Spanish, Merav brings a multifaceted and robust background in cooperative governance, strategic development and research to her work.

Mikyung Shin joined iCOOP as a consumer member and served as the chairperson of Jang-yu Coop, one of iCOOP's member coops, and as the representative of the COOP Store Gyeongnam branch, a subsidiary managing iCOOP Natural Dream stores, starting in 2021. She has also served as the Director of Gyeongnam Social Value Finance and as the Auditing Director of the Gimhae Cooperative Association. This year, she was elected as the chairperson of the iCOOP Federation.

Mirai Chatterjee is the Director of SEWA’s Social Security team including health care, child care and insurance. She is also the Chairperson of the SEWA Cooperative Federation of 110 informal women workers’ cooperatives. She was the General Secretary of SEWA after its Founder, Ela Bhatt. Mirai is a leader of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a national union that has organised 2.5 million informal women workers in India obtain work and income security, financial services, organize child care, primary health care, housing with water and sanitation and insurance, among many other activities and support services. She joined SEWA in 1984.

Mirai serves as Chairperson of the global informal workers and policy-makers network, WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment Globalising and Organising), and is also on the Board of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, among others. She was advisor to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector. In addition, she was also a Commissioner in the World Health Organization’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health and a member of the High-Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage set up by the Planning Commission of India in 2010. She is a former member of the National Advisory Council (NAC), appointed by the Prime Minister of India in 2010. Currently she serves on two Lancet Commissions on Oral Health and on Re-Imagining Health Care in India.

She was conferred the Global Achievement award by the School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University.

Mirai holds a bachelor in History and Science from Harvard University and a Master's in Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University.

Nelson, a transformational and passionate co-operative leader is the Group Chairman of CIC Insurance Group which he joined in 1998 and became CEO in 2001 and retired as Group MD/CEO in February 2015. He is credited with leading the transformation of CIC from a very small co-operative insurer to one of the top 3 insurance groups in Kenya with 3 subsidiaries and regional footprint in South Sudan, Uganda and Malawi by the time of his retirement.

Currently, he is also serving as Chairman of Smep Microfinance Bank, Africa International University (private Christian University) and the Institute of Directors of Kenya.

In the international level of the co-operative movement, he served as board member and Chairman of the Development Committee of ICMIF, Member and facilitator in 3 UN Expert Group Meetings on Co-operatives, Member of ICA Planning Work Group for the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, Member of ICA Working Group on the International accounting Standards. In Kenya, he served as the Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Co-operative University of Kenya and Chairman of the National Co-operative Task Force which developed the latest new Co-operative law in Kenya.

In insurance, he served as Chairman of the Association of Kenya Insurers, board member of Kenya Reinsurance Corporation and College of Insurance of Kenya. He also served as the pioneer Chair of the Working Group on Microinsurance Development of the African Insurance Organization.

Among others, he has also served as Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Kenya Employers and Association of Microfinance Finance Institutions of Kenya and Member of the Presidential Task Force on Parastatal Reforms.

Nelson has been honoured with two awards by the president of Kenya for his contribution in co-operative development (Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW in 2005) and Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS in 2011). In the insurance industry he was honoured with the Life Time Achievement Award in 2012 for his role in insurance development in Kenya. In 2017, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in leadership by the Swiss Management Academy. In 2019, in recognition of his outstanding role in promoting good governance he was made a Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Kenya.

Mr. Noel Raboy is currently the President and CEO of CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative, which is a cooperative that provides insurance coverage for its members, a leading insurance cooperative in the country and is known for its innovative products and services. Mr. Raboy has been working in the Cooperative sector for over 20 years and has become an advocate for the promotion of cooperatives as a means of achieving economic development and social progress. He has accumulated a broad understanding of the importance of cooperatives in creating opportunities for underprivileged communities and promoting financial inclusivity.

Mr. Raboy is a founding trustee of the Cooperative College of the Philippines, Concurrent Chair of the Philippine Chamber of Cooperatives Inc.

He has a degree in Sociology from Xavier University, He earned his MBA at the University of San Carlos and several executive educations in Singapore and United Kingdom and IMD Business School in Switzerland. His passion for social development resonated as a college professor, an active radio broadcaster and founded the Kusgan Volunteer KVI to promote volunteerism and love of our country as the foundation of social progress and democracy.

Ms. Nomathemba Mhlanga (Noma), a national of Zimbabwe has been appointed to serve as FAO Representative ad interim in Rwanda effective 07 October 2024 until a substantive FAO Representative to Rwanda has been selected.

Noma has been with FAO for more than 15 years in various progressive capacities both in the field as well as at HQ. Currently, she is an Agribusiness Officer at the FAO subregional Office for Eastern Africa and manages the Decent Employment in Agrifood Systems Programme in the Regional Office for Africa. Her areas of expertise (among others) include value chain and agribusiness development, post-harvest management, agricultural finance and investment, and entrepreneurship support especially for women and youth.

Noma holds a PhD in Applied Economics and Management, an MSc Degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University, USA and a BSc Honours Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Zimbabwe.

Olugbenga Ebenezer Komolafe, well known in Nigerian human rights and trade union circles as Gbenga Komolafe was born October 16, 1964 in Southwest, Nigeria. After university education, he joined the trade union movement as an organizer and workers’ rights educator. He also worked with the American Center for International Labour Solidarity (Solidarity Center) as a Program Officer and helped to design and implement several programs on organizing, gender equity, economic literacy for Nigerian trade unions all over the country. He resigned his position as a Senior Program Officer with the Solidarity Center in 2010 and started organizing the Federation of Informal Workers’ Organizations of Nigeria (FIWON) in fulfillment of his long - standing passion to help organize working people in the informal sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Since 2010, he has inspired several layers of grassroots leaders of informal sector organizations in Nigeria to become more aware of their rights as citizens and working people. The organization has led several campaigns on the streets to struggle against entrenched traditions of oppression and repression of informal workers; arbitrary arrests, organized extortion by police and other agents of the state, eviction from homes and work places, etc Since the Covid-19 pandemic crisis and its terrible impacts on working people in the informal sectors, the organization has devoted more attention towards ensuring that basic social insurance services especially health insurance, are extended to the working people in the informal sectors through the facilitation of a Cooperative Society registered in 2016. Thousands of informal workers, especially women, have now enrolled in these programs while efforts are on to ensure the program gain traction and wider acceptance.

Apart from numerous newspaper articles, essays and statements, Gbenga Komolafe is widely cited in several publications he has been part of. Some of his most cited works, include:

‘The Poor Also Must Live!” Market Demolition, Gentrification and the Quest for Survival in Lagos State, https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/migrated/publications/files/FIWON-Poor-Also-Must-Live-Oct2016.pdf, 2016

WOMEN'S WORK AND TAXATION IN THE INFORMAL ECONOMY: Issues in Urban Governance in Nigeria, Center for Democracy and Development, Dr. Mutiat Oladejo and Gbenga Komolafe, June 2019, https://media.africaportal.org/documents/Womens-Work-and-Taxation-in-the-Informal-Economy-Issues-in-Urban-Governance-in-Nigeria.pdf

Public Private Partnerships and the Informal Sector, Gbenga Komolafe, 2017 

Osamu Nakano joined Japan Workers’ Cooperative Union (JWCU) in 2014. He has been a board member and director of the international relations department at the JWCU since 2017. He has also served as a researcher of Japan Co-operative Alliance (2018-present), an apex organization of all cooperative sectors in Japan, and visiting researcher of Tokyo University (2019-2021).

He has served as a chairperson of CICOPA Asia and Pacific, a regional organization of industrial and service cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific region that was established in November 2021, and a vice president of CICOPA, an international organization of industrial and service cooperatives.

He has been a secretary general of the JWCU since July 2024. He has a rich experience of giving a presentation at various international conferences, organized by the United Nations, ILO, ICA, CICOPA and so on. He has published many articles about cooperative movements, social and solidarity economy and so forth, including “Platform Cooperatives: Toward the Citizen-Centered Digital Platform Economy” (Decoding Platform Capitalism, Nakanishiya Shuppan, Japan, 2023)

Born in Meru County in the Eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya, Patrick Kilemi has over 21 years' experience in oil and gas with O1l Majors - Total, Chevron and ExxonMobil, with a deep understanding of international trading, and regional markets.

He is passionate about development economics with key biases in impactful rural initiatives that transform and build inclusive economies. Committed to promoting co-operative principles, fostering an enabling environment for the

Patrick holds a Master's in Economics, Bachelor's Degree in Economics and he is a Certified Public Account (CPA(K)). He has also attended several international training programs and conferences across the globe.

Patxi X. Olabarria Furundarena has spent more than 20 years involved in the educational field within his cooperative, Urretxu-Zumarraga Ikastola, where he has worked as a teacher, taken on managerial roles, and served as the financial manager. During the period from 2006 to 2009, he was the General Director of Educational Centers in the Department of Education of the Basque Government.

He is currently the Economic and Labor Director of the European cooperative “Euskal Herriko Ikastolak,” which includes 113 educational centers, employs more than 4,000 people, and educates over 54,000 students.

Since 2011, he has combined his work at the EHI European cooperative with serving as the Coordinator of the 88 cooperatives in the Education Sector Group of KONFEKOOP, the Confederation of Cooperatives of the Basque Country, which brings together 1,300 cooperatives, where he also serves as Vice President.

Since 2019, he has been the President of the Superior Council of Cooperatives of Euskadi, a public entity made up of representatives from the Basque Government, the three Basque universities, the three regional councils (Diputaciones Forales), and the Confederation of Cooperatives of the Basque Country.

Additionally, he is a board member in the following Boards of Directors and Organizations:

• Member of the Economic and Social Council of the Basque Country
• Member of the Basque School Council
• Vice President of the Union of Teaching Cooperatives of Spain - UECOE
• Secretary of the Cooperative for Cooperative Promotion - ELKAR LAN
• Board Member at the publishing company IKASELKAR

Pete Westall is the Chief Values Officer & part of the Executive team for The Midcounties Co-operative, (www.midcounties.coop), where he has worked for over 30 years.

Midcounties Co-operative is seen as one of the leading Co-operatives in the UK, in Europe and across the world. They operate a broad portfolio of businesses, including Food, Travel and Childcare on behalf of their 700,000 members, and have a purpose stating that “Through the power of co-operation, we’re building a fairer, more sustainable and ethical future”.

Pete holds accountability to the Board for sustainability and the Society’s Social Responsibility agenda, as well as ensuring Co-operative Values & Principles are at the heart of the Society. He has taken Executive lead on several of the Society’s trading & support functions during his 3 decades with Midcounties, and believes all businesses have a responsibility to the communities in which they trade.

He holds a number of Board positions associated with his Executive role – including as a Board Director of the Younity Joint Venture, as a member of the Leadership Board of Business in the Community and as Chair of Bright Future Co-operative - an organisation dedicated to the employment of survivors of modern slavery.  He was named Co-operator of the Year by Co-op UK members in 2021 in recognition of his work across the UK movement and has spoken at a number of national and international events over recent times, including at the Global Innovation Co-operative Summit in Montreal in September 2023, and at the Cooperatives Europe General Assembly and Symposium in Brussels earlier this year.

Pete also represents Midcounties on ICETT – the International Co-operative Entrepreneurial Think Tank - formed in 2018 by the ICA to boost cooperatives' entrepreneurial performance. Its members seek to address the global challenges that cooperative enterprises are facing today, through innovative ideas, research, education, and cooperation.

Preeti Sagar is a well known playback singer a household name in India. Her rich musical repertoire is an epitome of versatility. It includes Film playback singing, Light songs, Pop songs, classical songs, Nursery Rhymes,  Bhajans, Ghazals, etc. She has rendered these in almost all languages of India.

She has rendered a number of very popular hits that are remembered over the years…..all time classics. She has won a number of laurels including two Filmfare awards that for her song “My heart is beating in film Julie” and then her iconic, all time classic song “Mero Gaam Katha Paare in film “Manthan.  

She was chosen to represent India at the international music festival, Tokyo, 1992, where she rendered her very popular number on world peace “Its time to change the world, its time the youth unfurled……..”.

She was a member of the National Film Awards jury 2005.

Her contributions span from entertainment, education to social work and public service message Films and a great part of her career has created entertaining and informative products and programmes for Children as she believes that childhood is the most impressionable period in one’s life.

She came to music to enthral millions of hearts with her voice!

Over 25 years of global experience the MNC C-suite of MNC to advising Governments and at the United Nations. Handles issues at the nexus of politics, technology and business operations, with a focus on global supply chains.

Puvan is a former UN Expert on Business and Human Rights (UN Human Rights Council, Geneva), was Head of Food & Agriculture (UN Global Compact Office, New York), and Head, New York Office, of the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the UN and WTO.

Before the UN, as Group Chief Sustainability Officer for a MNC, he developed sustainability strategy and operational policies across 22 countries for Plantations, Property, Motors, Energy and Healthcare divisions.

In 2015 Puvan established the Bluenumber Foundation, a 501c3 New York non-profit to work on issues including Value Chains and Forced Labour.

An Architect by profession, with an MBA, a DBA in Corporate Sustainability Strategy and completing a PhD in the Human Right to Data.

Raesetja Jane Sithole is a South African politician who has been serving as a Member of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature since May 2014. She holds a BA Degree in Communications from the University of South Africa, a National Diploma in Office Administration from Tshwane University of Technology, and a Diploma in Political Leadership and Governance from the Wits School of Governance. Sithole joined the Democratic Alliance in 1999 and has served as a councillor and Chief Whip of Emalahleni Caucus. She was elected to the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature in 2014 and served on various committees. Sithole was elected as the Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance in Mpumalanga in 2018, succeeding James Masango. She was re-elected unopposed as provincial leader in October 2020 and served as the Leader of the Democratic Alliance Caucus in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature from 2018 to 2024.

Revant Himatsingka, popularly known as Food Pharmer, is a food crusader who is on a mission to make 140 crore Indians become health literate. 

He has fought and won against several MNCs in the world. He has been instrumental behind many leading companies reducing their sugar content. He has 3.5 million followers across social media and is one of India's most trusted voices on health. 

Rinky Kumari is a social entrepreneur from Hutup village in Ranchi, India, where she faced the challenges of growing up in a patriarchal and caste-divided society. Inspired by her mother’s resilience in the face of domestic violence and economic hardship, Rinky began her journey through football. At age 10, she joined Yuwa, a local NGO, and later captained her team in international tournaments in Spain and the USA. These experiences expanded her vision for empowering women in her community.

After returning home, Rinky re-started her education, coached football, and led life-skills workshops, encouraging girls to challenge societal norms. This fueled her passion for social change, leading her to study Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation at Mondragon University. She has co-founded several ventures in Spain, Germany, and South Korea, all focused on sustainable, community-driven change.

Rinky’s journey has been featured in several media outlets like Le Monde and the South China Morning Post, and she has spoken at TEDx, the World HRD Congress, and at numerous other platforms.

Her latest initiative, Ek Saath, addresses women’s health, early education, and financial literacy in rural India. Rinky’s mission is to create long-term, democratic, and sustainable impact through grassroots collaboration

Roeland Monasch is the CEO of Aflatoun a Social Franchise delivering Social and Financial Education through a network of nearly 400 partner organizations in 100+ countries. Its mission is to inspire youth to socially and economically empower themselves to become agents of change for a more equitable future. Previously, Roeland worked for 20+ years with the UN (UNICEF & WHO), including as UNICEF Representative in Sierra Leone, Georgia, and Zimbabwe. He coordinated the UNICEF response during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone (2014-2015).

In Georgia, he worked with the government on the de-institutionalization of all children living in large orphanages established during the Soviet Union era and managed the humanitarian operation in Abkhazia. In Zimbabwe, he coordinated the UNICEF development programme and protracted humanitarian crisis [2004–2009: Displacement; Cholera; Political violence; Hyperinflation; Collapse basic social services].

Roeland is married and has a seventeen-year-old daughter.

As Cooperative Advisor with HealthPartners International Development, Rose Karimi leads initiatives to strengthen health insurance partnerships within Kenya’s cooperative sector, advancing sustainable healthcare financing for the informal sector through the Health E-Quality (HEQ) program. A dedicated advocate for gender equity, she champions women’s roles in cooperative-based healthcare access and spearheads the integration of gender-focused approaches in HEQ strategies.

With over 20 years of experience across banking, academia, agriculture, and cooperative development in Africa, Rose previously served as Education, Training, and Research Manager at the International Cooperative Alliance-Africa, where she played a key role in advancing cooperative entrepreneurship, particularly among young people.

Rose has over 15 years in academia as a lecturer and leader, having served as both Department Chair and Dean at Africa Nazarene Business School. She is a former President of the Africa Operations Research Societies (AFROS) and has served on the advisory board of the Technical University of Munich’s Center for Sustainable Energies, Entrepreneurship, and Development. She holds a PhD in Supply Chain Management from Rutgers,State University of New Jersey, an MBA, and a Bachelor’s degree in Management Science from the University of Nairobi-Kenya.

As the voice of the UK’s co-operative movement, Co-operatives UK empowers and supports co- operative enterprise with specialised knowledge and expertise, to grow the co-operative economy and create a fairer society. From football clubs and farms, to convenience stores and pubs, there are more than 7,000 co-operatives in the UK.

Rose joined Co-operatives UK as CEO in 2021 with a focus on engaging younger generations and building a tech & digital infrastructure capable of co-op innovation in the 21st century. Rose immediately spearheaded the creation of an ambitious new strategy to grow the co-operative economy.

Rose is also Chair of the International Co-operative Working Group (ICWG) alongside consumer and worker coops and including infrastructure bodies such as the Co-op Heritage Fund, Co- operative College and Co-op News and has championed development work in India & Malawi. In the last few years, driven by the ICWG, the sector has donated £100,000 to female led co- operatives in India to provide emergency Covid aid and provide sustainable livelihoods for 40 young women. With Rose at its head, the ICWG is also developing an international fund which will be launched in 2024 in celebration of 180th anniversary of the Rochdale Pioneers.

As Chair of ICWG, Rose has also launched co-op Beyond the Music at SXSW in Texas, USA andwas a keynote speaker at both WCM Brazil 2022 and the Global Innovation Forum in Paris, 2021.

Rose lives in Manchester with her husband and two children.

Samer M. Al-Rawashdeh is an experienced agricultural professional with a diverse background spanning over 20 years in agriculture, sustainable development, project coordination, & landscape management. Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture, and Food Security at the University of Jerash, Samer combines academic expertise with extensive practical experience in agriculture and environmental sustainability.

Samer currently serves as an Agriculture Project Officer at the International Labour Organization (ILO), where he manages impactful initiatives aimed at improving labor conditions and promoting socio-economic inclusion in Jordan’s agricultural sector. His work focuses on supporting refugees and host communities, advancing decent work practices, and enhancing the resilience of local agricultural cooperatives. Through projects like PROSPECTS ,Samer supported the development and the implementation of the national cooperative strategy, this work entails working at the level of strengthening the governmental and non-governmental support institutions, and delivering on enterprise level capacitation through cooperative audits, management training, but also decent work awareness raising (occupational safety and healt, child labour).

Samer is certified trainer on different cooperatives tools such as the My.coop, Think.coop and Start.coop, He has also contributed to the development of several key tools for cooperatives, such as OSH tool and child labour tool, which aim to improve the working conditions and sustainability of agricultural cooperatives.

Prior to his role at the ILO, Samer held various positions, including Agricultural Consultant for the ILO on green employment initiatives and Project Manager at the University of Jordan, and community recreation and green spaces design and implementation in Saudi Arabia

With a strong commitment to promoting sustainable agricultural practices, socio-economic development, and environmental stewardship, Samer’s career is marked by a passion for creating positive change in both the agricultural sector and the communities he serves.

Sangita Ben is an agricultural laborer and Board Member of SEWA Megha Indigenous Women’s Agricultural Cooperative. She has been instrumental in advancing sustainable agricultural practices and health awareness among tribal communities. Sangita Ben organizes women farmers and provides training to them, while also educating farmers on certified seed use, and reducing reliance on unreliable hybrid seeds. Her guidance has enabled farmers to adopt multi-crop farming, improving yields and financial stability. Her work has driven a notable transformation in local agriculture and farmer knowledge.

Sara Vicari, PhD, is a cooperative development expert who has collaborated with FAO since 2013, focusing on advancing cooperative development initiatives across FAO’s headquarters, regional offices, and field projects in countries such as Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Armenia, and Guyana. Since 2023, she has worked with the FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa (FAORNE), leading a comprehensive stocktaking study on FAO’s engagement with cooperatives and other forms of collective action in the region. She is also organizing a Regional Dialogue in partnership with ICA Africa and ICA Asia-Pacific, with the objective of improving the enabling environment for cooperative development, enhancing their capacities to transform rural and agrifood systems, and contributing to food security, nutrition, and sustainable development in the Near East and North Africa region.

Born on February 1, 1950, Shri Satish Marathe holds Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and Law (Gen) from the University of Bombay. He also holds Diploma in Journalism (Gold Medalist from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan). Shri Satish Marathe started his Banking career in Bank of India and rose to be the Chairman and CEO of The United Western Bank Ltd (from 2002 to 2006). Earlier, in September 1991, became CEO of Janakalyan Sahakari Bank Ltd. which recorded high consistent growth during his 10 years tenure.

Shri Satish Marathe is the Founder Member of Sahakar Bharati which has spread its activities all over India and presently, over 40,000 CoOperatives are associated with it. It is the largest NGO in the CoOperative Sector in the country. In 2015, IFFCO conferred Sahakarita Ratna Award on Shri Satish Marathe. He is the only recipient of the Award from Maharashtra.

Mrs. Savitri Singh, Deputy Chief Executive of NCUI has more than 30 years’ experience working with national and international cooperative organisations in various capacities at higher management level. She has worked for 18 years with International Cooperative Alliance (ICAAP) and with 109 cooperative and nodal government organisations in 32 countries in the Asia-Pacific region including India. She has also worked with Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) at senior management level.

She has expertise in cooperative law and policy, cooperative education, training, research, general administration, human resource development and relationship building with various stakeholders such as government ministries, international organisations i.e. European Union, UNDP, FAO, ILO, SAARC, ASEAN, Indian national cooperative unions and federations. She has represented ICA and NCUI as speaker at various national and international platforms including at ICA-ILO side events in United Nations, New York.

She is instrumental in initiating various policy and advocacy  programs, women empowerment and gender mainstreaming programs, addressing social issues affecting cooperatives such as HIV-AIDS, establishing and running NCUI Haat, a marketing outlet to support rural artisans, revamping of course curriculum for National Centre for Cooperative Education of NCUI etc.

She has commissioned and guided developing of training manuals, project on need of sex-disaggregated data collection and analysis, Critical Study on Co-operative Legislations and Policy Reforms, Advanced Training Manuals for capacity building of women etc. She has also contributed as ICA Expert on Gender-responsive Institutional and HRD Capacity Building for Promotion of Agricultural Co-operative Enterprise Development with FAO project on Enhancement of Food Security and Poverty Alleviation through Improved Institutional Capacity of Agricultural Cooperatives in Nepal.
Mrs. Singh has a Master Degree in Political Science and a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations. She has also attended various trainings on agriculture credit, processing & marketing of Agri products and food safety, enterprise development etc.

Prior to joining NCUI and ICA Regional Office, she worked as Deputy Manager- Commercial, HRD, Vigilance and Public Relations in TRIFED under the then Ministry of Social Welfare, Govt. of India.

Shatadru Chattopadhyay is a distinguished leader in the field of sustainability and is known for his innovative work in sustainable supply chains. As the founder of Solidaridad Asia in 2007, he has transformed the organisation into a leading force in sustainable development, with 700 specialists across 34 offices in 9 Asian countries, supporting over 2 million smallholder farmers and their associations. He also serves on the Executive Board of Directors for Solidaridad Global, playing a key role in steering the organisation's global strategy. 

With 24 years of professional experience, Shatadru has dedicated his career to empowering small farmers and workers within supply chains. His innovative solutions address critical issues such as reclaiming degraded land, fair farmers’ data, carbon farming, wastewater reuse for irrigation, and water management for smallholder agriculture systems. His commitment to holistic and long-term sustainability is evident in his efforts to make sustainability assurance more inclusive in southern-producing countries. He has developed 10 national standards tailored to local needs and contexts, empowering local producers and ensuring that sustainability practices are culturally and economically viable. 

Shatadru's entrepreneurial spirit has led to several ground-breaking initiatives in sustainable development. He was the driving force behind the establishment of India's first farmer-owned cotton producer company, a significant milestone in the country's agricultural landscape. He also made history by launching the world’s first national sustainability frameworks for tea in China, India, and Indonesia, setting a new industry standard. Additionally, he has established two massive farmers’ supermarkets in Bangladesh and supports the development of food product brands produced by small farmers. His commitment to regional cooperation is evident in his role as the conceptualizer and leader of two of Asia’s largest regional sustainable commodity platforms: the Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA) and the Asian Tea Alliance (ATA). These platforms have aligned sustainability and trade strategies, fostering stakeholder collaboration and driving systemic change. 

An accomplished author, he has written three books and numerous articles and has coordinated multiple research projects on sustainable development. He holds a bachelor's degree in Politics and Economics from Ramjas College, a master’s in International Relations, a master’s in Philosophy, and a Doctorate in South Asian Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University of India. Passionate about sustainability, he mentors young professionals and serves on the advisory boards of select sustainability-related organisations. 

Shatadru’s extensive work throughout Asia has deepened his appreciation for the region's rich culture and people. Born and raised in Delhi, he now divides his time between Delhi and Hong Kong, continually seeking new opportunities to advance sustainability and create lasting positive impact. 

Simel Esim, a Turkish-American economist, has led the ILO’s portfolio on cooperatives  and the wider social and solidarity economy (SSE)  since 2012, when she became the first woman to be appointed as the head the ILO’s Cooperatives Unit (COOP) since 1920. In 2022, she served as lead technical expert for the ILO’s Office report  on decent work and the SSE. The general discussion at the 110th ILC led to the adoption of a resolution on decent work and the SSE , and the subsequent seven year strategy and action plan (2023-2029)  endorsed by the ILO’s Governing Body.

Previously, Simel led ILO Regional Office for Arab States’ portfolio on gender equality and women workers rights. Prior to joining the ILO in 2004, Ms Esim worked for the World Bank, Development Alternatives, Inc. and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). She has been a member of Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) since its founding in 1997 and currently serves on its Board.

She holds a PhD in Economics from the American University in Washington, DC, an MA in International Economics and Middle East Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy and Washington, DC, and a BA in Political Science from the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. She is fluent in English and Turkish and has working knowledge of Arabic, French and Italian.

Sonja Novkovic, Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Economics and the Academic Director of the International Centre for Co-operative Management at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada. She is former Chair (2013-2021) and member of the ICA Committee on Co-operative Research. She sits on the NCBA-CLUSA Cooperative Economics Council and serves in advisory role for the Overseas Cooperative Development Council Research Group in the US; the UNRISD Sustainable Development Performance Indicators project; the ICA World Cooperative Monitor, and the Cooperative Identity Advisory group of the ICA.

Sonja’s research interests include theory of worker and multi-stakeholder cooperatives, humanistic governance and cooperative management, and measures of socio-economic sustainability performance in democratic organizations. She co-edited numerous books on the social economy, cooperative governance and cooperative economics, and is currently involved in research on cooperatives and the circular economy; systems thinking and cooperative networks.

Stefania Marcone's distinguished career spans over four decades, marked by her commitment to international relations, cooperative development, and gender equality. Beginning her career at the External Relations Office of Cassa per il Credito alle Imprese Artigiane from 1983 to 1987, she also served as President of a women's cooperative in Rome. In 1987, she joined Legacoop's Foreign Department, where she would later be appointed Head of the International Relations Office in 1997. 

From 1997 to 2005, Stefania served on the global Board of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), actively promoting gender equality and development cooperation. She played a key role in strengthening the ICA's organizational and financial structures and fostering international cooperation among cooperative organizations. Elected Chair of the ICA Gender Equality Committee in 2005, she was instrumental in establishing regional committees dedicated to gender equality. 

In 2008, Stefania was appointed also Head of European Policies and Internationalization at Legacoop, and in 2011, she joined the Advisory Group for the UN International Year of Cooperatives. 

Stefanie Friedel works at the KCO (Centre of Expertise for Cooperative Entrepreneurship) at KU Leuven, Belgium, which conducts academic and practice-based research and provides different educational activities on cooperatives. In her role of valorization coordinator, she builds bridges and networks among academia and practice of cooperatives. Stefanie has obtained a PhD from KU Leuven in August 2024 on the subject of social capital, solidarity and cooperative de- and regeneration in agricultural and food cooperatives. Her interests as well as her educational and professional background embrace the diversity of different types and forms of cooperative entrepreneurship, with particular affinity with the social and care sector, democratic governance and member participation, and broader sustainability issues. 

Steve first encountered the cooperative ecosystem 45 years ago, when he helped open a food cooperative in California and served on its initial Board of Directors.  Since then, although he chose a career path in technology, Steve has used cooperatives wherever he lived.  

More recently, Steve has turned his attention back to cooperatives as a full-time endeavor, with the co-founding of ChiCommons LWCA, a business and technology services worker co-op, where he serves as President.  In the spirit of Principle 6, ChiCommons LWCA offers its deepest discounts to cooperatives and solidarity entities.

Steve is now living a cooperative life to the fullest extent possible.  He lives in an intentional community of 35 communitarians, works at a co-op, banks at a credit union, shops at cooperatives, where ever possible, and is engaged with many organizations and projects within the cooperative ecosystem:

• ChiCommons LWCA, Founding Co-owner and President
• Chi Hack Night, Organizing Leadership Committee member and initial Board member
• Data Commons Cooperative, Board member
• Worker Co-op Solidarity Fund, Organizing Circle member
• USFWC, Member (ChiCommons)
• Tech Peer Network, Organizing member
• NCBA/CLUSA, Member (via ChiCommons)
• Patio Co-op, Core Organizer
• Chicago Community Wealth Building Ecosystem, Member
• Cooperative Digital Infrastructure Manifesto, Co-drafter

Thomas is foremost a proud father of two teenage girls, which he tries to raise with his wife on the Belgian countryside. He holds a bachelor in social work and accounting and is finishing a master in management science in The Netherlands. In 2009 he joined SmartCoop, a Belgian cooperative for freelancers, where he worked on different missions before becoming their (international) advocacy officer. He was a board member of Coopkracht, an umbrella organization for Flemish cooperatives and of a local youth center. He represents Coopkracht in the general assembly of the Belgian national board of cooperatives

Tiago Luiz Schmidt, graduated as a technician in Business Administration in 1998 in Novo Hamburgo/RS, completed a degree in the same area at Feevale University in 2010, and a postgraduate degree in Cooperative Management at Unisinos in 2016. He has a Specialization in Corporate Governance from the IBGC in 2015 and 2021, as well as various training courses at the Dom Cabral Foundation and the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, in the areas of costs, processes, sales, quality, organizational culture and innovation. In 2019, he took part in the EscoopCred financial systems innovation course, with an international module in Silicon Valley/USA. In the same year, he also took the Board Member Development Program at IESE in São Paulo. He was director and president of the Chamber of Shopkeepers of Estância Velha and Ivoti for 20 years, also working at the Sicredi Pioneira Cooperative as a core coordinator between 2010 and 2015, and since 2015 as a board member, and since 2018 in the position of Chairman of the board. He also serves as a fiscal advisor to SicrediPAR and Sicredi Fundos Garantidores, is vice-president of Casa Cooperativa de Nova Petrópolis, a member of the OAB/RS Special Commission for Studies in Cooperative Law and the OCERGS/RS Ethics Council

R. Trebor Scholz is a professor at The New School in New York City and also serves as a Faculty Associate at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center and a Visiting Researcher at the Berlin Social Science Center.

With a Ph.D. from the University of Plymouth, his research focuses on cooperative entrepreneurship within the digital economy. Scholz is widely recognized for pioneering "platform cooperatives," innovative models for worker-owned and democratically controlled online platforms that advance economic, social, labor, and environmental justice. A global keynote speaker, he has delivered hundreds of talks, sharing his research with diverse audiences.

His work has garnered acknowledgement and support from the European Commission, the Rockefeller Foundation, Google.org, the Berggruen Institute/USC, the Open Society Foundations, Mondragon University, and the Ford Foundation. Dr. Scholz's books, such as Own This!: How Platform Cooperatives Help Workers Build a Democratic Internet—the winner of the First Prize in the Joyce Rothschild Book Awards—and Uberworked and Underpaid, have been translated into multiple languages and have established a new academic subfield.

In 2017, Scholz founded the Platform Cooperativism Consortium (PCC) at The New School, followed by the establishment of the Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy (ICDE) two years later. Both institutions are at the forefront of research, education, and community building, promoting cooperative principles to tackle the grand challenges of the digital economy and beyond. ICDE also hosts a fellowship program that has supported 44 fellows to date, focusing on emerging scholars in the digital solidarity economy. As the Director of PCC and ICDE, Scholz has spearheaded the experimentation with platform cooperatives across 60 countries, driving innovative approaches and successfully advocating for transformative initiatives that have positively impacted millions of workers worldwide. He has also played an important role in launching discussions on the digital transition within the cooperative movement through 10 major global PCC conferences in Hong Kong, New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, Thiruvananthapuram, and Mombasa.

Learn more at https://platform.coop/

Tone is the CEO of Fairtrade Norway, part of Fairtrade Global CEO Group. Fairtrade is a global organization that works to empower producers and consumers to trade fairly and sustainably. Tone brings more than 20 years of broad experience as a leader in business development, having worked at several senior level positions in private sector and business.

Tone is a board member at TechBridge Invest AS. Prior to working at Fairtrade, she was the CEO TechBridge Invest, an impact investor engaged in sustainable business development through entrepreneurship-training & impact investments in East Africa.

Her background is in business administration, humanitarian sector, telecom, shipping and finance. Tone has worked internationally across Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Tone has a Master of Philosophy in development, environment and cultural change from the University of Oslo. She has undertaken two modules for Master of Management at the BI Norwegian Business School. Her key qualifications include leadership, sustainability, business development, impact investments management, private public partnerships among others.

Mr. Toru YAMANO is President of the Japan Co-operative Alliance (JCA) and President of JA-Zenchu (the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives). He graduated from the Kagoshima Horticulture Advanced Agricultural Training Institute and joined a local agricultural cooperative in 1976. Having held various important positions, he became President of the Soo-Kagoshima Agricultural Cooperative in 2012. He was appointed President of the Kagoshima Prefectural Union of Agricultural Cooperatives in 2019 and was elected President of JA-Zenchu in 2023, which was shortly followed by his appointment to President of JCA. He also serves as President of the Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (IDACA). His family farm, where rice and tangerine oranges are grown and cattle are bred, is located in Soo city, Kagoshima Prefecture, in Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four large islands.

Vandana Shiva, a world-renowned environmental thinker, activist, feminist, philosopher of science, writer and science policy advocat, is the founder of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (India) and President of Navdanya International. Trained as a Physicist at the University of Punjab, she completed her Ph.D. on the ‘Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory’ from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. She later shifted to inter-disciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, which she carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India.

In 1982 she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE), an independent research institute that addresses the most significant problems of ecology of our times, and two years later, Navdanya (‘nine seeds’) the movement in defense of biodiversity and small farmers. In 2011 she founded Navdanya International in Italy and is Chairman of the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture, co-founded with the then President of the Region of Tuscany.  Recipient of many awards, including in 1993 the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’, and named among the top five “Most Important People in Asia” by AsiaWeek in 2001. Shes is a prolific writer and author of numerous books and serves on the board of the International Forum on Globalization, and member of the executive committee of the World Future Council

Viktorya Ayvazyan is a Rural Development Specialist at the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. She supports the implementation of the regional priority programme on Empowering smallholders, family farms and youth through inclusive rural transformation, digitalization and innovation.

With a background in economics and over a decade of experience in agriculture and rural development, Viktorya has worked on advancing agricultural cooperatives and farmer organizations in Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Her expertise includes capacity building of cooperative actors and strengthening programmatic and legal frameworks, drawing on insights from her studies of cooperative models in Spain and Serbia.

Violetta an experienced professional in the top-level domain name and internet industry, serving as the CEO of DotCooperation LLC (DotCoop), the entity managing assets for the promotion, development and protection of cooperatives worldwide: the .COOP domain and the COOP Marque.

Violetta has been actively involved with .coop since its inception, accumulating a wealth of experience in the domain name and internet industry. She is an experienced presenter and has travelled around the world to events organised by the international cooperative movement. She have spoken on subjects as diverse as the cooperative identity, the cooperative difference, digital tech and innovation, the advancing progress of AI as well as the potential and management of data.

Originally from Greece, She has been living in the United Kingdom since the mid-1990s.

Viraj is a researcher at IT for Change, focusing on alternative digital platforms. Their work supports women-led agricultural cooperatives and collectives in developing governance principles that secure cooperatives' positions in the market while protecting their data interests. Viraj’s research explores the intersection of labor, data governance, and gender. Their research interests include: seeking ways for cooperatives to leverage platform technologies without replicating the extractive logics of platform capitalism.

Ms. Wenyan Yang is Chief of Global Dialogue for Development Branch in the Division for Inclusive Social Development of UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. She has extensive experience working on a broad range of sustainable development issues. Her current work focuses on the social dimension of the sustainable development agenda, addressing poverty, inequality and social inclusion to advance the wellbeing of all people through research and policy analysis, and technical support for national capacity development. Ms. Yang leads the team that coordinates substantive support to the UN Commission for Social Development and contributes to the publication World Social Report. She also serves as DESA’s Principle Focal Point for Gender. Her team is currently leading the provision of analytical and technical support to UN Member States in preparing for a World Social Summit in 2025.

An economist by training, she started her UN career as a macroeconomic policy analyst.

Willy Tadjudje is an academic researcher specializing in cooperative law and regulation. He holds a Ph.D. in cooperative and mutual society law from the University of Luxembourg and he is currently a Professor at the University of Yaoundé II in Cameroon.

In addition to his University activities, he supports national and international organizations in research projects and development initiatives. As such, he is the Chairperson and a senior researcher at YAMDUSI Expertise, a cooperative society of experts, aiming at boosting the cooperative business model in Africa.

Globally, he has extensive expertise with legal issues regarding Social and Solidarity Economy organizations. For example, for the past one year, he has been working with ILO (International Labor Organization) to draft a Guide for legislation in the Social and Solidarity Economy (in collaboration with Gilles Caire).

Apart from ILO, he has also worked for other international organizations such as NCBA CLUSA, FAO, GIZ, Shelter for Life, OCDC, Health Partners, DGRV, European Union, among others, for projects in various African countries, to improve cooperative legal and regulatory environments.

Willy is a great enthusiast and aficionado of the Cooperative Law and Regulation Initiative (CLARITY) methodology and tool kit. Since he became aware of this unique approach to cooperative legal and regulatory reform, he has not stopped promoting it. For example, he attended the ICA Global Youth Forum in Malaysia in January 2020 with the support of OCDC to introduce the tool to youth from all over the world. In synergy with Ed Potter, he worked for more than a year (2021-2022) on updating and strengthening the CLARITY methodology and tool kit.

Willy is the author of various publications on cooperative law in Africa and Europe. In June 2022, he published with Springer (co-edited with Ifigeneia Douvitsa) an honorary volume entitled Perspectives on Cooperative Law, in honour of Hagen Henry, a leading pioneer and expert in cooperative law and regulation (from whom he draws inspiration).

Willy is a member of various networks and scientific committees of scientific journals and organizations (IUS COOPERATIVUM, International Journal of Cooperative Law, Euro-African Institute for Economic Law, UNIDROIT Working Group on Collaborative Legal Structures for Agricultural Enterprises, Social and Solidarity Economy Research Network (Quebec), Interuniversity Network for Social and Solidarity Economy, etc.).

Wouter Vandersypen is Kampani’s Executive Director and co-Founder.  Kampani is an impact-first social impact fund which provides patient growth capital to farmer cooperatives in selected countries in emerging economies.  Its investments in productive assets unlock accelerated growth.  Kampani focuses on arguably the hardest segments of the missing middle.  

Prior to becoming Kampani’s Executive Director, Wouter was a consultant for PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers). He also worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee and the World Bank.

Wouter is on the Board of Fairtrade Belgium, Trias, and a traditional private equity investment fund.

He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations & Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and a degree in Political Sciences from the University of Leuven, having studied in Leuven, Tübingen and Fribourg.

Chair of the ICA Gender Equality Committee. Member of the ICA Global Board and Member of the Board of Directors of Cooperatives of the Americas, Representative for the Dominican Republic.
Vice-president of the Board of Directors of Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples de Profesionales de Enfermería COOPROENF. Founder of the Women's Development Committee of COOPROENF.
Vice-President of the Committee of Women Cooperativists of CONACOOP of the Dominican Republic.
CONACOOP of the Dominican Republic.
Trainer of Trainers for the Women's Entrepreneurship Project of the Andalusian School of Social Economy Foundation. Coordinator and Lecturer of seminars and workshops on Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Gender, Customer Service, Positive Attitude, Governance, among others.
Positive Attitude, Governance, among others, nationally and internationally.
Advisor to various cooperatives on Cooperative Education in 
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Panama, Nicaragua, Bolivia, among others.
Trainer of Trainers for Women's Development Projects.
Trainer of micro-entrepreneurs. Trainer of Women
Micro-entrepreneur Columnist for the newspaper El Cooperador, Blog
Bendiciones de Lo Alto, among others.
Awards Received: Cooperative Woman of the Year, ENECOOP 2014.
Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, COOPHERRERA 2015
Golden Lamp for Excellence in Teaching, Dominican Nurses Association, ADEG 2015.
Dominican Nurses Association, ADEG 2015
Selected by the international organisation She-Coop, as one of the 100 global of the 100 world leaders in cooperativism.