Twenty-year old Harsh Mukeshbhai Sanghani, from Gujarat, India, is the ICA YC’s new president
Harsh Mukeshbhai Sanghani was elected the new President of the International Cooperative Alliance Youth Committee (ICA YC) at the committee’s Annual Plenary Meeting, held in conjunction with the 2025 Festival of Cooperatives.
Members of the ICA Youth Committee gathered at the Co-operative Group’s head office, One Angel Square in Manchester, to elect their new President, as well as to discuss and review the ICA YC work plan, report progress toward achieving ICA YC objectives, and share experiences and ideas on youth policies.
Sanghani will take over from Ana Aguirre, who has held the position of ICA YC President since 2022. Aguirre announced in April that she would step down as President due to a change in her employment.
“My journey in the international cooperative area started back in 2015 and I was incredibly lucky to find inspiring people that I not only admire at the professional level but can proudly call friends,” said Aguirre. “It is the international movement's inspiration, sharing and strength that made me the cooperator and the person I am today. What a journey it has been!”
Twenty-year old Sanghani, from Gujarat, India, will now serve a four year term as the ICA YC’s President. Sanghani explained that he was inspired to join the ICA Youth Committee after attending last year’s ICA Global Cooperative Conference in New Delhi. “I saw young minds playing cooperative games, taking part in a Coopathon, and so many things were happening over there that gave me a spark of, why not? I should also join the ICA Youth Committee.”
Sanghani said that seeing Ana Aguirre, who was ICA YC President at the time, speak in New Delhi was also an inspiration for him.
“[To see that] a young mind from a different part of the globe could be there as a representative of a cooperative, I thought why not, I can also join her. So that was the spark that took me over here, and now I'm the President of the ICA YC. So of course, I would give first credit to Ana, and then to everyone else for this.”
In his candidacy statement, Sanghani said that he was standing for election as ICA YC President because he deeply believes that the future of cooperatives lies in youth leadership that is “bold, inclusive, tech-savvy, and rooted in values”.
“Over the last few years, I have witnessed how young people are eager to lead, yet are often left out of meaningful spaces. I want to change that,” he added.
During his presidency, Sanghani plans to draw on his previous experience as Youth Agriculture Minister of Gujarat and leader of several youth-driven cooperative missions to build “a global youth cooperative platform where innovation, policy, sustainability, and entrepreneurship intersect”.
His plans include the development of a Global Digital Cooperative Incubator to support youth-led coop startups, the launch of a Youth Cooperative Leadership Academy in collaboration with ICA’s regional and sectoral bodies, and a Global Youth Cooperative Policy Forum to enable cross-border youth policymaking.
The ICA YC also welcomed its new Executive Committee Member for Europe, Helena Gorroño, from the Basque Country. Ms Gorroño was elected Vice President of the Young European Cooperators Network on Monday.
The ICA YC Annual Plenary Meeting took place alongside the Festival of Cooperatives, a series of events happening this week in Manchester and Rochdale, the birthplace of the modern cooperative movement. Other activities include the ICA General Assembly, tours of the Rochdale Pioneers Museum, and celebratory events marking the International Day of Cooperatives on 5 July.
