“The greatest opportunity that co-operatives offer young people is something quite unique: ownership with participation,” says Harsh Sanghani. “In most workplaces, young people are employees. In a co-operative, they can also be members, owners, and decision-makers. From the very beginning, they have a voice, a vote, and a stake in the organisation’s success.”
Sanghani grew up in Gujarat, India, and describes himself as a co-operative activist and youth entrepreneur. In 2025, at age 20, he was elected president of the International Cooperative Alliance Youth Committee.
Co-operative products and services “were woven into my everyday life long before I understood the co-operative model,” he says.
“My family bought dairy products from co-operative brands, groceries from co-operative stores, banked with a co-operative bank, and, like millions of Indians, benefited from institutions built on the idea of people coming together for mutual benefit.”
Sanghani also had family connections with the co-op sector: his uncle is Dileep Sanghani, chair of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (Iffco) and the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI). “Conversations about co-operatives were not uncommon around our dinner table,” he says. “Looking back, I realise I was living the co-operative way of life long before I knew the term ‘co-operative’.”
Co-ops in many ways reflect India’s civilisational philosophy, he thinks. “The idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) and the spirit of Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah (may all be happy) capture the essence of co-operation: that communities become stronger when people work together, share responsibility, and ensure no one is left behind.”
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A defining moment for Sanghani came at the ICA Global Cooperative Conference in New Delhi in November 2024, which marked the launch of the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives.
“I met inspiring young co-operators from every continent, witnessed the energy of youth-led initiatives, and listened to then-ICA Youth Committee president Ana Aguirre speak. Seeing a young leader representing millions of members worldwide made me think, why not me?”
When Aguirre stepped down a year later, he was the first person of Indian origin to be elected president of the Youth Committee, serving as the youth representative on the ICA global board.
“For me, this role is about much more than representation,” he says. “Young people do not want to be invited merely to observe; they want to contribute, innovate, and lead. My vision is to help build a global youth co-operative ecosystem where ideas, technology, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and policy come together to create meaningful opportunities for the next generation.”
Over the last few years, the Youth Committee has evolved from an occasional platform to a permanent one. “Today, our priorities are centred on strengthening youth visibility within the movement,” says Sanghani, “expanding participation across regions and sectors, investing in education and leadership development, promoting co-operative entrepreneurship, and ensuring young people have a meaningful voice in governance.”
Today it runs initiatives such as global and regional youth dialogues, annual plenary meetings, international training programmes, and collaborative platforms, but Sanghani’s ambitions for the committee don’t end there.
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“Over the coming years, I hope to strengthen collaboration among young co-operators across continents, support the growth of youth-led co-operative enterprises, develop future co-operative leaders, and create clearer pathways for young people to move from grassroots participation into leadership and global governance. The co-operative movement has always believed in empowering people, and my role is to ensure that young people are at the heart of shaping its next chapter.”
Future plans include creating “lasting platforms that will serve young co-operators for decades”, such as a Global Digital Cooperative Incubator to support youth-led enterprises, a Youth Cooperative Leadership Academy to prepare the next generation of leaders, and a Global Youth Cooperative Policy Forum where young people can contribute to shaping co-op policies at national, regional, and global levels.
Other flagship initiatives include Coop Mentor (connecting experienced leaders with young co-operators worldwide), Coop Intern (creating opportunities for international internships and exchanges), Coop Startup Global (supporting youth co-operative entrepreneurship) and Coop Study (an international research network).
“Most recently, during our meetings in Brussels, we began designing the Global Youth Cooperative Leadership Summit,” he adds. “This is a model UN-style simulation of ICA governance where young co-operators can experience real co-operative decision-making, negotiation, and consensus-building before stepping into leadership roles themselves.
“Ultimately, our goal is simple: to ensure that every young person who believes in the co-op model has a clear pathway, from learning about co-operatives, to leading a co-operative, to shaping the future of the global movement.”
In Sanghani’s view, there are four major challenges facing young people in co-operatives.
“The first is access; access to opportunities, capital, and decision-making. Co-operatives are democratic by design, but many young members still find it difficult to move from participation to leadership. Without clear pathways into governance, talented young people often feel they have to wait years before they can meaningfully contribute.
“The second challenge is awareness. Around the world, millions of young people are looking for meaningful work and entrepreneurship opportunities, yet many have never been introduced to the co-operative model.
“The third is leadership transition. Many co-operative leaders have dedicated decades of service to the movement, and their experience is invaluable. The opportunity now is to build stronger intergenerational partnerships, where experienced leaders mentor young co-operators and create structured pathways for succession.”
The fourth, he says, his the fact that young people today are navigating challenges that extend far beyond the co-op movement, such as economic inequality, climate change, rapid technological change, and growing uncertainty in the world of work.
“These are global issues that require collective solutions,” he says, “and where co-operatives have a unique advantage. They combine democratic governance with entrepreneurship, innovation with solidarity, and economic opportunity with social purpose. Our task is to ensure that every young person not only knows about co-operatives but also has a genuine opportunity to build, lead, and transform them. If we can do that, young people won’t simply become the future of the co-operative movement; they will shape its future starting today.”
