How can co-ops and mutuals thrive for the next 50 years? Join your peers and engage in a robust, discussion style workshop covering two critical areas of challenge and opportunity for cooperatives and mutuals in New Zealand: capital and succession.

The Leaders’ Summit is a strategic forum for directors, chief executives, emerging leaders and senior teams from cooperatives and mutuals across New Zealand.

It brings together decision-makers from every sector spanning food and fibre, finance, retail, health, energy, insurance and more, to tackle two defining questions for the future of the model:

How will we fund the next generation of cooperative growth?

And who will lead it?

The 2026 Leaders’ Summit tackles those questions head-on and explores two critical areas of challenge and opportunity: capital and succession – from governance and culture to intergenerational ownership and leadership renewal.

From farm succession and board renewal to capital access, attracting talent and protecting the mutual mindset, co-ops and mutuals are navigating intergenerational change. Some are expanding into global markets, others are facing consolidation, and many are asking how to remain true to their founding purpose while adapting to a different world.

The New Zealand Cooperative Economy Report 2025 confirms the strength of the sector: the top 30 co-ops alone generate the equivalent of 12.5 percent of GDP, and co-ops last on average 5 times longer than companies. They are the businesses that keep ownership, profits and opportunity close to home. Yet enduring success over the next 50 years requires more than financial performance; it demands clarity of ownership, resilient governance, innovative capital structures, and leaders who understand the cooperative difference.

As the world changes, co-ops face shared questions about how to grow, how to fund the future, and how to ensure the next generation of leaders, employees and members carry the cooperative mindset forward.

About the Cooperative Leaders’ Summit 2026

This Summit provides space to step back from operational pressures and focus on the long view. Through conversation, peer insight and cross-sector learning, participants will explore:

• How co-ops can access capital while protecting member ownership and control

• What effective governance succession looks like in the 21st century

• How to retain cooperative culture and values as teams grow and generations change

• What succession means on the ground – from farms and orchards to retail stores, health practices and supply chains

• The role of co-ops and mutuals in regional strength, intergenerational wealth and community resilience

This event is designed for leaders who believe in the cooperative model and want it to remain strong for decades to come. Whether your co-op is large and established, smaller and growing, or if you’re simply co-op curious, the Leaders’ Summit offers a unique opportunity to connect with peers, test ideas, share challenges and shape the future of cooperative enterprise in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This is a space for connection, reflection and forward thinking, designed not as a conference, but as a collective workshop of cooperative leaders.