Dear distinguished members of the Igbo Studies Association, members of the Executive Committee, Advisory Board, presenters, partners, elders, colleagues, students, and friends of ISA,

It is my honour to present this State of the Association Report at the 2026 Annual Business Meeting of the Igbo Studies Association.

As we gather in Chicago for ISA’s 23rd Annual International Conference, hosted by Dominican University under the theme “Ọsọ Ndụ Agwụ Ike: Building a Sustainable and Resilient Future,” we do so with gratitude, reflection, and renewed commitment. This theme speaks not only to the Igbo spirit of endurance and renewal, but also to the journey of ISA itself.

This past year has been a year of rebuilding, modernization, and growth. We have worked to strengthen ISA’s digital infrastructure, improve membership and conference systems, renew our publishing activities, increase communication with members, and expand the visibility of Igbo Studies.

One of our major achievements is the successful organization of the 2026 ISA Conference here at Dominican University, River Forest and Chicago Campus. This gathering has brought together scholars, students, cultural leaders, artists, community builders, and friends of Igbo Studies from around the world. The program reflects the richness of our field, with panels and conversations on language, history, literature, gender, music, artificial intelligence, diaspora identity, leadership, mental health, economic development, cultural preservation, and sustainability.

We are deeply grateful to Dominican University for hosting us. I offer special thanks to Dr. Nkuzi Nnam, our Chief Host and Local Organizing Committee Chair, and Dr. Uchenna Onuzulike, our Program Chair, for their leadership and tireless work. I also thank the students of Dominican University who have supported the conference through their service, and the Igbo Association of Chicago for their warm hospitality, cultural support, and friendship.

This year, we are also proud to celebrate Dr. Ada Uzoamaka Azodo as our 2026 Madubuike Keynote Speaker. Her keynote invites us to reflect on Igbo cultural values, wisdom, dignity, family, community, and moral imagination. Her scholarship reminds us why ISA exists: to preserve, study, and advance Igbo knowledge in serious and meaningful ways.

Beyond the conference, ISA has made important institutional progress. We relaunched and strengthened the ISA website, transforming it into a more useful digital platform for members, presenters, conference participants, journal readers, and the wider public. Members can now access conference information, receive updates, download programs, access certificates, read news articles, and connect with the association more easily.

We have also improved our membership and conference systems. ISA now has a stronger structure for managing membership records, conference registration, payments, presenter information, and certificates. This has helped us reduce manual work, improve accountability, and serve members more efficiently.

Another important achievement is the relaunch of the ISA Newsletter in electronic format. The newsletter will serve as a platform for news, scholarship, member achievements, conference updates, photos, resources, calls for papers, and community announcements. It will help us stay connected beyond the annual conference and preserve the institutional memory of the association.

We have also renewed and strengthened our publishing partnership with Goldline and Jacobs Publishing. This partnership supports the continued publication and visibility of the Igbo Studies Review. As part of this effort, we released the first two electronic volumes of the Igbo Studies Review, making our journal more accessible to scholars, students, libraries, and readers across the world.

In addition, we launched an online journal hosting platform to organize and preserve ISA’s scholarly publications. This is a major step toward improving access, visibility, and long-term preservation of the intellectual work produced through the association.

We have also introduced ISA Scholars, a member-driven platform designed to showcase our members and their work. Through this platform, members can create profiles, list their research interests, share publications, upload materials, and make their academic contributions more discoverable. This initiative will help strengthen networking, collaboration, and the visibility of scholars working in Igbo Studies and related fields.

These achievements show that ISA is not standing still. We are building the infrastructure needed for a stronger, more visible, and more sustainable association.

At the same time, we recognize that challenges remain. We must continue to grow our membership, increase participation beyond the annual conference, strengthen our financial base, support the journal more consistently, and encourage younger scholars and graduate students to see ISA as their intellectual home.

As we move into the coming year, our priorities should be clear: strengthen membership engagement, continue developing the Igbo Studies Review, grow the ISA Newsletter, expand ISA Scholars, build stronger partnerships, improve fundraising, and begin early planning for the next conference.

Dear colleagues and friends, the state of the Igbo Studies Association is strong, hopeful, and full of possibility. We have renewed our systems, strengthened our digital presence, improved our publishing platform, relaunched our newsletter, expanded member visibility, and successfully gathered again as a global community of scholars and friends of Igbo Studies.

ISA exists because Igbo Studies matters. It matters for our language, our history, our literature, our culture, our children, and our future.

As president, I thank you for your trust, support, patience, and commitment. I invite all of us to continue building ISA with seriousness, love, humility, and purpose.

May the Igbo Studies Association continue to grow.
May our scholarship continue to flourish.
May our culture continue to speak.
May our future remain resilient and strong.

Thank you.

Dr. Chidi Igwe
President, Igbo Studies Association