About – International Publishers Association

About IPA

The International Publishers Association (IPA), based in Geneva, Switzerland, is the world’s largest federation of national, regional and specialist publishers’ associations. Our membership comprises of 105 member associations in 84 countries. Through its members, IPA represents thousands of individual publishers around the world who service more than 5.6 billion people. IPA is also an accredited non-governmental organisation (NGO) enjoying consultative relations with the United Nations.

IPA was founded in 1896 in Paris with the promotion and defence of copyright and the freedom to publish as pillars which stand to this day. Find out more about our history below.

Find out more about the IPA’s activities in our latest Annual Report.

IPA Secretariat

Governance

The Statutes of the International Publishers Association are the rules and regulations governing all aspects of the Association’s activities.

The General Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the Association. It elects the Directors serving on the Executive Committee.

A number of committees, comprising representatives of IPA members, shape and steer the key policy issues of IPA:

Secretary General:
José BORGHINO

Appointed by the Executive Committee, the Secretary General directs the secretariat and is responsible for the administration of the IPA. Reporting to the President and/or the Executive Committee, the Secretary General acts as the IPA’s spokesperson at meetings and in dealings with external organisations. He leads the activities necessary for securing support for and implementing the IPA’s policies and achieving its strategic objectives.

Since August 2015, the IPA Secretary General has been José Borghino.

Executive Committee

JOBAVA, Gvantsa

President of the IPA from 1 January 2025. Head of International Relations of Intelekti Publishing.

(Georgia)
President

HOEPLI, Giovanni

Vice President of IPA from 1 January 2025. Vice President of Hoepli Publishing House.

(Italy)
Vice President

SCHWERZMANN, Stefan

Senior advisor, STS Consulting

(Switzerland)
IPA Treasurer

Executive Committee Members

ANIOKE, Uchenna Cyril (Chief)

Group Managing Director of Acena Publishers Nigeria Limited.

(Nigeria)

BAIL, Kathy

Chief Executive of UNSW Press.

(Australia)

BANCHIK, Roberto

Director General of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, Mexico .

(Mexico)

BENZO, Fernando

Secretary General of the FGEE (Spanish National Federation for Publishers)

(Spain)

CID, Dante

Vice-President of Academic Relations for Latin America at Elsevier .

(Brazil)

DE JOCAS, Simon

Owner and President, Éditions Les 400 coups

(Canada)

HENRY, Christie

Director of Princeton University Press.

(USA)

Director of Princeton University Press

(USA)

JOO, Iroo

Publisher, Eum Publishing House.

(Korea)

KOCATÜRK, Kenan

Founder, Literatür Yayıncılık, President, Turkish Publishers Association.

(Turkey)

LEFEBVRE, Renaud

Director General, Syndicat National de l’Edition

(France)

NJAGI, Lawrence

Managing Director of Mountain Top Publishers.

(Kenya)

OLIVEIRA, Paulo

Management Team Member, Grupo Porto Editora.

(Portugal)

OLIVERO, Carlo Michele

Corporate Affairs & Communication Manager at Wolters Kluwer Italy.

(Italy)

PHILIPS, Karen

EVP Learning and UK Executive Lead at Sage Publishing.

(UK)

RASHAD, Ahmed

CEO and Board Member at Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah for Publishing

(Egypt)

SCHUMACHER-GEBLER, Christian

CEO of Bonnier Media Deutschland.

(Germany)

SVANSSON, Heidar Ingi

Managing Director of IDNU.

(Iceland)

TAMAOKI, Manami

Representative of Japan Book Publishers Association

(Japan)

YU, Chunchi

Vice Chairman of China Education Publishing and Media.

(China)

Chairs of IPA Committees

BLACHE, Catherine

Senior Counsellor, International Relations, SNE

(France)
CHAIR OF THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

EINARSSON, Kristenn

Managing Director, World Expression Forum.

(Norway)
Chair of the Freedom to Publish Committee

GILSENAN, Brian

Director, CJ Fallon .

(Ireland)
Chair of the Educational Publishers Forum

GUPTA, Pranav

Managing Director, Prints Publications Private Limited.

(India)
Chair of the Data and Statistics Committee

KOLMAN, Michiel

Senior Vice President, Elsevier.

(The Netherlands)
Chair of the Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee

SIMPSON, Lui and MACLEOD STEVENSON, Catriona

Lui Simpson: Executive Vice President for Global Policy, Association of American Publishers

Catriona MacLeod Stevenson, General Counsel and Deputy CEO of the Publishers Association

(USA and UK)
Co-Chairs of the IPA Copyright Committee

IPA Membership

Full members

Provisional members

Associate Members

African Publishers Network (APNET)

Afrilivres

Arab Publishers Association (APA)

Asociación de Editoriales Universitarias de América Latina y el Caribe (EULAC)

Association of University Presses (AUPresses)

European Educational Publishers Group (EEPG)

Federation of European Publishers (FEP)

Grupo Ibero-Americano de Editores (GIE)

International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM)

Patron Members

Bologna Children’s Book Fair

Philippine Book Publishing Development Federation

The Motovun Group of International Publishers

North Korean Writers in Exile PEN Center

How to Become an IPA member

IPA membership is open to national, and international regional or specialist publishers’ associations with four categories of membership: Full, Provisional, Associate, and Patron. You can read the membership eligibility criteria here and download the application form here. Deadline for 2025 applications: 3 February 2025. Applications are processed by the Membership Committee before being submitted to the IPA General Assembly.

Should you have any question regarding IPA or the application process, please contact the IPA Secretariat at: info@internationalpublishers.org

Membership Committee

BIRGISSON, Halldór

Legal counsel, Icelandic Publishers Association

(Iceland)