This is the story of an idea: that a community as large and varied as ours is stronger when it's connected.
The story begins in the Bay Area around 2010, when a group of women set out to bring Igbo youth and young adults together through the Igbo Youth and Young Adults Homecoming. Chief Ike Orji, now President and CEO of Igbo Union, supported the effort as a patron and helped shape it.
Over the years, Igbo communities globally have started a number of organizations to bring us together, and it became clear that lasting unity would require institutions built to endure.
Igbo Union was founded in 2017 around a simple idea. Rather than adding one more association, we would create an umbrella that brings existing associations and individuals together, helps them connect, and gives the wider community a stronger collective voice.
That need hasn’t gone away. In Northern California alone, there are about 37 Igbo associations and organizations. Each one matters. What’s often missing is the connection between them. Opportunities remain to strengthen the relationships and structures that allow us to collaborate more effectively.
We've grown through public celebration and community.
2022: Igbo Day in the Bay. A public celebration of Igbo culture, music, food, and dance in San Francisco.
2023: Fundraising dinner in Concord, the start of our fundraising toward a permanent cultural heritage center in Northern California.
2024: The first Igbo Cultural Festival & Iri Ji Ndi Igbo, at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord, bringing our associations together in one public space.
2025: The festival returned.
2026: The festival returned for a third year. Igbo Union reorganized, with a new leadership structure, a rebuilt website, a growing directory of Igbo associations, and a clearer plan for the years ahead.
2027, coming up: Community forums begin, running through the year, and we’re introducing new community initiatives, with more to be announced. Our next festival is already scheduled and our work toward a cultural heritage center, a permanent place for learning, gatherings, and community life, continues.
What began as an event is becoming an institution: an annual gathering where our associations march together, our traditions are passed to the next generation, and our neighbors are invited to experience Igbo heritage.
Community also means showing up for others. We support mentorship programs led by affiliated Igbo organizations, and we give back to Northern California, which is our home too.
The opportunity before Igbo Union goes beyond bringing existing associations together. We want to help a globally dispersed Igbo community become more connected and better able to act on what matters to all of us: a world where no Igbo person is far from home, and anyone, in any city, can find their community.
We imagine an Igbo child growing up thousands of miles from Ala Igbo who can still meet our language, history, music, and traditions, and elders who have a place to pass their knowledge to the next generation. That starts with connection: a directory and network, a way for the community to bring forward ideas and help choose the initiatives we pursue, and partnerships with Igbo associations and organizations, first across the US and then beyond.
Our story is still being written, and it won’t be written by one person, one association, or one generation. It will be shaped by all of us: the people who take part, the ideas we bring, and what we accomplish together. If you belong to an Igbo association, or you’re an Igbo person looking for community, we’d like to hear from you.
To unite Igbo people worldwide by connecting our associations, organizations, and individuals into a more organized and coordinated community, strengthening our collective voice and advancing our shared interests.
An organized and enduring Igbo community, connected wherever we live, where no Igbo person is far from home and our collective strength translates into meaningful influence.
One Ancestry.
One people One voice.
Our values shape how we work, how we make decisions, and how we treat one another and the many groups that make up our community.
We build unity without asking for uniformity. Every association keeps its own identity, traditions, leadership, and history, and we work toward shared goals together.
Our language, history, and traditions are a trust passed down to us. We work to preserve and share them, and to make room for each new generation to carry them forward and lead.
A strong community is built by many hands. We invite everyone to contribute their time, skills, and resources, and we share both the work and the credit.
We do what we say we will do. We are honest about our progress, open about how we make decisions, and accountable to the community we serve.
The community knows what it needs. We listen first, invite ideas from members, and choose initiatives based on the greatest benefit to the Igbo community.
We are here to serve. We lead with humility and treat every person and association with respect, whatever their size or standing.