Who we are

The Global Foundation is a not-for-profit and non-partisan international member organisation supported by influential people around the world. It has enjoyed testimonials from world leaders, including: the late Pope Francis; Madam Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank; Mr Jin Liqun, President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; and Hon.Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia.

Originating in Australia, in 1998, the Global Foundation has become a trusted global network organisation, enabling a growing group of prominent citizens from many walks of life and many parts of the world to align and work together to foster dialogue, seek consensus, and strive towards the global common good.

The Foundation convenes global dialogue in various formats, from high-level roundtables to more intimate sessions around specific issues. Its cumulative discussions focus on securing agreement and pathways to enduring solutions to pressing global challenges such as climate change and the care of nature against a backdrop of geopolitical fracturing and economic inequality.

As an independent, membership-based organisation, the Global Foundation is sustained in the main by enlightened business sponsors, who are themselves demonstrating leadership and actions for the global common good.

The Foundation is governed by a Global Board and led by its founding Secretary General, Steve Howard, with a small secretariat based in Australia.

Our philosophy

The Foundation’s mission statement is ‘Together, we strive for the global common good’.

This involves creating a sustainable and secure future for the global commons, where we all can share the air that we breathe, where people can live or aspire to live with dignity and a shared sense of belonging and commitment to humanity.

The Foundation’s work is driven by the practice of cooperative globalisation, which seeks consensus over conflict and win-win outcomes for all. Cooperative globalisation is grounded in four principles: transformation, inclusiveness, fairness, and prosperity.

Transformative

Globalisation is a dynamic exchange of culture that transforms societies, creating a shared space for a global civil society and sense of global identity that transcends borders.

Fair

The benefits of globalisation should be shared among communities, countries, and regions, the Global South as well as the Global North. There are no winners or losers.

Inclusive

Cooperative globalisation fosters dialogue between diverse cultures and beliefs, aiming to find alignment. It empowers communities to create and implement their own ideas of the common good.

Prosperous

Globalisation should improve lives by providing economic opportunities, access to education, and securing a healthy planet where current and future generations can live with dignity and well-being.

Our history

The Global Foundation was launched in Australia in May 1998 by eminent Australians to promote the dual idea of ‘Australia and the World,’ based on twin objectives: encouraging the nation to identify and reach its unfulfilled potential; and, at the same time, encouraging Australia to become an even more influential actor in building international goodwill and co-operation.

The Global Foundation has convened and partnered in international dialogue conversation in many global locations in its more than years of operations including in Bali, Beijing, Brisbane, Brussels, Carajás, Jakarta, London, Melbourne, Noumea, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sao Paolo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington.

These discussions have addressed major, complex global issues, including the global economy, global food security, sustainability and climate policy, China’s emergence, Asia’s integration while at the same time encouraging a culture of deeper Australian engagement with Asia and in world affairs.

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