Organization of the GCI

In accordance with the general consensus and the long-term, global ambitions of the Global Challenges Initiative, the GCFF has been established as a non-profit Foundation under Swiss Civil Code. The Foundation is defined in the preliminary legal Charter as “an organization primarily oriented towards universities, educational institutions and non-profit research-oriented 'think tank' entities.  While primarily a research-led organization, the Foundation will encourage, through its associate Global Resilience Consortium (former ASRAGeneva), inclusive membership and partnerships with Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations, and International and Regional Organizations in the interest of fostering inclusive, networked solutions to promote good governance in addressing the emerging security challenges and shared global risks posed by globalization.”

The GCF Foundation is governed by a Foundation Board. The Board is chaired by Dr. Walter L. Christman. The appointed Vice-Chair of the Board, Dr. Ken Gnanakan assists the Chair of the Board in fundraising and business development. Additional  Board Members are be nominated by the Board itself and by Charter the Board shall not exceed a total of 12 members.

The Board is assisted by an Advisory Council, members of which are invited to participate ‘ex-officio.’  Members of the Advisory Council serve in a non-official capacity, though they may come from a specific partnering institution and must be generally familiar with the needs and capabilities of the GCI community. The Board and the Advisory Council conducts an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to review the year’s progress and to set the vision of the Foundation for the coming year.  The first AGM was held on July 9th 2012 in New York at the State University of New York (SUNY) Global Center, to coincide with the opening day of the China Partnership Summit, a 3-day GCF Multi-Stakeholder Forum that was co-hosted by SUNY.  In January 2012, an Administrative Secretariat was established in Geneva to perform administrative tasks and to coordinate different partnering institutions.

Partnership and Oversight

All members of the Global Resilience Consortium are automatically considered official partnering institutions of the GCF Foundation (GCFF).

An external auditing service has been retained to ensure a transparent allocation of funds within the GCFF and compliance with all requirements under Swiss law.   Additional funding options will be explored in the form of individual and institutional donations.   Decisions of the Board will be carried out by the Administrative Secretariat, of which Dr. Walter Christman serves as Founding Director.   The Secretariat additionally consists of staff located in Geneva and istasked with the implementation and support of GCI events.

The Secretariat will interface with member institutions to aid them in developing Multi-Stakeholder Forums (MSFs), which are co-organized with the Global Resilience Consortium, to address specific global challenges. Partnering institutions will draw upon their resources and strengths to create unique MSFs bounded only by the members’ own ambition and initiative.  In other words, partners have a leading role within the Foundation, taking the lead in innovating new answers to the world’s most difficult new challenges.