Overview

The Foundation for the Global Compact is based on the principle that public-private collaboration is essential to find lasting solutions to pressing global problems. Established in 2006, we are incorporated under the laws of New York State as a not-for-profit corporation. The Foundation provides vital financial, operational and programmatic support to the United Nations Global Compact Office and other UN Global Compact activities around the world.

Learn more about the United Nations Global Compact


Over 80% of every dollar spent goes toward shaping a sustainable future.

Income: Public and Private Expenses: Efficient and Transparent

Since 2000, corporate sustainability has increasingly entered mainstream decision-making. A vanguard of companies in all key markets is taking action, helped by UN Global Compact activities at both the international and local level. By supporting the Global Compact, funders play a crucial role in advancing sustainable business models and markets.

All Global Compact operations, programmes and activities are made possible by voluntary contributions from Governments to the UN Global Compact Trust Fund and from business and the private sector to the Foundation for the Global Compact.

Relationship with the United Nations

The Foundation is a non profit entity incorporated under New York State law. It is authorized to fundraise in support of the Global Compact initiative. Its relationship with the United Nations is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

A summary of the main provisions of the MOU follows:

The Foundation's main functions are:

  • Fundraising to support the Global Compact initiative
  • Providing financial and programme support for the Global Compact initiative and its activities
  • Promotion and advocacy of the Global Compact initiative and its principles.

The MOU provides that the Global Compact and the Foundation work together in the following ways:

  • They collaborate in the planning and implementation of fundraising activities for the Global Compact initiative
  • The Global Compact Office keeps the Foundation informed of its ongoing and planned activities
  • The Global Compact Office invites representatives of the Foundation to relevant Global Compact meetings
  • The Global Compact Office provides appropriate recognition and acknowledgement to the Foundation

The MOU gives the Global Compact Office the right, in consultation with the Foundation and under reasonable circumstances, to monitor and evaluate the progress and implementation of the activities and programmes of the Foundation in support of the Global Compact initiative.

The MOU also addresses matters such as the circumstances under which the Foundation may use the Global Compact's name and logos.

The Foundation is separate and distinct from the United Nations, including without limitation the Global Compact Office, it is not to be considered, for any purposes whatsoever, as being a United Nations entity or a part of a United Nations entity. The Foundation will consider the in-put of the Global Compact in connection with its fundraising, which will be conducted in a manner that respects the dignity, international character and status of the United Nations. The primary beneficiary of the contributions solicited or the grants received by the Foundation shall be the Global Compact initiative and activities in support of the Global Compact.

Board of Directors and Management

Board of Directors

Chairman - Jim Kearney, Foundation for the Global Compact

Jim Kearney was a senior litigation partner at the global law firm, Latham & Watkins, where he also headed up the firm’s award-winning global pro bono practice for five years. He represented US domestic and non-domestic pro bono clients. In 2006, he was a co-founder of the Foundation for the Global Compact and has since served as a Director and Chair of its Audit Committee. Throughout his commercial legal practice, Jim specialized in jury research, communication arts and litigation strategy. For more than thirty years he taught litigation tactics to practicing lawyers in the US and abroad. Jim was a philosophy major at Manhattan College in New York and obtained his law degree, cum laude, from New York University Law School.

Director - Oliver F. Williams, C.S.C.

Oliver Williams is a member of the faculty of the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and is the director of the Center for Ethics and Religious Values in Business.

Williams is the editor or author of 20 books as well as numerous articles on business ethics in journals such as the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Business Ethics Quarterly, the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Corporate Citizenship, the African Journal of Business Ethics, the Asian Journal of Business Ethics, and Theology Today. Recent books include Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Business in Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development: The UN Millennium Development Goals, The UN Global Compact and The Common Good (Editor), both published in 2014.

He served as associate provost of the University of Notre Dame for seven years and is a past hair of the Social Issues Division of the Academy of Management. In 2006, he was appointed a member of the four-person Board of Directors at the United Nations Global Compact Foundation. The United Nations Global Compact is the world's largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative with over10,000 businesses in 160 countries as members.

For the last 15 years, from May until July, Williams served as a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University. He has also served as the Donald Gordon Visiting Fellow at the University of Cape Town. In the 2012-13 academic year, he served as an International Scholar at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea and has taught there during the month of July each year since 2000. He also has been named as Professor Extraordinary at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. In 2019, he was honored with the Sumner Marcus Award from the Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Management for “outstanding contributions of service and scholarship to the field.” Williams is an ordained Catholic priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Director - Joan G. Rall, CPA

Independent director and former EY Partner (retired 2014) with extensive experience with Fortune 500 companies, global venture capital firms and their investee companies; sector experience includes investment management, biotechnology, consumer products, consumer financial services, advertising and media, information and other business services. Proven people leadership and operational skills plus financial accounting and auditing, information technology risk, enterprise risk, internal audit, and internal controls expertise. Practice Leader, Northeast Information Technology Risk and Assurance. Steering Committee, Professional Women’s Network, Advisor to Black Professionals Network, Alumni Advisor to Latino. Professionals Network. Socially responsible and impact investing, sustainability accounting and reporting, and benefit corporations are current interest and passion. FSA certification obtained in 2017 from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, first cohort to obtain this new credential.

Director - Dr. Márcia Balisciano

Márcia is founding global head of ESG and corporate responsibility at RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics, decision tools and events with 33,000+ people and operations in 40 countries. She drives practice that ensures recognition for RELX as an environment, social and governance (ESG) leader.

She is Chair of the UN Global Compact Network UK; Chair of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council of the Conference Board; and a founding Board member of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. She is founding director of London museum and educational facility Benjamin Franklin House and previously was special advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce (UK).

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a PHD in Economic History from the London School of Economics. She is a Member of the British Empire (MBE), an honour awarded by the Queen, and lives in London with her husband and two boys.

Director - Henrik Madsen

Henrik spent most of his professional life at the global risk management and certification company DNV including almost 10 years as President and CEO. Following his retirement from DNV, he served 4 years as Chairman of the Norwegian Research Council. He now holds a number of executive and non-executive director functions at technology companies engaged in Floating Offshore Wind, Carbon Capture and Storage, and Energy Transmission Super Grids. He is also the Chairman of a boutique management consulting company offering services for sustainable growth.

He was elected to the Board of UN Global Compact in 2015 and served for three years holding one of six board positions representing Business. He is the current President on World Maritime Technology Congress, the international association of SNAME’s (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers). He was elected into the United States Offshore Energy Center Technology Hall of Fame as an offshore pioneer in 2002.

Henrik holds a MSc and PhD in Civil and Structural Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark.

Management

Managing Director - Alex Stein, BA, MBA

Alex Stein is the Managing Director of the Foundation for the Global Compact where he oversees its operations, strategy and implementation. Mr. Stein has over eleven years of nonprofit managerial experience, having worked in economic and micro-enterprise development and international education. Prior to joining the Foundation in September, 2011, Mr. Stein was the Chief Financial & Administrative Officer of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence from 2006 to 2011, managing the finances and operations. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Stein was the Vice President of Finance and Administration for ACCION International's regional New York affiliate where he oversaw the finances and administration of the United States' largest micro-enterprise development organization. Mr. Stein also has experience working as an English teacher in Bogota, Colombia. Mr. Stein holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a BA in English from Whittier College.

Our Finances

The Foundation is committed to careful stewardship of the funds entrusted to it by all donors.

Financial Disclosure

The Foundation accepts donations from any donor (whether corporate, foundation or an individual) provided that acceptance of the donation would not threaten the integrity of the Foundation, the UN Global Compact Office or the initiative as a whole. In general, it is expected that contributors to the Foundation will be participants or other stakeholders of the Global Compact.

Whether contributions to the Foundation are tax deductible will depend on the tax laws of your country. In many countries, contributions to charities, like the Foundation, are tax deductible as a business expense for companies.

The Foundation exists to support the work of the UN Global Compact Office and related activities. It does not accept unsolicited funding proposals or requests for funding. Contributions are only used to fund important activities of the Global Compact Office, such as events, publications and studies aimed at raising awareness of the UN Global Compact, its principles and how to implement them. To maximize the benefit that flows from donations, administrative costs are kept to a minimum.

Careers and Opportunities

Click here to see all available employment and internship posts.