External Relations is the gateway for connecting policy ideas with GMF’s networks and target audiences, and a pipeline for generating transatlantic leaders. GMF engages with national policymakers and local officials in public and private strategic convenings to share ideas and build strategies for strengthening democracy.
GMF Cities connects municipal officials in the United States and Europe so that they may together address shared challenges. The program has an extensive and successful history of working cooperatively with NGO and public- and private-sector leaders to use participants’ insights to improve local and regional policies. GMF Cities also supports program participants by helping them expand their transatlantic network, deepen their policy expertise, and develop their leadership skills.
GMF's Strategic Democracy Initiative (SDI) tracks and analyzes threats to the rule of law, fair elections, other social processes, and critical institutions amid democratic backsliding. The SDIteam’s policy research focuses on governance reforms institutionalized since 2014 in Ukraine and, more recently, in Poland and Hungary. SDI connects civic actors with their domestic and foreign partners by using GMF’s transatlantic platform to build and host coalitions dedicated to preserving democracy in linchpin countries.
GMF’s Leadership Programs cultivate the next generation of leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. By fostering a community of leaders with diverse life experiences, wide-ranging political perspectives, and a commitment to the transatlantic partnership, Leadership Programs boast more than 4,000 alumni in Europe, the United States, and partnership countries. The programs’ portfolio of initiatives includes the Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF), the Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Network (TILN), the Schuman Challenge (SC), and the EU-US Young Leaders Seminar (YLS).
In addition to these programs, GMF organizes events and strategic convenings that bring together current policymakers, leaders across GMF networks, and GMF experts for frank and forward-looking exchanges. By convening with purpose, GMF helps move policy conversations forward and strengthen the transatlantic relationship to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Featured Projects and Publications
