Welcome to the project portal for the Transnational NGO study.

Over the past 25 years formal and informal networks of social movements, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), epistemic communities, social movements and other ‘unofficial’ agents have increasingly begun to operate along side of states and international organizations in an attempt to influence the way that policy makers, citizens, and corporations understand and address global concerns. The Transnational Non-Governmental Organization Initiative at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs was established in 2004 in recognition of this new dynamic and of the growing importance of non-governmental organizations in world affairs.

The initiative is comprised of three specific components. The research component of the project is designed to better understand organizational challenges―assessment, coordination, leadership, and accountability― facing NGOs that work in a transnational context. The educational component of the initiative is dedicated to training a new generation of students in the skills and perspectives they will need to work with or in transnational NGOs in the future. Finally, the professional engagement component of the initiative is designed to facilitate learning among transnational NGO leaders and between such leaders and academic experts.