Global Citizen (also known as the Global Poverty Project) is a left-of-center organization that mobilizes support for environmentalist, anti-poverty, and critical race theory-aligned policy initiatives.

Background

Global Citizen was launched in a presentation in Cambridge in 2008 by Australian activists Hugh Evans (who also founded the Australian youth-oriented Oaktree Foundation) and Simon Moss under the name Global Poverty Project (under which it remains registered with the Internal Revenue Service). Later in May 2011, the organization was registered as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an address in New York City. ^{1 2 3}

Global Citizen mobilizes supporters to sign petitions, send messages to politicians, and engage in social media activities aligned with the organization’s left-of-center anti-poverty, environmentalist, and critical race-theory aligned issue campaigns. To that end, the organization’s website features a live feed of updates on supporters’ activity, noting when given supporters (usually denoted by their first name and the first initial of their surname) engage in a promoted activity through the organization’s website. ^{4 5 6}

Activities

Global Citizen mobilizes support for various environmentalist policy initiatives, including international United Nations treaty terms that favor energy sources favored by environmentalists, as well as transfer schemes such as “climate reparations,” which entail forcing governments or industries that allegedly cause environmental harm to fund environmentalist initiatives. In that vein, in anticipation of a United Nations General Assembly session, the organization featured a campaign asking supporters to send an email to President Joe Biden to support a budgetary allocation of $11 billion of general international climate aid. ^{7 8}

Additionally, Global Citizen mobilizes support on behalf of various aligned activists. For instance, the organization features a prompt on its website for supporters to sign a petition to be sent to the government of Bahrain in support of the release of Abdulhadi Al-Khwaja, to share social media messages in support of feminist women protestors in Iran, and to sign a petition to be sent to the government of the United Arab Emirates in support of the release of Ahmed Mansoor. ⁹

Fellowship

Global Citizen operates the Global Citizen Fellowship Program, which supports the work of 15 African youth engaging in aligned creative, campaign, and marketing activity over the course of a year. As of 2023, the program is supported by BeyGOOD, a nonprofit founded by entertainer Beyonce Knowles. ^{10 11}

Grantmaking

Global Citizen has given grants to organizations including Green Amendments for the Generations, the Salt Lake Education Foundation, Swipe Out Hunger, Dreamers Roadmap, Coral Restoration Foundation, Border Angels, Yes We Can World Foundation, and Headcount. ¹²

Partners

“Core” partner organizations of Global Citizen include Proctor and Gamble, Cisco, Verizon, Delta, Accenture, Citi, Google, Harith, Live Nation, and World Wide Technology. Additionally, “supporting” partners of the organization, include Forbes, New York City Parks, American Eagle, and House of Mandela. ¹³

Leadership

Hugh Evans is the chief executive officer and a co-founder of Global Citizen. Previously, Evans co-founded the Oaktree Foundation, an Australian international aid organization focused on youth issues. ¹⁴

Liza Henshaw is the president of Global Citizen. Previously, she worked at the Environmental Defense Fund, serving variously as that organization’s chief operating officer, chief development officer and chief information officer. ¹⁵

Francine Katsoudas is the co-chair of Global Citizen’s Global Board as well as the executive vice president and chief people, policy, and purpose officer of Cisco. Additionally, she is a member of the boards of Americares and Automatic Data Processing, a payroll processing firm. ¹⁶

Chris Stadler is the co-chair of Global Citizen’s Global Board as well as the managing partner of CVC Capital Partners. Previously, he worked for Investcorp as head of private equity for North America. ¹⁷

1. “Global Poverty Project.” ProPublica. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/421772557
2. “Who We Are.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/about/who-we-are/our-leadership/
3. Archived: Rose, Amy. “Global Poverty Project Launches.” The Tab. February 27, 2010. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20120330080951/http://cambridgetab.co.uk/news/global-poverty-project-launches
4. “Take Action.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/take-action/
5. “Demand Equity.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/categories/demand-equity/
6. “Defeat Poverty.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/categories/defeat-poverty/
7. “Power Our Planet.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/campaign/power-our-planet/
8. “Power Our Planet: President Biden: No More Empty Promises on Climate Aid.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/campaign/power-our-planet/
9. “Defend Activists NOW.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/topics/defend-activists-now/
10. “Who We Are.” BeyGOOD. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://beygood.org/about/
11. “Global Citizen Fellowship Program.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023.https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/programs/fellowship/
12. Global Poverty Project. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. (Form 990), 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/421772557/202213199349318551/full
13. “Global Citizen Partnerships.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/partners/
14. “Who We Are.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/about/who-we-are/our-leadership/
15. “Who We Are.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/about/who-we-are/our-leadership/
16. “Board of Directors.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/about/governance/board-directors/
17. “Board of Directors.” Global Citizen. Accessed November 13, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/about/governance/board-directors/