Global Development and Support (GDS)

Founding and History

In March of 2015 the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu was hit by Cyclone Pam. Google cofounder Sergey Brin’s personal yacht, the Dragonfly, was in the general vicinity and after consultation with Brin, the captain of the ship, Mike Gregory, initiated a rescue and aid operation in conjunction with Grant Dawson, a former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy who had previously been employed at Brin’s family office. Global Development and Support was founded in the wake of this operation, with Dawson as the group’s first CEO. The group notably employees many ex-military personnel and former Brin bodyguards. ⁴

Brin’s involvement in the group is not visible, and it appears that he funds the group via a donor advised fund with the Schwab Charitable Fund (now DAFGiving360). ⁴

Finances

For 2023 Global Development and Support reported $37,702,487 in revenue, of which $37,700,000 stemmed from contributions and grants. It reported $41,414,080 in expenses, of which $687,253 was spent on executive compensation, $16,444,851 on other salary and compensation, $4,660,028 on pensions and benefits, $2,268,071 on travel and conferences, and $47,600 on printing and publication. It ended the year with a loss of $3,711,593 and net assets of $66,810,279. ⁵

The organization did not report any government funding and most of the organization’s revenues for 2023 were contributed from a fund with the Schwab Charitable Fund. ⁶

Reporting from the left-of-center news site, The Daily Beast, has revealed that Google cofounder Sergey Brin is the main funder and organizer of the group. ⁴

Projects and Initiatives

Global Support and Development’s main efforts are concentrated around its aid ship MV Dawn. This ship has many capacities that allow it to operate independently in a disaster-relief situation, with room for 10 shipping containers, the ability to offload cargo without land-side facilities, a helicopter landing deck, and the ability to generate 60,000 liters of potable water every day, with additional systems for delivering it to shore. The ship also contains medical facilities and various sensors that allow the ship to map safe navigation routes in the wake of a disaster. ³

The group also provides support for entities in its area of operation to develop their capacities in preparation for a disaster. ²

Leadership

Michael Court is the CEO of Global Support and Development, a position he has held since July 2022. He began working with GSD in 2019 and became the chief medical officer in 2021. He was a doctor in the British military for 17 years and has worked at a number of other NGOs in a medical capacity. ⁷

Sergey Brin is the co-founder of Google and the behind-the-scenes founder and funder of GSD. His involvement in the group was uncovered in a report by the left-of-center outlet The Daily Beast. The project grew out of his personal yacht assisting the Pacific nation of Vanuatu in the wake of a cyclone in 2015. ⁴