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About Us

The Melton Foundation promotes and enables global citizenship as a way for individuals and organizations to work together across boundaries of place and identity to address global challenges.

The Melton Foundation is an international 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in the USA, and a leading proponent of global citizenship practice worldwide. Established nearly thirty years ago with the credence that collaborations across boundaries can forge sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, today, our presence spans six global citizenship hubs in Chile, China, Germany, Ghana, India, and the United States of America. 

We make global citizenship accessible at the grassroots by offering Fellowships to young change agents in order to develop their capacity as effective and ethical leaders, equipped to act locally, with a global context in mind. Our programs harness unique pedagogies ranging from experiential learning, intercultural collaboration, ethical leadership, and design thinking, to train and hone the skills of emerging social impact leaders. 

With global citizenship practice and education as our guiding principle, our programs and activities are also closely correlated to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and focus on grassroots action and intercultural collaboration to tackle problems of the modern world. 

What we do

Our Fellowship programs, namely the Global Citizenship Learning Program and Global Citizenship Leadership Program, bring together young and passionate changemakers from around the world to mold them into global citizens capable of spearheading action in their communities. 

The Global Citizenship Learning Program is a 1.5-2 years experiential learning program, which equips fresh minds with the necessary skills and tools to work together on shared solutions to address challenges posed by an interconnected world. The Global Solvers Accelerator is a 7-8 months Leadership Program that is tailored towards more experienced SDG practitioners. It’s grounded in peer learning and mentoring to catalyze novel ideas, build capacity, and encompass projects for transformative impact. Furthermore, our Community of Practice comprises Melton Fellows who have graduated from one or more of our programs, and are now leaders, driving impact in their spheres of influence, and supporting younger generations of Melton Fellows. 

Alongside the Fellowship programs, the Melton Foundation also promotes the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by working with global citizens and changemakers in different parts of the world via six Global Citizenship Hubs, routinely organizing engagement opportunities online and offline, thereby multiplying tactical reach to motivated individuals. To ensure our Fellows have the financial resources, mentorship, and means to execute their social innovation projects, we also regularly offer Impact Grants to support and aid their ventures.

Want to know more? Read our last impact reports of 2019, 2020, 2021.

Since 2020, the Melton Foundation is a vetted and trusted organization of the Global Giving network alongside some of the world’s best non-profits. 

Global citizenship is a concept which intertwines our identity with the interconnected, interdependent world of today. It seeks to transcend geographical limitations and expand the definition of our personalities. For a full definition, check out our Glossary of Terms here.

Our Mission

Through our fellowship and collaborative programs, we promote and enable global citizenship as a way for individuals and organizations to work together across boundaries of place and identity to solve challenges in an interconnected world.

Founding Story

1991: Entrepreneur and visionary William (Bill) Melton and peace activist Patricia Smith create the Melton Foundation.

The fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Pinochet regime in Chile, and the economic and social transformations taking place in China and India in the 1990s, all influenced by young people, profoundly inspired Bill Melton and Patricia Smith. Bill Melton, who founded VeriFone and other pioneering companies, was convinced that deliberately bringing together talented young people from fast-changing yet culturally disparate environments would create a network capable of positive global impact.

Thus was born the Melton Foundation.

From this early vision, the Foundation grew into a thriving network of more than 500 Melton Fellows who, through their lifetime Fellowship, form deep and lasting relationships across boundaries that once seemed impermeable.

Today, the Melton Foundation is the only global Fellowship program specifically designed to develop global citizens and integrate them into a lifelong global network.

Our Founders

Our Team

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