Country Offices

Global presence. National impact.

At its core, Global Shield is an advocacy organization. We reduce global catastrophic risk by shaping policies and influencing policymakers, particularly at the national level.

Our model

Global Shield is designed as a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model. We believe that all countries around the world should have policies that reduce global catastrophic risk. That means we need advocacy in those countries to champion the cause. A hub-and-spoke model of policy advocacy allows us to scale our global efforts while maximizing the time and impact of policy advocates on the ground. It enables economies of scale as the network grows and maximizes the impact of HQ’s branding, policy, and administrative support. Ultimately, this model on a global scale allows for more, faster, better and cheaper policy advocacy.

Our country offices

Country offices lead direct advocacy with policymakers. With a strong experience in the political and policy context of that country, Global Shield country offices:

  • Monitor policy developments where global catastrophic risk issues are relevant
  • Develop and advocate for new, non-partisan policies that we are confident will safely reduce global catastrophic risk
  • Identify existing government policies that can either be implemented in new ways to reduce their negative effect on global catastrophic risk or reimagined to reduce global catastrophic risk
  • Engage policymakers and the media to mainstream global catastrophic risk and educate on the benefits of global catastrophic risk policies
  • Connect policymakers with experts in relevant scientific and technical subjects, particularly where policy and regulatory efforts are nascent.
  • Coordinate with like-minded partners and build advocacy coalitions

Our headquarters

Global Shield’s headquarters delivers centralized capabilities and support for all country offices. This includes:

  • Conducting policy research and development that identify high quality policy options
  • Developing strategic partnerships with research and advocacy organizations around the world
  • Sourcing talent for country offices and headquarters projects
  • Promoting and communicating about Global Shield
  • Managing relationships with funders
  • Building critical operational processes, like financial controls and recruitment

Where is Global Shield now
and where will it go next?

Global Shield currently has an office in Washington, DC and will open an office in Canberra, Australia, in 2025. Global Shield is also engaging on multilateral policy efforts, particularly in the context of the UN’s Summit of the Future, which was held in September 2024.

We are actively investigating a number of potential future country offices, with a priority focus on low-and-middle-income countries. Many countries are highly promising for GCR policy advocacy. 

Global Shield will prioritize where to establish country offices based on a number of factors, including openness and availabilities of policy windows, access to in-country talent, importance to global GCR efforts, quality of governance, ability to access and shape policy-making institutions, absence of existing advocacy efforts, and the geopolitical ability of the country to champion global efforts.