The Gryphon Foundation can be considered as a vehicle between policy makers – both at international and national level – and local communities such as trade promotion and support organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises. We are an international non-governmental organization without any political or religious interests. Our aim is to contribute to the development goals of the United Nations in the area of sustainable development, particularly focusing on developing countries and environmentally sound technologies.
Our main objectives are to provide service offerings in technical cooperation and capacity development to Governments, national trade support organizations and enterprises as well as the organization of awareness raising conferences and seminars at a national and international level through our regional centres.
Our strategic objectives are

• the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in international trade
• the promotion and increase of bio-trade and tourism
• the promotion and increased use of environmentally sound technologies
• assistance to Governments, national trade support organizations and enterprises in economic growth in a sustainable manner.

The ultimate beneficiaries of our service offerings are Governments, national trade support organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The service offerings are provided through the regional centres we set up in Asia-Pacific, Arab region, Africa, Caribbean & Latin America and Europe.
We benefit from a large database of experts that, jointly with our partners, deliver high quality services.

Our headquarters are in Switzerland and all activities within the framework of the Gryphon Foundation and its regional centres are subject to the laws of Switzerland with high quality standards on project evaluation and auditing.

Our Purpose

Globalization is the key word. It can be defined as the openness of borders to people and goods, the rapid spread of technologies and thereby interdependence of countries. This creates both vulnerabilities as well as opportunities with new problems, new conflicts and new competitors.
New technologies link people and organizations in networks that are always on, always connected. Thereby, knowledge is becoming more and more important as a source of economic advantage. Improving productivity and having the tools to do so are crucial; however these are becoming more and more complex. Therefore more and more knowledge and training are required to get the most out of them. Competition, the numbers of tools to connect as well as collaboration have increased drastically, mainly due to the Internet and the opening of markets.
Gathering real-time information, analyzing it and using it to anticipate what is likely to happen as well as what decisions to make, has become more important. In the past, such an exercise could be done once a year. Nowadays, in the changeable worlds we live in, information requires to be gathered constantly, analyzed and a course of action should be taken, if not every day, then every week or month.
Equally important is to have people who are good at solving problems, including problems they never saw before, so they are constantly in ‘new problem’ solving mode, and who can quickly design and build whatever solutions for the problems encountered.
Success will go to those companies and countries which are swift to adapt, open and willing to change. The task of modern governments is to ensure that countries can meet this challenge. This can be reached through open markets, strong encouragement of enterprise with labor market flexibility to foster dynamism and adaptability. Furthermore, sustained investment in science, education and life-long learning to make the most of the skills and talents of their people – to create, in fact, true knowledge economies has become a high priority.
With the opportunities offered by globalization, it is in the interest of business to make sure that global systems allow as much as possible of the world’s population to benefit further from the effects of globalization. Networks should be created or strengthened in which many stakeholders such as politicians, academics, NGOs and particularly business should be integrated. Tomorrow’s world is a world where business is a major shaper not only of economic developments but also of social developments where civil society feels deeply engaged. In the form of global-governance, multi-stakeholder networks, public-private partnerships and informal alliances of different actors will be the norm rather than the exception.
Business has to play a very special role in such networks, as the generator of innovation. Business is duty-bound to serve humankind by engaging with the other stakeholders of global society to address its challenges creatively and in a spirit of global citizenship.

In this context, the Gryphon Foundation, through its regional centres, aims to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations within the framework of the development and global partnership for development.

We will do so through awareness raising and capacity development activities.

Finance

The Gryphon Foundation manages the funds of the headquarters and the regional centres. This task is being carried out in accordance with Swiss law and under the surveillance of the Supervisory Board for Foundations of the Department of Internal Affairs of Switzerland.

Four financial business models are being used for the funding of the management and implementation of activities. These may come from the private or public sector and from physical or moral persons:

• donations, to be freely used by the Gryphon Foundation
• project funding, for well defined activities
• sponsorships, for specific events or services that can be given either in-kind or through funding
• partnerships, in a specific area of for a specific activity

Pursuant to the Swiss Federal Statute on Tax Revenues, donations made by individuals or corporate entities for public utility purposes are tax deductible up to a maximum of 20% of the net income or of the net profit.

Values

• Integrity
• Communication
• Development
• Knowledge
• Quality
• Diversity
• Efficiency
• People
• Effectiveness
• Customer orientation

Organizational Structure

The Gryphon Foundation has a Board that is the executive organ with a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, a Treasurer and a Secretary. It also has an Honorary Committee and an Advisory Committee.
Furthermore, each regional branch office of the Gryphon Foundation has a Board that reports to the Gryphon Foundation Board with a Head, Coordinators, an Honorary Committee and an Advisory Committee