22 September 2014: The Global Sustainable Development Foundation (GSDF), dedicated to supporting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), was launched on 22 September 2014, on the sidelines of the 69th UN General Assembly, at UN Headquarters in New York, US.

John Ashe, President of UNGA 68 and Honorary Chairman of GSDF, said the Foundation is being launched at the “sunset of the MDGs era,” and as the SDGs era approaches. He noted the difficulty in moving from eight goals and 18 targets as under the MDGs, to the 17 goals and 169 proposed for the SDGs, and said this is where the GSDF has an important role to play.

To support the UN’s mission and accelerate the achievement of the MDGs and SDGs, GSDF has established a global network of funders and partners to support six areas of focus in the economic and social sectors: Women and Children, Scientific Innovation, Finance and Resources, Culture and Heritage, Creative Engagement and Branding, and Partnerships.

Sheri Yan is the Vice Chair and CEO of GSDF. Board Members include: Ellis Rubinstein, President and Chief Executive Officer of The New York Academy of Sciences; Amir Dossal, Founder and Chairman of the Global Partnerships Forum; and Sergio Fernandez de Cordova, founder of the PVBLIC Foundation, P3 Global Management, Infrastructure Media Group Holdings, and Innovators Fund. [GSDF Press Release]

Editor’s Note (2018): In October 2015, Sheri Yan, John Ashe and several other individuals were charged in connection with a multi-year scheme to pay bribes to Ashe. The payments were delivered in part in relation to Ashe’s role as Honorary Chairman of GSDF. In July 2016, Sheri Yan was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 20 months in prison for paying more than $800,000 in bribes to Ashe. Ashe died before he was sentenced in the case.