Center for American Progress Action

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Global Progress Action

Global Progress Action, an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, is an international incubator for innovative strategies and ideas on a global scale, engaging with leaders, thinkers, and policymakers. The initiative explores how, together, we can overcome obstacles, advance policy solutions, govern thoughtfully, and shape thriving and inclusive societies.

Global Progress Action is designed to defend and promote liberal democracy and inclusive societies, at a time when democracy faces threats from both foreign autocrats and domestic illiberal forces. By addressing the underlying roots of social unrest and building policy ideas for inclusive and sustainable economies, the initiative sets out a policy direction that can advance progressive solutions for societies around the globe.

Photo shows three people sitting on a stage with large screens, mostly in blue hues, behind them.
David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee; Magdalena Andersson, former prime minister of Sweden; and Patrick Gaspard, CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, speak at the Global Progress Action Summit, hosted by CAP Action and Canada 2020, held in Montreal on September 15–16, 2023. (Credit: Justin Tang)

Restoring Social Trust in Democracy, Democracy, Foreign Policy, International Issues

What We're Doing

Our mission and aims

Global Progress Action seeks to safeguard democracy by bringing together like-minded progressive leaders to raise public knowledge on the most pressuring public policy challenges of our time. To do so, we craft successful strategies and communication in civic spaces to support liberal democracy and progressive societies; make democracy deliver by developing policy solutions that bring real change to people’s lives; and revitalize democracy by empowering and fostering ideas for a new generation of leaders and policymakers.

In pursuit of this, Global Progress Action aims to educate the public and leaders on ideas that will:

  • Build an economy for all by sparking innovation; investing in people’s education, health, and social safety; and enabling local communities to thrive in all parts of the United States and the world.
  • Tackle the climate crisis and environmental injustices by creating more and better jobs through an agenda for clean energy, reindustrialization, and green infrastructure.
  • Restore social trust in democracy by rooting out injustices, ending the cultural wars and shaping a new era of community, and ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to thrive.
Our approach

Global Progress Action convenes leaders and experts from different countries to facilitate exchanges of best practices, thereby increasing public knowledge and shaping the international debate. We apply creative approaches to develop ideas for policymakers to bring about meaningful change in their home countries and engage with like-minded international institutions and think tanks to tackle climate change, build an economy for all, and restore social trust in democracy.

By cultivating a new generation of thought leaders and providing a space for vulnerability, empowerment, and growth, Global Progress Action makes a novel contribution to the future of the progressive movement.

The Field Fellowship

The Field Fellowship, a new program of Global Progress Action, aims to support and connect leaders who embrace an empathetic and pragmatic style of leadership that draws on hope, not fear, and empowers the many who have been left behind by traditional politics. Where traditional politics has left the world’s empathy-driven leaders isolated, Field challenges the status quo. The fellowship will support leadership growth and prepare participants to lead societal change and shape public opinion. It will help shape possible ideas for a more hopeful, unifying, and optimistic future, and build public support for progressive solutions to complex problems.

Learn more

Photo shows four people sitting on while chairs on a stage
Ben Scott, CEO of Reset.tech; Supriya Dwivedi, director of policy and engagement at McGill’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy and member of the Canada 2020 Advisory Board; Roberta Braga, founder and executive director of Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas; and Megan Shahi, director of Technology Policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund sit on a panel at the Global Progress Action Summit held in Montreal on September 15–16, 2023. (Credit: Justin Tang)
Photo shows Patrick Gaspard standing in a suit in front of a podium with the Global Progress Action logo behind him
Center for American Progress Action Fund CEO Patrick Gaspard delivers welcome remarks at the opening of the Global Progress Action Summit, hosted by CAP Action and Canada 2020, held in Montreal on September 15–16, 2023. (Credit: Justin Tang)
Photo shows four people sitting in while chairs on a stage with blue screens behind them
Jonas Gahr Store, prime minister of Norway; Sanna Marin, former prime minister of Finland; Justin Trudaeu, prime minister of Canada participate in a discussion moderated by Supriya Dwivedi, at the Global Progress Action Summit held in Montreal on September 15–16, 2023. (Credit: Justin Tang)
Photo shows a woman listening intently sitting amid a crowd in the audience
Kate Donald, head of the Washington, D.C., office at Oxfam International, listens to a discussion at the Global Progress Action Summit held in Montreal on September 15–16, 2023. (Credit: Justin Tang)

CAP Action and Global Progress Action DNCC Seminar

On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, CAP Action and Global Progress Action’s Democratic National Convention (DNCC) Seminar will take place in Chicago.

People across much of the world are living in an age of anxiety, feeling unheard and left behind. How do democratic societies rise to respond to this critical moment? Global Progress Action will bring together global leaders, from home and abroad, to hear challenges, solutions, narratives, and ideas to strengthen the economy, build community, and bring together the nation. Join voices of the future in a conversation with CAP Action CEO Patrick Gaspard on how creative, progressive leaders are shaping social policy to solve problems that affect everyday life. Participants will start the healing by setting an equity agenda for the next administration.

Global Progress Action Summit

This September, the Global Progress Action Summit will take place in Montreal. Progressive leaders from nearly 20 countries will gather to increase public knowledge on pressing global challenges and to discuss the latest policy ideas and directions in progressive governance.

Nearly half the people on Earth live in countries that are holding national elections in 2024. And yet democracies strain as authoritarianism and regressive policies are taking hold in many parts of the world and as the gap widens between the world’s richest and poorest.

At the same time, there exist unprecedented positive opportunities for shared progress. Action to confront the climate crisis can be a vehicle not only to create economic growth and social transformations at home but also to build global commitment to confront these shared risks. Investments in communities can restore social trust in democracy.

The summit brings together changemakers from around the globe to share perspectives on how to overcome obstacles, discuss new policy ideas, and shape a new, global progressive movement.

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