The Foundation

The vision of the GVN Foundation is to support the charitable and educational work of local community organizations in various countries through the distribution of financial, in-kind and material donations.

Our Beginnings

The GVN Foundation was founded in 2005 in an effort to provide financial assistance to local community organizations in countries around the world. The GVN Foundation is modeled after the Global Volunteer Network based in New Zealand.

Colin Salisbury, the Global Volunteer Network's Founder and Executive Director, launched the Global Volunteer Network (GVN) in December 2000 after spending time volunteering in Ghana, West Africa. While there he saw the tremendous difference volunteers could make in helping local organizations achieve their goals. Upon returning to New Zealand he developed GVN, a volunteer service organization.

Colin has extensive volunteer experience both locally and internationally. His background in Community Development and achieving a Masters in International Development has enabled him to provide challenging and affordable volunteer opportunities around the globe.

In 2004 Colin extended the services that GVN provides by creating the GVN Community Fund. Colin hired Courtney Montague to oversee this fund. Having lived in a number of countries, and earning a degree from the American University of Paris, Courtney has an awareness and understanding of international development issues. After just a year Colin and Courtney noticed the tremendous difference in resources, combined with volunteers, made in local communities. They decided it was time to extend the fundraising aspect of GVN and therefore co-founded the GVN Foundation in July 2005, in the United States.

The GVN Foundation is based out of Denver, Colorado, USA. The GVN Foundation fundraises for programs around the world and distributes those funds to needy programs within struggling communities.

Our Network

The GVN Foundation is currently fundraising to support programs through our partner organizations in ten countries, such as Nepal, Uganda, Romania, and Vietnam. The network continues to expand with new programs being researched and assessed.

Our Partners

At The GVN Foundation we believe in the idea of 'local solutions to local problems,' therefore we work with local community organizations in each country. We believe that local communities are in the best position to determine their needs, and we provide resources to help them achieve their goals.