The Council describes its mission as to "convene thought leaders, change makers, and engaged citizens to share ideas, learn from each other, and effect change in the belief that "Connecting people in this way leads to informed thinking, conversation, and actions that transcend traditional boundaries and lead to lasting solutions to global problems" and that solutions to the "world’s most challenging problems are found when the private, philanthropic, and public sectors work together.
"[1] "Since its inception, it has valued thoughtful discourse and been committed to presenting a variety of views and opinions on topics bearing on global issues and providing in-depth analysis and rich context.
[4] The parent organization was in turn part of a larger network of groups with locations in Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the USSR.
It notably hosts regular lecture/interviews open to members and the public and featuring speakers that are experts in their fields of endeavor such as ambassadors, foreign dignitaries, corporate leaders and higher education professors with expertise in current national and international issues.
Speakers have included Bill Clinton, former Polish labor leader and President Lech Walesa, former US Senator and CIA chief Leon Panetta, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former UN Ambassador Samantha Power, Jordan's Queen Rania Al Abdullah, South African anti-Apartheid leader Bishop Desmond Tutu, former World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, journalist Nicholas Kristof, Grameen Bank founder and microcredit and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, conservative commentator David Brooks, economic historian Niall Ferguson, and many others.