Joining the Brookings Council is a great way to take advantage of frequent opportunities to engage with Brookings experts. With invitations to private events in Washington, New York, and other cities—from small salon-style events to more expansive conversations—Council members are able to take part in substantive exchanges with Brookings experts and each other in a variety of settings. Throughout the year, we send Council members complimentary publications by Brookings scholars and periodic special communications from Brookings President Strobe Talbott. The Brookings Council is our core group of donors, providing the crucial support that makes our research, events, and publications possible. Additional privileges are available at higher giving levels.
Project Support
If you have a particular area of policy interest, you can support a specific research effort under way at Brookings, including the work being done in our regional centers and initiatives on China, India, Europe, Northeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa and our thematic work on tax policy, health care reform, children and families, defense, arms control, business and public policy, technology innovation, education, energy security and other key issues on the national policy agenda.
Program Leadership Committees
For people who are interested in a deeper engagement with one of Brookings’s research programs, membership on a Program Leadership Committee provides opportunities for in-depth interaction with scholars and program vice presidents. The Committees meet twice annually for in-depth briefings and discussions with top Brookings experts on the most pressing issues facing policymakers. Committee members provide financial support and strategic advice to the program vice presidents on issues related to finance, organization, their research agenda, and ways to maximize impact on policymaking.
Strategic Initiatives Funds
With the at-times breathtaking pace of global events, Brookings experts are often called upon to analyze and respond quickly to new developments, even in the absence of dedicated funding to support these efforts. To enable our experts to react nimbly to breaking news and seed timely new projects, each of the five research programs and the President’s office established Strategic Initiatives Funds that provide flexible funding for program and Institutional priorities.
Endowments and Structured Gifts
Endowments and structured gifts provide crucial long-term support for key Institutional priorities. Many research chairs, fellowships, and lecture series established by endowment gifts can be named as a lasting testament to the donor’s generosity, whether in perpetuity for endowment gifts or, in the case of structured gifts, for a fixed period. Both types of funds can support our experts’ work on specific regions, countries, and topics, or research programs more broadly. Brookings currently has 23 endowed chairs and fellowships covering a range of topics.
The International Advisory Council
Brookings established the International Advisory Council, a group of distinguished international business and community leaders, to extend its outreach and relevance to other countries and increase its ability to inform the American public and policymakers about global developments. Members—who represent 24 countries on five continents—provide invaluable advice and diverse perspectives on developments in their own regions, along with candid insights into how America and its policies are received abroad. Membership on the International Advisory Council is by invitation only.
Co-chaired by Brookings Trustees Antoine van Agtmael and Paul Desmarais, Jr., the Brookings International Advisory Council meets annually each spring for an in-depth program of scholar presentations, top-level speakers, and robust discussions of critical global issues with leading experts from Brookings and other organizations. Membership on the International Advisory Council is by invitation only.
Learn more about the IAC »