THE GLOBAL BRIDGE FOUNDATION connects individuals, organizations, and foundations to promote equal access and improve quality of life including housing and inspiring work opportunities worldwide. We support self-sufficiency for the poorest populations and help to mitigate the climate crisis.
We’re inspired by the following core values:
- We believe facilitating authentic communication between individuals and organizations is the best way to maximize potential.
- We believe in using monetary and other resources to create the maximum benefit to alleviate suffering.
- We believe in bridging, coordinating and matching the best practices, individuals and foundations in any given area to benefit those in greatest need.
- We believe that trust is essential in every facet of human contact including actions, words, tone of voice, and intention.
- We believe in the dedication to accountability, transparency, and integrity in all our interactions and actions.
History
The founders of Global Bridge Foundation, Robert Strock and David Knapp, both psychotherapists, have enjoyed a personal friendship and professional relationship spanning 40 years. Their partnership began in the early 1970s, when they created and ran an innovative graduate school internship program at Beverlywood After Care Center in Los Angeles, CA. Bringing over 60 interns into the program, Strock and Knapp were able to provide support and therapy to 135 schizophrenic patients in residence at Beverlywood, while at the same time training hundreds of psychologists-in-training from major educational institutions.
Following their successful partnership in the Beverlywood Aftercare Center initiative, Strock and Knapp formed the Family Home project, a home for 15 teenage boys who were mostly wards of the State of California. Again, the intern model was used to enhance the support for the boys, and training for graduate students earning degrees and certifications in psychology. During this period, the partners also provided counseling services at Santa Monica Community College, worked with drug and alcohol programs, and, provided hospice counseling at Brotman Memorial Hospital.
The approach taken in the initial two projects was based on a framework of spirituality and psychology highlighting the benefits of compassion and meditation; one that did not exclude any religious or psychological approach but was inclusive, enabling the partners to work across cultural and religious lines.
These two major projects formed the base of what has evolved into the Global Bridge Foundation. The approach taken in the two initial projects remains the basic approach of GBF. Today, GBF offers collaborative services that are both practical to the organizations and insightful to the individuals running the non-profits with whom GBF works.
In recent years others have joined the effort at GBF. As it moves ahead into 2010, GBF is instituting an initiative, primarily in third-world countries, in project-related investing. We are actively seeking out opportunities to maximize sustainable impact where possible. The Foundation is funding and collaborating with projects that may not necessarily be sustainable but have the potential to become so with skilled assistance.