USC Dornsife Global Policy Institute

What USC Dornsife Global Policy Institute does

The USC Dornsife Global Policy Institute (GPI) is a multidisciplinary research and community education institute housed within the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Founded in Fall 2018 by Professor Steven L. Lamy alongside a group of international relations students, GPI was created to extend foreign affairs discussion beyond the classroom and bring those conversations to the broader USC community. It primarily serves USC undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Political Science, the School of International Relations, and the Department of Middle East Studies, while also engaging policymakers, faculty, and the general public. The current faculty director for 2025-2026 is Associate Professor Robert English, with student leadership comprising an Executive Director, Editorial Director, and Programming Director.

GPI's core offerings consist of five integrated products: (1) a weekly editorial blog at uscgpi.com producing student-authored articles in five formats (Explainer, Opinion, Analysis, Problems and Answers, Face-Off) organized across eleven global regions including Central Asia, East Asia, Europe, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East & North Africa, North America, Oceania, Russia/Caucasus/Eurasia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa; (2) a recurring Think-a-Thon problem-based learning competition series with cash prizes; (3) a speaker and event series featuring diplomats and policy experts; (4) the GPI Fellows Program that recruits and trains undergraduate student fellows; and (5) student professional-development resources including internships, fellowships, and publishing guidance. The underlying technology is a WordPress-based content management and distribution platform, augmented by social media channels on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, and YouTube, with Eventbrite for event registration and Zoom for virtual attendance.

The institute operates without a commercial revenue model. All programming, events, and editorial content are free and open to the public; the institute is funded through USC institutional support and philanthropic contributions, prominently from the Abrams family. GPI maintains strategic co-sponsorship partnerships with the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, the USC School of International Relations, the Department of Political Science, the Department of Middle East Studies, the USC Human Rights Minor, Delta Phi Epsilon, and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, and has secured external philanthropic partnership with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for its February 2026 Western Armenian conference. As a non-commercial academic unit, GPI has no funding rounds, no subsidiaries, no M&A activity, and no disclosed revenue.

Name

USC Dornsife Global Policy Institute

Legal name

USC Global Policy Institute

Website

https://uscgpi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The USC Dornsife Global Policy Institute is a multidisciplinary research and education institute within USC Dornsife College that engages undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, policymakers, and the public in international affairs through student-authored editorial content, speaker events, Think-a-Thon competitions, and a fellows program, all offered free of charge under faculty oversight.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Policy Research and International Relations Education

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), International Affairs (928120)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

International & Comparative Education Policy Organizations (EDADADAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Education Policy Research Institutes & Think Tanks (EDADADAA)

Keywords

• Policy research
• International relations education
• Student fellowship programs
• Editorial commentary
• Speaker series events

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. No commercial revenue model: The Global Policy Institute is a university-affiliated research and education institute without a commercial revenue model. It relies on university support and partner institute collaborations. Generous support from the Abrams family has been acknowledged for program funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Global Policy Institute (GPI) is a multidisciplinary research and community education institute at the University of Southern California that engages faculty, students, policymakers, and the public on global policy and international affairs. Its core offering is a free editorial blog of student-written articles organized by content type (Explainers, Opinions, Analysis, Problems and Answers, Face-Off) and region (11 global regions), supplemented by speaker series events, crisis briefings, roundtables, panel discussions, and annual Think-a-Thon competitions. These activities are delivered through a student fellows program that recruits and trains undergraduate participants in research, writing, and event organization.

Product overview

The Global Policy Institute is a single integrated platform offering multidisciplinary research and community education on global policy issues. Its core offering consists of an editorial blog with student-written articles on international affairs, supported by event programs including Think-a-Thon competitions and speaker series. The institute operates through a fellows program recruiting undergraduate students who contribute content and help organize programming, complemented by student resources for professional development in international relations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Think-a-Thon Competition Annual problem-based learning competition where USC student teams develop innovative solutions to global challenges such as climate change and media challenges; awards cash prizes to winning teams.
• Speaker Series Events Events featuring guest speakers including human rights defenders, journalists, policymakers, and international relations experts discussing developing political, social, and economic issues; includes the Human Rights & Politics in Eurasia Speaker Series.
• GPI Fellows Program Undergraduate student fellowship program providing training in international relations and foreign affairs, with branches for programming/events and editorial work; fellows create content, organize events, and engage with international policy topics.
• Editorial Blog Weekly articles written by GPI fellows on pressing global issues including explainers, opinions, analyses, and problem-and-answer pieces covering topics like foreign affairs, security, economics, and the environment across 11 global regions.
• Student Resources Hub Compiled resources aiding students interested in international relations and foreign affairs in their professional and academic development, including publishing opportunities, internships and fellowships, and active learning materials.
• Western Armenian Language Conference Three-day interdisciplinary conference bringing together scholars, educators, and community leaders from eleven countries to discuss language sustainability strategies for Western Armenian.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 February 2026Partnership to host the three-day interdisciplinary conference 'It Takes a Diaspora to Raise a Language: Future Directions for Western Armenian' at USC in Los Angeles, February 27-March 1, 2026.
• USC Human Rights MinorminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2020Co-sponsored partnership for the Human Rights and Politics in Eurasia Speaker Series.
• Delta Phi EpsilonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2020Professional foreign affairs fraternity co-sponsoring the Human Rights and Politics in Eurasia Speaker Series.
• USC Department of Slavic Languages and LiteraturesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2020Co-sponsorship of the Human Rights and Politics in Eurasia Speaker Series.
• Jesse M. Unruh Institute of PoliticscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018GPI partners with the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics within USC Dornsife for joint programming and student engagement initiatives related to political science and policy.
• USC School of International RelationscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partnership with the USC School of International Relations to support student fellows and provide academic framework for GPI activities and content.
• USC Department of Political SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Collaboration with the Department of Political Science to serve students and integrate GPI activities with academic programs.
• USC Department of Middle East StudiesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Co-sponsorship of the Human Rights and Politics in Eurasia Speaker Series with the Department of Middle East Studies.
• USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian StudiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on the Western Armenian language conference, bringing together scholars, educators, and community leaders from eleven countries to discuss language sustainability strategies.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Foreign Policy Association: Nonprofit dedicated to increasing public understanding of foreign policy through publications, programs, and community education initiatives. Comparable in its educational mission to expand public engagement with international affairs, though GPI operates within a university setting.
• Columbia Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies: Columbia University institute dedicated to international security and foreign policy research, supporting student programs, publications, and speaker events. Closely matched as a university-based IR research and education institute with student involvement.
• Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs: Yale's undergraduate-and-graduate-focused global affairs institute offering speaker programs, research opportunities, and student publications. Directly comparable in being an elite-university IR institute that prioritizes student policy engagement.
• UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies: UC Berkeley's interdisciplinary hub for international studies that hosts lectures, conferences, and student fellowships on global affairs. Closely mirrors GPI's university-hosted, faculty-supervised, student-engaged research model at a public university.
• Georgetown Institute for the Study of Diplomacy: University-affiliated international affairs institute that hosts speaker programs, student fellowships, and policy research. Directly comparable in mission and student-engagement model, though operating within Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service with longer institutional history.

Broad incumbents

• Council on Foreign Relations: Independent, nonpartisan think tank producing policy analysis and convening experts on international affairs. Comparable as a policy research and convening organization, though GPI is a smaller, student-focused university-affiliated entity versus CFR's professional national membership model.
• Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs: University-based research center producing policy analysis and convening students, faculty, and practitioners on international affairs. Significantly larger scale but directly comparable in mission of bridging academia with policy practice through student engagement.
• Princeton School of Public and International Affairs: Princeton's policy school offering undergraduate and graduate international affairs programs with research centers, speaker series, and student publications. Comparable in the academic-policy intersection space though with far larger resources.
• Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe and Bologna Center: Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies producing foreign policy research and training future policy professionals. Comparable as a university-based international affairs education and research institution with global convening capacity.
• Stanford Hoover Institution: Major university-affiliated policy research institution producing scholarship, hosting events, and publishing analysis on international affairs and domestic policy. Far larger and more established than GPI but operates on a parallel student-and-faculty engagement model.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/uscgpi
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCv07VHDeRBGVZ-67-ev9obQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/uscglobalpolicyinstitute
• Instagraminstagram.com/uscgpi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about USC Dornsife Global Policy Institute