About Search for Common Ground
We began our work in the USA at the height of the Cold War with only a handful of employees, a minuscule budget, and a huge mission: to transform the way the world deals with conflict. Our founder, John Marks, realized that changing the world by tearing down the old system left us in shambles. So, he started building a new one. Instead of approaching conflict from a win-lose perspective, John founded Search for Common Ground to introduce a new concept: we all ‘win’ when the focus is on what we want to achieve—not what divides us. The Cold War ended, but we kept going. Under John and his wife Susan’s leadership we grew and diversified. In 1994, we opened the European Center for Common Ground at the heart of Europe. Our Belgium entity – later to be renamed “Search for Common Ground” – was key to enable our growth. By the end of the decade, we had country offices across four continents and by 2010, we had offices in more than 30 conflict-affected countries. John and Susan raised up a new generation of leaders across the world, leaders who saw firsthand how practical and possible peace is. With Shamil Idriss at the helm, we embarked on a new era of conflict transformation in 2014. Using everything from traditional diplomacy and mediation to video games and virtual exchange, we work one step at a time to change the nature of conflict – from a destructive force to a constructive one.