NEW YORK, NY. - October 31, 2008 - The UN Global Compact has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce to create an international research facility for the Global Compact.

The Research Center for the Global Compact, located in the vicinity of United Nations Headquarters in New York, will be providing additional research and analytical capacity to the Global Compact Office in the areas of management change models, analysis of Communications on Progress and other topics of interest to the initiative.

In a systematic and inclusive way, the Research Center will establish relations with researchers, scholars and academic centers and institutions around the world that are willing to engage in research activities and partnerships with the UN Global Compact. Additionally, on behalf of the UN Global Compact, the Research Center will serve as the secretariat for the Principles for Responsible Management Education initiative (PRME).

Dr. Manuel Escudero has been appointed Executive Director of the Research Center for the Global Compact. From 2005 to 2008, Dr Escudero served in various roles in the Global Compact Office. Until 2007, he was Head of Global Compact Local Networks and later Head of Special Projects and Academic Initiatives. As Special Adviser to the Global Compact Office, Dr. Escudero will serve as a liaison between the Research Center and the Global Compact Office.

The Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce was established by the State of New York, under the auspices of the State University of New York, in memory of Neil D. Levin, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who perished in the attack upon the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The Levin Institute core competence is built on cross-management: the ability to manage effectively across borders and cultures, and to operate successfully across divisions of nationality, ethnicity, religion and languages as well as political, economic and regulatory environments. Its international dimension and global mission make the Neil D. Levin Institute an ideal home for the new Research Center for the Global Compact.

For further information please contact Dr. Manuel Escudero at escuderom@unprme.org or at GCResearch@levininstitute.org.

United Nations Global Compact

United Nations Global Compact

As the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With the UN Global Compact, committed companies achieve sustainable value by delivering measurable impact to the world’s most pressing challenges. 

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