The Global Master’s in Development Practice Secretariat was established in response to one of the core recommendations of the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The year-long Commission was co-chaired by John W. McArthur, CEO & Executive Director of Millennium Promise, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and comprised of 20 eminent sustainable development experts and practitioners. Based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the Secretariat serves as the umbrella organization overseeing all Global Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) programs and activities worldwide. The Secretariat manages the global network of MDP programs, the network’s first global online course—Global Classrooms: Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development--and is developing an open source repository for the MDP curriculum and other teaching materials.

NGOLD's mission is to enhance and strengthen civil society through NGOs and other avenues for public service. Bringing together theory and practice, NGOLD operates through four pillars: academic programs, research, NGO practitioner programs, and local civic engagement. NGOLD provides a space for scholars and practitioners from various disciplines and areas of interest to come together to enrich understanding and application. It  provides rigorous undergraduate and graduate preparation through its interdisciplinary  degree programs, offering opportunities for engaged learning for a number of different career  paths, drawing on NIU's rich academic offerings across departments and colleges. It also  offers opportunities for skills enhancement of current nonprofit leaders, both locally and  globally.