The Millennium Project

The Millennium Project is an independent global participatory futures research think tank headquartered in Washington, DC. It was co-founded in 1996 by Jerome Glenn and Theodore Gordon after a three-year feasibility study (1992-1996) funded by the United Nations University, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the UN Development Programme, and UNESCO. The project was initially established under the American Council for the United Nations University and the Smithsonian Institution, and became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2009. Over its 30-year history, the organization has produced more than 70 futures research studies with input from over 4,000 participants worldwide. Its flagship publication, the State of the Future report, has been published annually since 1997 and is now in its 20th edition. The report provides comprehensive assessments of global trends, challenges, and policy options, and has been translated into multiple languages. The organization also developed the Futures Research Methodology series (currently at version 3.0, with 4.0 projected for early 2026), documenting 37 foresight methods, and the State of the Future Index (SOFI) for measuring global progress. The Millennium Project operates through a distributed network of 72 Nodes worldwide, organized into regional networks covering Europe, Latin America, and South Asia. Each Node consists of institutions and individuals that connect local perspectives with the Project's global foresight activities. The core staff includes Executive Director Jerome Glenn, Deputy Director Ibon Zugasti, Director of Research Elizabeth Florescu, Director of Communications Mara Di Berardo, Director of Economic and Government Affairs Nariman Amarkhail, and Chief Technology Officer Tad Davis. The organization is overseen by a seven-member Board of Directors. The organization's 15 Global Challenges framework identifies and continuously updates the most critical issues facing humanity, spanning sustainable development, clean water, population and resources, democratization, global foresight, information technology, inequality, health, education, peace and conflict, status of women, transnational crime, energy, science and technology, and global ethics. In recent years, the Millennium Project has undertaken significant work on AGI governance, conducting a multi-phase international study on the transition from Artificial Narrow Intelligence to Artificial General Intelligence. Phase 1 gathered perspectives from 55 leading AI researchers and thought leaders including Sam Altman, Yoshua Bengio, Demis Hassabis, and Elon Musk. The study has proposed governance models including a dedicated UN Framework Convention on AGI, a global observatory, and certification systems. The organization has also collaborated with the Council of Presidents of the UN General Assembly on an AGI governance panel report. Historical sponsors and funders have included the Rockefeller Foundation, Dubai Future Foundation, UNESCO, the World Bank, NATO, the US Department of Energy, Ford Motor Company, Applied Materials, Intel, and the Future of Life Institute. Co-founder Theodore Gordon, a pioneering futurist who managed the third stage of the Saturn rocket for the Apollo mission, passed away in 2024.