Global Dialogue was founded by Andrew Puddephatt in 2006 with a wide-ranging brief to promote human rights around the world. The first programme, the Strategic Fund for Turkey, enabled several private funders to support the emerging human rights movement in Turkey at a critical time of transition in the region.

In 2009 they founded Ariadne to bring together funders and philanthropists supporting human rights and social change into a supportive network sharing resources and expertise.  In 2011 members of Ariadne founded the Thomas Paine Initiative, the collaborative fund for human rights in the UK.

Global Dialogue now have five programmes supporting human rights and social change around the world, specialising in supporting collaboration between funders across Europe.

Global Dialogue is registered as a charity (1122052) and a limited company (5775827) in England and Wales. 

Global Dialogue is an associate member of the Association of Charitable Foundations (UK), and members of the International Human Rights Funders Group (USA).

Global Dialogue is governed by a board of trustees chaired by Andrew Puddephatt.  Andrew is also Executive Director of Global Partners Digital, chair of International Media Support in Denmark, Deputy Chair of the Sigrid Rausing Trust and a management board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The Global Dialogue board also includes Elizabeth Palmer, Senior News Correspondent at CBS; Debbie Pippard, Head of Programmes at the Barrow Cadbury Trust; and Walter Veirs, Regional Director CEE/Russia at the C.S. Mott Foundation in London.