Search for Common Ground

Search for Common Ground (or SFCG) is an international non-profit organization operating in 30 countries whose mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict away from adversarial approaches toward cooperative solutions. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with the majority of its 450 employees based in field offices around the world. To date, SFCG has created independent radio programming, begun a newsletter which features articles on relations between the West and the Muslim world, and brought together numerous conflicting groups to find ways to peacefully resolve issues. John Marks, SFCG's founder and president, received an award in 2006 from the Skoll Foundation for social entrepreneurship. In 2008 Search for Common Ground was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy by the U.S. Department of State. The 2012 Intercultural Innovation Award was awarded to the SFCG Morocco office, on behalf of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the BMW Group, which recognizes, next to 9 other projects, this SFCG project in Morocco on Multimedia and intercultural relations, bringing Moroccan and Sub-Saharan youth together and creating video and short movies, emphasizing positive and constructive messages.