Its objectives are threefold: to hold all the issued shares in Crown Agents, to relieve the poverty, distress and suffering of people in any part of the world, and to promote the education and training of people in any part of the world who lack the means to develop their vocational, commercial and industrial skills.
Crown Agents allocates sums for the Foundation's social and developmental purposes and applies these at the direction of the Foundation.
The Foundation has a governing Council and up to fifty members, representing a balance of interests among which are international firms, professional bodies, and non-governmental and other organisations.
The President of the Foundation is Peter Berry, CMG and the current membership holders are:
Permanent Members
Aga Khan Foundation (Geneva)
Charities Aid Foundation
The Chartered Institute of Building
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply
Christian Aid
Institute of Development Studies
International Business Leaders Forum
International Chamber of Commerce UK
The Royal Commonwealth Society
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce
Mr Sam Sharpe (for the Department for International Development)
Ikufumi Tomimoto (for Japan International Cooperation Agency)
Elected Members
AMREF - African Medical and Research Foundation (Nairobi)
AMSCO B.V. - African Management Services Company (Johannesburg)
BBC World Service Trust
British Council
British Expertise
British Standards Institution
British Telecommunications plc
CARE International UK
Caribbean Council for Europe
Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK)
Commonwealth Business Council
Concern Worldwide (Dublin)
The Co-operative Bank
FirstCaribbean International Bank (Barbados)
IFU - The Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries (Copenhagen)
Leeds Metropolitan University
Stuart Kerr, Legal & Regulatory Director, Millennium Challenge Corporation (Washington DC)
Practical Action, The Intermediate Technology Development Group Limited
Standard Chartered Bank
State University - Higher School of Economics (Moscow)
Tate & Lyle plc
Transparency International (Berlin)
Unilever plc