Origins
At Salons in New York and summits in Washington, DC, and Davos, Switzerland, the Altru Institute assembles thought leaders on the most critical topics of our time, including climate change, mental health, medical advances, war and refugees, and health and wellness.
The Altru Institute began with the experience of Mariam Azarm, who spent 25 years at the United Nations in New York managing events for the UN Security Council. Through her day-in and day-out direct experience with high-level diplomats and celebrities, Mariam naturally built a global network of lasting contacts and insights.
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The impetus for the Altru Institute came from a broadly felt frustration that large institutions aren't agile enough to support world-changing innovation at the critical early stages. Mariam thought that maybe, with her vision, experience, and Rolodex, she could help foster collaboration so that game-changing ideas could have a better chance to scale to impact.
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Her early retirement from the United Nations gave her the opportunity to pursue the idea. In 2015, together with childhood friend and London-based philanthropist Gilly Norton, she founded the Klosters Forum.
Brett Johnson, who had attended the inaugural Klosters Forum, was deeply impressed with the collaborative model and felt it could be scaled globally for significant impact. Brett's extensive experience in new-venture development, innovation, and conference-setting, as well as in the communications, publishing, internet, medtech, and biotech fields proved invaluable.
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The Altru Institute focused on the world's most complex challenges and began convening innovators and changemakers to find breakthroughs through a simple but powerful collaboration model.
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Since then, the Altru Institute has attracted hundreds of thought leaders to its Salons and summits and has built a global network of talented thought leaders who share their views on the importance of innovation through collaboration.