After becoming a long-time associate and aide to Mikhail Gorbachev for several years, Palazhchenko eventually became the head of the International Department of the International Non-governmental Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (or The Gorbachev Foundation), where he also functioned as an analyst, spokesperson, interpreter and translator.
National Science Foundation | Mikhail Gorbachev | Ford Foundation | Rockefeller Foundation | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | Electronic Frontier Foundation | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | New York Foundation for the Arts | Mozilla Foundation | Guggenheim Foundation | Alexander von Humboldt Foundation | Andrew W. Mellon Foundation | Wikimedia Foundation | Apache Software Foundation | foundation | Make-A-Wish Foundation | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation | Clinton Foundation | Open Software Foundation | Konex Foundation | Foundation series | Cystic Fibrosis Foundation | Carnegie Foundation | Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation | McKnight Foundation | Japan Foundation | Ingram Merrill Foundation | Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year | Free Software Foundation | Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation |
The Center HMG was launched during an International colloquium organized by Edward J. Nell and Karim Errouaki (who was then the first Director of the Center HMG (2002–2004)) and Alain Chanlat (then Director of CETAI HEC-Montreal), and was held at HEC-Montreal in March 2003.The event was sponsored by HEC-Montreal, the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, and the Gorbachev Foundation of North America.
In 2009, while working in conjunction with Mikhail Gorbachev and the Gorbachev Foundation towards improved Disaster Preparedness and healthcare infrastructure in Russia, Ciottone served as a personal envoy from President Gorbachev to the U.S. Governmental Agency the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).