This paper provides an account of the processes leading to the report "Transforming teacher education. Redefined professionals for 21st century schools" undertaken by the International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes. The report is a unique document, neither a series of country studies nor one based on an extensive review of the literature. Rather, it attempted to strongly reflect widely varying contexts and responses in teacher education in Asia, Europe, Brazil, Canada and the USA given key global imperatives. This paper traces the rationale, origin and development of the International Alliance, institutional members, and its objectives. The paper also articulates the distinctive collegial process and key decisions involved in the identification of themes, the different contributions of scholars, and the unique challenges of consolidating the vast amount of information across different contexts, languages and cultures. Finally, four key assertions and a summary of implications for teacher preparation and development will be presented based on the Alliance report. (Contains 1 table.)