Perdana Leadership Foundation was chartered in January 2003 as a non-profit organisation, founded with gifts from people who supported the vision of a thriving research and learning institution dedicated to the study of Malaysian leadership and nation-building. It is unique in the sense that it began as an entirely private sector initiative, seed-funded and organised by private sector individuals and corporations. Most of the Foundation’s present trustees were the early benefactors of this Foundation.

The Foundation’s physical home in Precinct 8, Putrajaya, was completed in October 2003. The stately building now houses the Perdana Library, an auditorium as well as a multi-purpose hall in addition to the offices of the Foundation’s Honorary President and Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister, YABhg Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

A tax-exempt, non-profit organisation, the Foundation intends to become the premier institution for the study of Malaysia’s Prime Ministers and the central resource centre for research into national stewardship as well as a platform for reflection, debate, and discussion with distinguished figures in Malaysian leadership. On May 10, 2005, the Foundation was officially launched by the fifth Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. who expressed the government's full support for the Foundation's objectives and programmes

Perdana Leadership Foundation aims to:

• Highlight the contribution of Malaysia's past Prime Ministers in the social, economic and political development of the nation
• Create awareness of the development process of the nation and draw lessons from the nation's history to enhance future development
• Become the premier resource centre for the policies, strategies and initiatives adopted under Malaysia's various Prime Ministers which may be used and adapted by other developing nations
• The Foundation also has a broader objective i.e. to promote global understanding by providing a channel for scholars and thinkers to undertake research and idea-sharing for lasting, peaceful resolutions