The World Surgical Infection Society was founded in response to a gap in surgical outcomes between patients in high-income and low- and middle-income countries. Although surgical infections remain a public health issue in high-income countries, particularly due to recent concerns around the rise of antimicrobial resistant organisms, low rates in developed, resource-rich countries such as the United States indicate that such infections are largely preventable. We believe in a world where all people can receive the best available care to ensure safe surgery and avoid life-threatening surgical infections. There have been large scale efforts within the past few years to elevate global surgery as a public health agenda item. However, these efforts center on increasing access to surgery rather than quality improvement. While laudable, increasing access is a long-term project requiring major resources. Improving the quality of ongoing surgical procedures through evidence-based and field-tested measures can help to bridge the gap in a timely and efficient way. WSIS is fundamentally about building strong, lasting bonds between like-minded healthcare workers across the globe that will allow those working, or interested in working, on quality improvement in surgical infection and global surgery to more efficiently and effectively accomplish their goals. We focus on working with regional champions who have the knowledge and experience needed to create effective, targeted solutions.