Meet Rising Tide’s Six New Partners Promoting Freedom Worldwide
March 04, 2025
At the Rising Tide Foundation, we have supported a range of exciting projects in the last few months. Each of these projects put classical liberal principles into action and seek to empower and educate countless individuals.
Keep reading to learn more about our new partners.
Organization: Illinois Policy Institute
Project: Center for Poverty Solution
The U.S. “War on Poverty” has faced criticism for fostering dependency rather than self-reliance, with anti-poverty programs often emphasizing wealth transfers over long-term empowerment. The Illinois Policy Institute seeks to address this through its Center for Poverty Solutions by redefining success as helping individuals transition out of dependency. By collaborating with direct service providers, the center identifies policy barriers that hinder scalable solutions and works to align efforts with free-market principles. Through these collaborations, the center aims to remove obstacles to employment, improve evaluation mechanisms and empower individuals to move from assistance to independence.
To achieve these goals, the Center for Poverty Solutions has developed “Civics and Service Incubator Cohorts,” to engage 12 service providers annually in Chicago to test and scale effective poverty-alleviation strategies. These cohorts will meet monthly to inform policy, identify best practices and amplify individual success stories. The center also plans broader initiatives, including webinars, events, and legislative advocacy, aiming to shift 5% of Chicagoans from welfare to work by 2033. By working directly with local providers and communities, the center intends to create replicable, ground-up solutions that address the root causes of poverty by opening up avenues to opportunity and encouraging entry into the workforce.
Organization: Montreal Economic Institute and Arab Center for Research
Project: MPS Morocco 2025
The October 2025 Mont Pelerin Society special meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, hosted in collaboration with the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) and the Arab Center for Research, aims to expand the reach of classical liberal ideas. With a focus on engaging new audiences, the program includes a panel addressing climate and energy debates, two divisive but critical topics. The insights are expected to inspire attendees with practical approaches to these issues. Additionally, a grant program will support eight academics and classical liberal leaders from Africa who face financial barriers to participation, empowering them to champion liberty in their home countries.
This conference will explore how worldviews are shaped and transmitted, assessing the potential of cultural creations, religious traditions, and academic disciplines to advance classical liberalism. Through panels on evolutionary psychology, behavioral economics, energy and climate, the event seeks to equip attendees with tools to refine their outreach strategies. By fostering deeper dialogue and collaboration, the MPS meeting aims to strengthen market-liberal principles’ global appeal and relevance in addressing contemporary challenges.
Organization: Civilization Works
Project: New Energy Narratives for Environmental Progress
Civilization Works (CW), seeks to reframe environmental concerns away from authoritarian narratives toward pro-human, hopeful perspectives that balance energy abundance with environmental care. Through a three-year campaign, they aim to challenge anti-western, fatalistic environmentalism by advocating for energy solutions that are abundant, reliable, and accessible. CW’s efforts focus on raising awareness about the harmful impacts of poorly sited renewable energy developments on wildlife, indigenous communities, and farming, while promoting competitive energy markets that provide clean and low-cost electricity closer to consumption hubs.
Organization: Children’s Scholarship Fund
Project: Empowering Families through Education Freedom
The U.S. public school system struggles to meet the needs of many students, with nearly half starting the last school year below grade level. Thirty-one states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico now offer taxpayer-funded education choice programs, granting parents more control over educational spending, but barriers to universal school choice persist due to entrenched opposition from unions and other vested interests. The Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) has long been a champion for educational freedom, providing low-income families scholarships to access quality education, and is now working to expand access further.
Over the next five years, CSF will implement a three-pronged strategy to advance education freedom. They will expand their scholarship program to three new states, strengthen their partner network by hosting summits and providing toolkits for launching scholarship organizations, and scale their Education Freedom Ambassador program from 12 to 60 advocates. Together, these efforts aim to provide families with greater control over their children’s education and create a movement toward universal school choice.
Organization: Digimar Institute
Project: Kuest Media 2.0
Kuest Media is a digital platform within the Digimar Institute that promotes economic freedom to millions of Turkish youth on platforms where they already engage – on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Through short-form videos, explainers, and data visualizations, Kuest Media turns complex political and economic ideas into engaging content that addresses key issues. By filling the gap in media coverage, Kuest provides young Turks with a fresh perspective on socio-political issues.
By equipping young Turks with the understanding and confidence to engage with market-driven solutions, personal agency, and democratic principles, Kuest aims to transform youth discontent into a force for positive change, empowering them to shape a more prosperous future for themselves, their community, and the country.
Organization: Universidad de las Hespérides
Project: Igniting the Spark of Freedom
Universidad de las Hespérides is dedicated to transforming the energy sector by addressing the challenges of over-regulation, limited innovation, and gaps in education. Through its initiative, “Igniting the Spark of Freedom,” Hespérides promotes a fresh approach that combines rigorous research, AI-driven analysis, and educational programs to foster a deeper understanding of energy economics. By examining energy through historical, economic, scientific, and philosophical perspectives, Hespérides aims to highlight energy’s essential role in economic growth, individual freedoms, and societal progress.
To realize this vision, Hespérides has crafted a holistic, ten-step plan that begins with assembling a multidisciplinary team, launching comparative cost studies, and building a digital infrastructure in the metaverse. The plan also includes developing master’s and Ph.D. programs, producing educational documentaries, and creating outreach campaigns to engage the public. Additionally, Hespérides will offer toolkits for K-12 educators and host collaborative forums for specialists, advancing a comprehensive approach to energy education, innovation, and reform.