Empowering individuals

Eradicate Barriers to Economic Freedom for Women

Although extensive data on economic freedom is available, much of it lacks on-the-ground expertise and the moral commitment to reforming discriminatory and oppressive policies that disproportionately affect women. Atlas aspires to change that by providing real-world examples that document how economic liberty empowers and elevates women by creating opportunity, growth, and prosperity. Their vision is to break down the legal obstacles that prevent women from equal rights and opportunities. Using their successful grant program Liberating Enterprise to Achieve Prosperity (LEAP) as a model, they're challenging their partners to (1) identify projects that would improve their country's rank on the Gender Disparity Index and other indices, (2) create and implement reform strategies, and (3) publicize non-governmental solutions that help reduce poverty among women.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

In too many countries, women find themselves enslaved by circumstance rather than free to make autonomous decisions. This project aims to reduce the opportunities and reasons for authorities to repress women as they try to better their lives. Solutions designed to improve the rights and living standards of women often focus on doling out more aid money, only to fail

because local policies and customs prevent women from taking advantage of their own talents. This project would illustrate the value of targeting specific repressive public policies that make it impossible for women to forge their own paths out of poverty.

Atlas Network believes that institutional change is unlikely to last if imposed by outsiders who are unfamiliar with local customs. Change must be developed from within, both to ensure buy-in and, more importantly, to discover the unique cultural mechanisms necessary for informal norms to transition smoothly to well-functioning formal systems. By working with local institutions to build support for change, the project is laying a lasting foundation for freedom to flourish.

Empowering Women and Communities through Property Rights

West Bengal has digitized most land records and developed an on-line platform for citizens to access records and transfer rights from sale or inheritance. Unfortunately, many of the digitized records are inaccurate. Women are particularly affected, as their names are rarely listed as co-owners or heirs on older records, which means many are not able to legally claim land and leverage it to improve their economic and social conditions. Landesa is an international non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of the worlds poorest women and men by securing land and property rights and improving the institutional environment in countries around the world. They have identified an alternative path to securing property rights in West Bengal building the capacity of rural women who are members of self-help groups providing information and property records updating services, for which they will charge a small service fee. At the same time, community members will gain access to the information they need quickly and at a lower cost by working with a member of their community.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

This project will help to secure the land and property rights of up to 300,000 men and women living in the Indian state of West Bengal by scaling a new, entrepreneurial approach to strengthening land records. A strong and secure system of private property rights is widely recognized as part of the essential foundation of a free and prosperous society. It enables autonomous decision making, allowing individuals and families the freedom to choose how to use the resources they control to improve their lives and, in the process, enabling more and different kinds of entrepreneurship. Importantly, providing more secure rights to property devolves power and enables women and men to have a room, a home, a field, a factory of their own; a place largely free from the interference of those in authority, as is essential to protecting and preserving privacy and freedom (as Hayek says in The Road to Serfdom).

Read more about this project and how it transforms lives of West Bengali communities here

Poverty Stoplight USA Launch

The Poverty Stoplight is a tool integrated in a technology platform that seeks to activate the potential of families and communities to lift themselves out of poverty. Poverty Stoplight is different from other anti-poverty programs in that: (1) the evaluations indicators are self-assessed by the individuals and families who participate, (2) it includes measures of agency and organization, and (3) it is designed to cover only those indicators that are actionable by the family members themselves. The goal of this two-year project is to establish Poverty Stoplight in the United States by recruiting, training, and supporting organizations that serve the poor and are ready to invest in an approach to poverty eradication based on self-sufficiency.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Poverty is difficult to escape in part because welfare systems inadvertently serve to keep individuals dependent. Poverty Stoplight aims to help people participate in the market economy, rather than becoming trapped by programs that are overly bureaucratic and inefficient. The key to the approach is to trust families, respect low-income people, and know that they will make the decisions that will work best for them. Poverty Stoplight enhances the freedom of the individual to take advantage of opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty by enhancing their critical agency. To alleviate poverty in the US and beyond, it is essential that the discussion around poverty shift to the capabilities of the poor rather than their weaknesses.

Employment for Men and Women Experiencing Homelessness

Only 5% of all dollars allocated to fight homelessness are directed to jobs programs. Of the dollars that are allocated to jobs programs, the majority of assistance is not employer-driven. As the number of those experiencing homelessness has ballooned over the past 3 years, First Step Staffing (FSS) has stepped in to bridge the gap between homelessness services focused on housing and more traditional workforce development programs that often leave the hardest to serve behind. They execute on this mission using an alternative staffing model that meets the hiring needs of local businesses while prioritizing staffing resources to those who have been most excluded from the workforce. They also provide supportive services, like transportation to and from work, that help people with obstacles to employment and advancement once in the workforce.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

As most programs focus on providing the basic material needs of those currently experiencing homelessness, FSS takes a more foundational approach. Through equipping individuals with skills, resources, transportation services, and connections to potential employers, FSS is reducing the barriers that those experiencing homelessness must overcome to become the active protagonists in their own livesrather than the passive recipients of welfare.

When individuals are empowered to achieve greater personal prosperity through meaningful work, they can change both themselves and their communities through increased savings. The FSS approach achieves a multiplier-effect as individuals move from welfare recipients to working taxpayers in their own communities.

FSS aims to employ a minimum of 5,000 men and women annually paying more than $60 million in earned wages.

Liberty in Action

There is often a disconnect between classical liberal theory and its application in the real world. At the same time, there is a prevailing tendency for individuals to look towards government as the normative solution to complex social challenges. The Liberty in Action project from Universidad Francisco Marroquin (UFM) will provide a collaborative hands-on, multidisciplinary student experience that will develop bottom-up solutions to social challenges using classical liberal principles. Through the CoLab, students will drive innovative solutions to existing social problems in Guatemala that are private, voluntary, and free-market.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Each individual is unique, inherently social, and has the capacity for creative activity. The Liberty in Action project, through the CoLab, will place an emphasis on these defining aspects of the human person to develop bottom-up solutions to complex social challenges where top-down bureaucratic programs and schemes have typically served as the default.

The program will impact the landscape of freedom in two tangible ways: (1) students at UFM will increase their appreciation and understanding of market principles through active and experiential learning, and (2) projects developed through the CoLab will accelerate human progress through market-based solutions that reduce the scope and desire of government intervention.

In the long-term, UFM aims to cultivate a mindset shift by demonstrating the viability and practicality of market-based solutions to complex social problems. They aim to reach thousands through market-based interventions that materially improve human lives.

Scholarship Program

High-quality tertiary education provided by private institutions is nearly inaccessible to the vast majority of the population in Latin America. This erects a barrier to disadvantaged youth in Latin

America that proves hard to overcome. Fundacion Educacion, through providing scholarships to young and promising students from low-income families, seeks to unlock the potential of select disadvantaged Latin American youth, cultivating new perspectives that serve as a catalyst for job creation, increase in innovation, and greater economic growth. Students that receive support from Fundacion Educacion sign a so-called Compromiso de Honor through which they commit to voluntarily repay their bursary so that new students can be supported. Rising Tide will finance the tertiary education of 15-20 students over the next three years.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Access to quality education is foundational for advancing freedom and prosperity. Through this scholarship program, Fundacion Educacion is equipping high-capacity underprivileged youth with the resources they need to realize their potential in the marketplace. As they only partner with local universities and technical schools that are firmly steeped in principles of entrepreneurship, the free market economy, and democracy, scholarship recipients will be inculcated with classical liberal values throughout their tertiary education.

As students complete their education, Fundacion Educacion expects 95% of their scholarship recipients to find well-paid employment with a 98% graduation rate. These students will contribute to the prosperity of their own families as well as their countries' economic and social progress.

The Wildlife Tourism College of Maasai Mara

The Wildlife Tourism College (WTC) in Kenya's Greater Maasai Mara region, one of the last major wildlife refuges on earth, aims to develop an innovative, sustainable, long-term method of wildlife conservation which simultaneously maintains economic freedom and mobility for the Maasai people. The WTC is part of a broader initiative in the Mara region to preserve, sustain, and scale the triple-use Pardamat Conservation Area (PCA), where wildlife, livestock and people live together in harmony. The campus merges a teaching college - targeting the 80% of unemployed among Maasais from 18 to 35 years of age paired together with an educational tourism camp for international students and volunteers where profits realized go directly to supporting the college and the community. The hoped-for success of the triple-use conservation area counts on sustainable socio-economic growth through education, employment, and for-profit tourism, all of which the area lacks significantly.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

This project is an example of a non-governmental/private sector solution to a tragedy of the commons situation that had resulted in a loss of biodiversity and wildlife in PCA, which is in turn linked to income loss and limited potential of economic development for the local Maasai community. Based on market mechanisms, a system is developed together with the local communities, that results in socio-economic development through participation in the tourism industry and conservation of the biodiversity and wildlife in PCA.

Proposal for Franchising of Self-Reliance Clubs

The traditional approach to fighting poverty in the United States is through the alleviation of symptoms rather than employing strategies that seek to enhance human flourishing. This approach sees the poor as objectsobjects of pity, compassion, and charityinstead of seeing

the poor as subjects, the protagonists of their own lives. As Ismael Hernandez says, self-reliance is in eclipse todaythis directly affects outcomes in education, health, and security. The Freedom & Virtue Institute has created Self-Reliance Clubs (SRCs) with the goal to integrate efforts within existing school activities by adopting the initiatives and giving them new meaning, empowering students to meet their needs through work. This allows children to better understand work as a means of wealth creation and economic opportunity.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Many of todays social programs contribute to a prevailing mindset of victimhood and dependency. If this mindset is to be shifted in the future, it must start with childrenthey must be sent a contrary message. A message that tells them they have what it takes to meet their needs, that they are agents of choice.

Through SRCs, the Freedom and Virtue Institute will connect children to practical projects that connect reward to accomplishments. As the SRCs follow students year after year, they continue a journey of engagement and discover that they are engines of wealth creation.

The Freedom & Virtue Institute aims to launch over 200 SRCs and impact up to 5,000 students with their activities over the next three years. This will equip young individuals with character traits and virtues that facilitate enterprise and the love of freedom that motivates them to become free and productive citizens, entrepreneurs, and workers.

Identifying Best Practice for Empowerment

Identifying Best Practice for Empowerment Through Entrepreneurial Freedom

The team at the University of Newcastle will employ original research to identify private, bottom-up, collective action solutions for the provision of basic services in slums around the world that are widely ignored by governments and large aid agencies. In particular, the team will research the service provision activities of Delhi slum inhabitants related to health, education, water, waste management, and transportation. They will use innovative methods to disseminate results to the community, national and international audiences to influence policies and provide those delivering services with examples of best practices for community development. 

Blog: Empower - Identifying best practice for empowerment through entrepreneurial freedom: A project for the marginalized in informal settlements in Delhi, India

Communicating Liberty

Communicating Liberty to Under-Serviced Audiences

Entrepreneurship Mini Quest Curriculum

Acton Children's Business Fair: Entrepreneurship Mini Quest Curriculum

Investing in Agricultural Enterprises

Investing in Agricultural Enterprises to Build Rural Prosperity in Colombia

Think Tanks for Labor Market Reforms

Think Tanks for Labor Market Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe

As a response to over-regulation in labour markets, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), in cooperation with five prominent classical liberal think-tanks, is working on creating a unique cross-country research on labor market regulation and the repercussions of existing government interventions on individual liberty, labour markets and employment.

Expansion of a proven model

Expansion of a proven model of skills training for employment

Jobs are being disrupted by technology at an unprecedented pace. While routine and structured work decline (such as administrative or manufacturing jobs), complex jobs that require social and complex problem-solving skills increase. Traditional education is no longer keeping up with the pace of change in the workplace. Bagosphere is a provider of short-term, career-focused educational programs for disadvantaged youth to go from poverty to transformational careers. By deconstructing what employers need, Bagosphere runs immersive, experiential training programs and connects students directly with employers. The unique teaching method combines communication, mindsets & socio-emotional skills, preparing them for employment in the thriving Business Process Outsourcing Industry (e.g. Call Centers) in the Philippines. With the training model, they have achieved a 95% employment rate in 2017 and their students were able to increase their income by 200300% if previously not formally employed and by 20-50% if previously employed. RTF is supporting the replication of the model in two new geographical locations in the Philippines aiming to reach 1000 students over the three years of project duration.

SAILI Scholarships

SAILI Scholarships

The SAILI Scholarship Programme routes talented students through functional parts of the Western Cape public high school system. The programme is optimized to support as many students as possible, without compromising on exceptional student performance. The emphasis is on the identification of talent, system analysis to determine high-value schools for placements, student monitoring, and ongoing support of scholarship holders. Besides paying for school fees, uniforms, and school supplies, SAILI also provides workshops and mentoring for subject selection, career selection, and transition to tertiary. Rising Tide is supporting 25 students throughout their high-school education.  

Unleashing Prosperity

Unleashing Prosperity by Cutting State Regulations

US states have dozens of bureaucratic agencies generating new regulations, but few review the thousands of regulations that are already in place. Over time, these regulations have accumulated into vast codes too complex for people to navigate. Rules that are costly, complicated, ineffective, or outdated remain in force, stifling economic growth. Unlike the federal government, state agencies are not typically required to conduct benefit-cost analysis prior to rule-making, and they internalize few costs from creating increasingly more complex and onerous requirements.
Over the last few years, scholars from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University have researched successful efforts to repeal regulations to limit the compliance burden on citizens and businesses, and have assisted policymakers in seven US states in starting red tape reduction initiatives. These efforts are assisted by RegData, a Mercatus-developed software program that rapidly analyzes immense regulatory codes in ways not previously possible. Mercatus is using RegData to produce academic studies that give a snapshot of a states regulatory burden. The vision for this project is that armed with Mercatus groundbreaking research, states will reduce the burden of their regulatory requirements and create improved environments for economic growth, income mobility, and individual freedom. 

Girls Education Project

Girls Education Project Laos & Vietnam

Room to Read believes world change starts with educated children and education contributes to solving the worlds biggest problems poverty, conflict, disease, intolerance, inequality, and exploitation. However, quality education remains out of reach for millions of children around the world. Girls in particular are often disadvantaged when it comes to education.

With its long term holistic approach that goes beyond academics, Room to Reads Girls Education Program ensures that girls complete secondary school and develop the skills to negotiate key life decisions. It offers girls life skills training, female mentoring, and needs-based material support, while also increasing advocacy for girls' education among their parents, school staff, and communities. Essential to the program are social mobilizers (local women who are hired as mentors) who work with girls and their families to ensure that girls stay in school, participate in life skills activities, and navigate the challenges of adolescence with the ability to make their own life choices, both personally and professionally.

Rising Tide is supporting Room to Read's Girls Education Program in Vietnam and Laos and has supported 535 girls to participate in the program.

EGBOK Mission Training

EGBOK Mission Training and Internship Training

Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. The roots of the challenges Cambodia is facing today are based on its history. An estimated 1.7 million people, or nearly 20% of the countrys population, perished during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-79. The effects of the genocide are still apparent in modern times as Cambodia continues to rebuild its economy, education system, and social institutions.

EGBOK is offering vocational training and employment opportunities for the countrys underprivileged youths utilizing the economic driver of tourism to build a qualified local workforce for the thriving industry. EGBOK helps them to become self-supporting thereby breaking the cycle of poverty that exists throughout the country today.  

Futurepreneurship

Futurepreneurship

Young Swiss professionals have increasingly the wish to be independent by starting an entrepreneurial venture and at the same time to have a positive impact in society through their professional work. The Swiss education landscape, however, offers only very limited opportunities for young professionals to gain first-hand experience in entrepreneurship and hence experience what it entails to be an entrepreneur. Most youths end up accepting employment with large corporations instead.

At the same time, there is a broad range of young and innovative companies in Switzerland with a business model targeting a positive impact in society, but lacking access to talented and skilled Millenials, due mainly to lack of time and experience in the hiring process.

Futurepreneurship supports young career starters (especially young women) through a training and internship program in their entrepreneurial career paths. Talented students experience the innovation sector through an internship of several months. An academy guides them through their work experience and enables them to acquire the necessary skill set for this work environment. The overall goal of Futurepreneurship is to transmit an innovative, entrepreneurial, and agile way of thinking to the participating students. To date, over 150 startups have participated and more than 200 jobs have been created. 85% of the interns stay either employed in the startup they worked for, in one of the participating organizations, or elsewhere in the innovation scene. 

Start-up Camps

Start-up Camps

Through this initiative, Bookbridge is fostering entrepreneurship in disadvantaged communities in Cambodia, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka through Start-up Camps. The camps are 4-month part-time experiential learning programs. Over three years they expect that those who go through the program will create a total of 1,200 jobs in their communities through new start-ups launched out of the Camps.

Scholarships for Low-Income

Scholarships for Low-Income, High Potential  Indian Girls

This grant will allow 214 girls over 3 years to attend the Avasara girls school which was founded in 2015 with the aim of developing the leadership potential of India's brightest young women, proving the simple theory: "When you give a girl, regardless of her economic status, the highest education possible, and equip her with skills to lead her community, she will not only change the minds of those around her, she will change the world."

Entrepreneurship development

Entrepreneurship development and 21st century skills

Memphis, Tennessee has a storied history of segregation, institutional racism, and policies that have disenfranchised people of color for centuries.

At one time, Memphis, Tennessee was the lifeblood of the slave trade that dominated the economy of the South. Economic growth for people of color in the city is largely limited. Less than 1% of all business revenue in the city of Memphis comes from businesses owned by African Americans and Latinx individuals, yet 70% of the population belongs to these demographics. The poverty rate for African American children within the city is a staggering 52.2%. The 25 largest African-American owned businesses in Memphis collectively employ 1,200 people in a city with a labor force of over 400,000. The wealth gap between white families and black families decreases from a factor of 13 to a factor of 3 when a black family has a business owner. Furthermore, black business owners net worth is on average 12 times higher than black non-business owners.

LITE has produced a model that effectively develops key 21st-century skills in minority youth, giving them the skills to lift themselves out of poverty and stimulate their local economy through business solutions. We differ from other self-empowerment entrepreneurship programs in two key ways: First, we teach practical application, not abstract concepts. Many programs teach students theoretical solutions to problems and miss the key experiential learning, and self-empowerment that comes with creation and execution. Through LITE, students launch a business that can generate revenue and demonstrate an ROI. 17% of our Innovation Fellows from our first cohort (2013) are still generating revenue from businesses they launched through our High School Finalist program six years ago. Secondly, we provide long-term support that maximizes the potential for success. Most youth programs offer interventions up until the age of 18 or through interventions lasting less than six months. According to a study by Richard Fairlie with the GATES experiment, entrepreneurial education programs have no long-term effect on business success when those interventions are less than six months. Our pipeline provides eight years of support for each student with targeted programming aimed at building the next generation of self-empowered workers, entrepreneurs, and leaders.

Spoken English and Libertarian Values

Empowering 1 Million with Spoken English and Libertarian Values

This project from the Centre for Civil Society addresses two pervasive challenges in Indian society: (1) Poor knowledge of English, particularly in disadvantaged communities. (2) A prevalent bias towards Nehruvian socialism. The project aims to train 5,000 teachers over the three-year project period to improve spoken English skills for 1 million students currently attending low-fee private schools in India--incorporating classical liberal content in the curriculum.

Watch the video about the Bolo English Project!

Enhancing Freedom Through Quality Improvements in Low-cost Private Schools

Despite the success of low-cost private education in the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, governments often attempt to hinder their growth and flourishing. One of the most frequent criticisms is that the teachers within these schools do not have the same level of training and certification as those in government schools. Critics also argue that even if most research shows that the pupils in these schools outperform those in public schools, the quality of education remains low across both sectors.

The University of Buckingham, in partnership with the Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED) in Nigeria, and the Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA) in India is seeking to address this significant challenge by bringing an internationally recognized, educationally effective, technologically innovative, and affordable training program for educators in the low-cost private sector. The program will empower teachers and school managers and increase the quality of teaching and learning in these schools.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

The project will demonstrate to governments the commitment of the low-cost private sector to improving the quality of teaching and learning in their schools, and thus allow private school associations to argue the case for a more liberal regulatory framework. A leaner regulatory framework will empower educational entrepreneurs and school managers with the freedom to innovate and experiment.

These schools also operate under regimes where the Rule of Law is not necessarily observed, which increases the likelihood of bribery and corruption, as regulations tend to be arbitrarily applied. One way of reducing corruption is to reduce the purview of the state; this project will facilitate that process by showing that self-regulation within the private sector can lead to higher standards of education through international teacher accreditation.

The teacher training program will improve teachers potential for living independent and self-determined lives by increasing their sense of self-efficacy and self-confidence, as well as their teaching skills and marketability. Better teaching and learning outcomes in these schools will also increase the dignity and self-respect of the children involved, and better their opportunity for obtaining gainful employment, further education study or entrepreneurship. Each of these will impact on their families freedom too.

#FreedomTalks

The Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) boasts an impressive record of implementing projects and programs within the Lithuanian context and beyond. They aim to achieve similar success with their new #FreedomTalks initiative. This initiative will engage vulnerable mid to late teenage populations from Lithuanias ethnic minority and disadvantaged communities in cutting-edge multimedia economic and civic learning, as well as live youth debates designed to instill in the rising generation a belief in freedom and the creative human capacity necessary to develop into active moral agents. This program will build upon LFMIs international award-winning textbook Economics in 31 Hours and interdisciplinary course A Citizen in 31 Hours.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

The #FreedomTalks initiative recognizes that free moral agents, acting on behalf of themselves and their communities, are a necessary condition for prosperity and human flourishing. Through empowering local communities, amplifying voices of those who are often marginalized, #FreedomTalks inspires the rising generation to take responsibility for their own lives.

Over the course of the project, LFMI hopes to influence 1200+ mid to late teenagers from ethnic minority and disadvantaged communities and initiate 30+ #FreedomTalks chapters that run independently. As a part of the project, they will impact many more through live online quizzes, social media campaigns, and their online multimedia platform.

The #FreedomTalks initiative is exercising a promising approach to mindset change in disadvantaged communities that will help individuals move from seeing themselves as passive recipients to active participants.

Communicating Liberty to Under-Serviced Audiences

Today there are over 50 million youth aged 14 to 26 in America - over 16 million are African American or Hispanic - and there are tens of millions more youth in Latin America and Spain. Traditionally, this audience, of which nearly one-third is in the U.S., has been under-engaged by free-market-oriented organizations. FEE plans to employ a multifaceted outreach strategy through their new Revolution of One and FEE en Espanol programs that engage these audiences through media, in-person workshops, online learning, accessible resources, and community partnerships to educate and inspire young African Americans and Hispanics to prefer freedom over coercion as their chosen method for social change and economic progress. Through this, FEE is working to drive a generational shift away from faith in politicians toward a freer, more prosperous, and more peaceful society achieved through the adoption of, and a life-long belief in, the freedom philosophy."

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Traditionally, African American and Hispanic audiences have not been widely reached by free-market think tanks. Through various educational avenues employed by FEE, new audiences will be introduced to the principles of freedom in new, creative ways. FEE aims to engage 10% of the African American and Hispanic youth population in the United States, which they expect to create a widespread shift in the way young people view freedomrendering large government programs, in the long-term, unattractive.

Over the course of the two-year project, FEE hopes to engage more than 39 million young people through their Revolution of One and FEE en Espanol programs. This will inspire a new generation of youth as they are empowered to see themselves as the active protagonists of their own lives.

Identifying Best Practice for Empowerment Through Entrepreneurial Freedom

It is often believed that those living in informal settlements or in households with low socio-economic status are reliant upon the state or charitable means for basic quality services. This representation of development typically hides the story of community solutions. This project focuses on three informal settlements in Delhi, India. It aims to show how communities overcome the absence of basic quality service provision by providing services themselves through community and private means as well as by developing approaches to enterprise and employment that circumvent the need for formal provision.

What is important for development is freedom of choice and freedom to control ones own life. This project will promote best practice from the communities that stimulate sustainable lives overcoming barriers to employment and entrepreneurial activity. Newcastle University in partnership with Kings College London, St. Marys University, the Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE), and Indus Information Initiatives will provide knowledge for change, knowledge to inform, and knowledge to empower individuals to control their own lives.

You can find more information about this project here.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

This project will promote and enhance individual freedom in a number of ways, first it will discover how individuals, enterprises, and communities are able to provide basic services for themselves, promoting policy change that will put such private solutions at the heart of public policy. Second, by spreading best practice, it will ensure that communities can better adapt to the circumstances in which they find themselves and live lives that are characterized by gainful employment and enterprise, thus promoting empowerment, resilience, and reduced dependence. Third, by spreading best practice, it will promote approaches to providing essential basic services through the community and private enterprise. Ensuring accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability of these services for all community members including young people, women, and migrants.

Unlocking Potential through Mindset Change among Unemployed Youth in Kenya

Unemployment in Kenya among youth aged 15-24 is over 60%, and the struggle to generate sufficient income is even harder for vulnerable youth such as teen moms, those struggling with alcohol and drugs, school dropouts, or those with criminal records. COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on youth living in informal settlements, worsening their pre-existing vulnerable situation.

One of the key challenges for these forgotten youth is that, as they look around them, they see the same, hopeless story played out in almost every person around them. These youth chronically fail at benefitting from typical entrepreneurship and business-skills programs because they are either over-looked or dont believe they fit or are able to succeed. Instead, they wait for help from others like parents, government, or big business.

To break this cycle of inter-generational poverty, Emerging Leaders project in Kenya will work with vulnerable, unemployed youth in urban informal settlements of the Nairobi and Naivasha regions. The program focuses first on changing mindsets to unlock youths potential. Then the program builds on this with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills, typically seeing upwards of 70-80% of participants start a small income-generating business - one they identify, plan, and deliver and which more than doubles their monthly income.

This four-year project will focus on scaling-up delivery of the Leadership for Life program to 18,000 poor urban youth through a train-the-trainer model. The program is delivered by youth themselves - who have been transformed through their own leadership and entrepreneurship journey.

Our goal is to see:

70% start income-generating projects

40% linked with other programs or companies that can help them to grow their businesses

5% to be employing at least one other person.

Rising Tide Foundation and Emerging Leaders partner to change the mindset among unemployed youth in Kenya

Contribution to Enhancing Freedom

Every single day the story of our lives is being written; the question is who has the pen? Emerging Leaders approach to enhancing freedom is to help youth re-imagine and then re-write their story by empowering them with the mindsets, motivations, and skills to flourish. This

enables them to navigate the challenges of life and make choices that will enable them and those around them to thrive. The program helps create flourishing communities by unlocking human potential and unleashing entrepreneurial creativity. When youth realize they are free to lead themselves and have agency over their choices and future, their entrepreneurship, energy, and growth is unstoppable and a catalyst for transformative change.

True freedom means no one - not us, nor any other entity - can tell youth what they should want or should dream. So flourishing is not defined by us, instead youth define it for themselves. And then they are coached to lift up their heads to see the needs around them, and how their own actions can help solve those needs. And thus, the link from mindsets to entrepreneurship to flourishing is born

Kids Fair @ Smartfeld

With the Kids Fair Projekt @ Smartfeld, were launching a pilot with a Primary School in St. Gallen. Among the kids of this school are many with a migration background and representing

30 different nationalities (total of 380 kids and 50 teachers). With our support, these children will get access to the world of entrepreneurship. They will discover their hidden skills and learn that they can influence their future self. They will be encouraged to work creatively, discover self-reliance, and gain more independence. They realize that with education and coaching they can achieve more than they expect, and they will gain self-confidence.

Enhancing Social Innovation in Conflict-affected Societies

Rondine Cittadella della Pace (Rondine) - is an Italian based organization committed to reducing armed conflicts around the world and spreading its own method for the creative transformation of conflicts in every context.

Its objective is contributing to a planet free from armed clashes, in which every person has the tools to manage conflict in a creative and positive way.

Rondine is located in a Medieval Tuscan hamlet, a few kilometres from Arezzo, Italy. Here, the main Rondine projects for education and professional experience are developed. It is a place where human beings are regenerated, so that they can become leaders of themselves and their communities, in a search for the common good.

The project that gave rise and inspiration to Rondine is the Studentato Internazionale World House: it hosts young people from countries that are the scene of armed conflict or post-conflict and helps them to discover the humanity in their enemy, through the difficult and surprising effort that comes from living together daily.

The World House students arrive in Rondine with a project idea, which they develop further during their two years of residence in the Rondine Programme. This year, with the support of Rising Tide Foundation, Rondine integrated to the World House Program, the project: Enhancing Social Innovation in Conflict-affected Societies.

Read more about our collaboration with Rondine and our latest on-site visit.

Contribution to Enhancing Freedom

Through the project Enhancing Social Innovation in Conflict-affected Societies, Rondine tests a new training module, consisting of lessons mainly based on classical liberal concepts. This module is tested with 17 young people, Rondine international students residing in Italy for a high-level training, coming from the following areas: the Middle East, Balkans, North Africa, West Africa, and South Caucasus.

Some of the topics of the module include the following: Wellbeing & Welfare: Freedom and Social Inclusion, Laissez-Faire and Pacifism, Peace, Mutual Advantage & Trade, and others. Moreover, this module will analyze the connection between classical liberalism (with a focus on free market economy) and conflict transformation/peace.

Connecting disadvantaged talents from North Africa with the European IT-industry

Powercoders offers intensive coding courses to refugees and local youth to empower them to secure IT jobs. Our mission solves two market problems: unemployment among talented refugees/local youth and the shortage of IT talent in the economy. These market-oriented problems follow the logic of supply and demand - there is a supply of talented refugees and a demand for talented coders. Powercoders therefore brings these two challenges together and offers a win-win solution for both refugees and the economy. We are convinced that the European migration problem must be addressed with a more holistic and market-oriented approach. Therefore, we aim to set up - together with local partners - coding hubs in the MENA region. In these hubs we train local talent and connect them with remote job opportunities in Europe. We are striving to reach self-sustainability through a paying forward model and/or a social impact bond.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Firstly, the European governments have proven during the last years that they are unable to solve the European refugee crisis. In our view mainly because they try to do this with territorial instruments like blocking borders. Secondly, this program is built to give our students the tools and skills needed to meet market demands. We do that throughout the course by teaching business and social skills. Our program heavily focuses on independence and self-accountability,

where they must work hard and prove themselves in the industry. Thirdly, during our training we focus on Teaching Freedom. We have weekly Wednesday morning sessions for business and social skills that are focused on building skills and a mindset of being responsible for one's own success rather than constantly relying on help from others.

Campaign for Housing and Human Dignity

Across the state of California, local governments have shifted from a more personalized approach to homelessness that respects the dignity of the individual to a one-size-fits-all program that is euphemistically called Housing First. The Housing First program dehumanizes its beneficiaries by treating them as objectives of the system rather than subjects - protagonists in their own story. Unfortunately, this program has resulted in a redirection of funds from organizations that have demonstrated success helping people leave homelessness and rise out of poverty towards initiatives that simply build housing.

To compound this issue, excess zoning regulations throughout the state of California have resulted in sky-high housing costs. These two elements housing without expectations and excessive regulations - combined together, are perpetuating the troubling state of the homeless in California.

The Independent Institute, through the Campaign for Housing and Human Dignity initiative, aims to provide a realistic alternative to California's current Housing First approach through (with the hope that successes can then be exported to other states):

• A 60-page Independent Policy Report that identifies the failings and damage of current policies while also painting a positive picture for what a transformational housing approach might look like.
• A multifaceted media campaign including a documentary to be widely disseminated via YouTube and receive high-profile coverage by key media outlets. The documentary will portray individuals impacted by homelessness, showcase programs providing transformation, and provide a vision for San Francisco to broaden the array of approaches that will alleviate the crisis.
• Develop an unaligned website branded as Beyond Homeless that will present the policy reports findings, including creative graphics, the documentary, as well as short excerpts and other content.

We are thrilled that this initiative has now been launched; you can watch the documentary trailer here, visit the BeyondHomeless.org website, and learn more about the Urban Vision Alliance.

Contribution to Enhancing Freedom

The vast array of regulations on housing development imposed by California abrogates property rights, reducing individual freedom, while both feeding homelessness and preventing individuals from exiting it. Coupled with the destructive Housing First narrative, California has been placed in a dire circumstance. Independent Institute effectively highlights each of these policies and their failed outcomes, and widely promotes freedom-enhancing solutions through effective promotional campaigns and working collaboratively with the Urban Vision Alliance to support a transformational approach to ending homelessness. Through this program, individuals experiencing homelessness will be provided with alternative optionsoptions that enable them to take control of their own life rather than becoming the objects of a bureaucratic system that overlooks their individuality.

Through this initiative, Independent Institute will highlight and disseminate successful, human-centered solutions to homelessness that can be employed both in San Francisco and more broadly.

Jeevika App: Making a Living on the Street

Street vending is a low-cost enterprise and a primary source of livelihood for almost 2% of Indias urban population. Despite being ubiquitous, the economic and property rights of vendors are often at risk of abuse from government authorities. They live under the constant threat of eviction, seizure of their goods, and arbitrary fines. Approaching lawyers in every case of confiscation or eviction is costly. Harassment of vendors is rampant due to a lack of legal awareness, a systematic record of harassment data, and proper legal enforcement.

Vendors right to livelihood is at the forefront of governmental discourse, as acknowledged by Indias Prime Minister, and Centre for Civil Society (CCS) has managed to build its reputation as the go-to civil society organization for issues related to vendor livelihoods. CCS is currently developing a comprehensive mobile application (the Jeevika App) to ensure legal empowerment of vendors and to bridge information gaps through technology. The Jeevika App will become a one-stop access for vendors in Delhi by (a) creating a legal aid and SOS platform that will connect vendors to law students or lawyers in case of harassment; (b) enabling street vendors to geo-tag themselves for verifying their property rights claims; and (c) collating data on harassment and generating heat maps. This project aims to provide tools for street vendors to defend their rights and fight harassment. The empowerment of vendors will ultimately deter public officials from abusing their powers.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

For over two decades now, CCS has championed the economic freedom and right to earn a dignified livelihood for the poorest of poor in the informal sector, such as the street vendors in India, a vulnerable group of nano-entrepreneurs. CCS has won the 2021 Asia Liberty Award and the 2021 Templeton Freedom Award for its work on street vendor livelihoods. The government of India, through its Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development, acknowledged and accepted the recommendations proposed by CCS on protecting the rights of street vendors.

CCS has recorded instances of street vendors standing up to judicial officials, representing their cases in the court, and mitigating harassment while proactively working to make them legally aware of their rights and the law. Through a methodical identification of stakeholders and dissemination, the Jeevika App will positively impact the business landscape for street vendors in India. If the application is successful, then (a) the number and severity of harassment cases and extortion of street vendors will reduce; and (b) policymakers will speedily and comprehensively rectify legal barriers. As some vendors become empowered to fight against harassment, they will inspire others to do the same. The project will eventually help improve the prosperity, freedom, and dignity of street vendors in India. Once the issue of harassment is addressed, it will help the urban poor to work their way out of poverty.

Corporate Welfare: Where’s the Outrage?

The term capitalism is oftentimes misunderstood both in the United States and more broadly around the world. These misperceptions around capitalism are often a result of the pervasive trend toward corporate welfare in the western world. While the topic of wealth distribution is typically accompanied by debates for levels of welfare benefits, taxation vs. voluntary assistance, or optimal levels of taxation that encourage work but provide a safety net to the poor, Free to Choose Network (FTCN) believes that all reasonable people (while maybe disagreeing on the previous issues) can broadly agree on the ill effects of upward wealth redistribution where the low and middle class provide subsidies to business owners and politicians.

FTCN aims to generate a culture shift as a solution to the pervasiveness of corporate welfare in the western world today. They will aim to generate this cultural shift through (a) creating a film for distribution on public television; (b) establishing a community engagement program that helps provide local citizens with knowledge and tools to combat the problems of cronyism; and (c) producing and distributing video-based classroom education materials highlighting the partnership between government and business that causes cronyism to flourish.

Contribution to Enhancing Freedom

Though this project, FTCN will highlight the work of ordinary people who are making systemic changes in their communities and then subsequently promote these efforts to others. They will be able to raise awareness around the issue of corporate welfare and then inspire those at the local level to combat it. This will result in a stronger reaction against the corporate welfare impulse in the United States, providing greater security and agency to the most marginalized in society who are disproportionately affected by this issue. Additionally, through their K-12 educational outreach, FTCN will change the future culture around corporate welfare by educating youth on the topic.

Unlocking African Trade

Despite recent progress, Africa remains the worlds poorest and most protectionist continent. Protectionism in Africa means more poverty, less choice, and lower quality of life for one billion people across the continent. However, there is now a real prospect for change if the right support is provided, in part thanks to the recent implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) implemented on January 1st, 2021.

This historic agreement aims to remove 90% of tariffs on goods traded between member-states within five to ten years. Within thirteen years, it aims to remove 97% of tariffs. The World Bank estimates that, if successful, this Free Trade Area can lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty, 68 million from moderate poverty, boost regional income upwards of USD 450 billion, and increase average wages for both skilled and unskilled workers by about 10% by 2035. But if more states do not ratify the AfCFTA, the trade agreement could be a failure.

This three-year project from Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity (IATP) will promote freedom and prosperity by uniting more than a dozen innovative African think tanks with three esteemed UK-based organizationsthe Vinson Centre for the Public Understanding of Economics at the University of Buckingham, the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), and the Network for a Free Society (NFS)in the development of a program to promote policy change in the area of trade liberalization. The Vinson Centre will influence public and governmental opinion in favor of the AfCFTA through marketing campaigns, targeted projects, mini-grants to partners in their network, supporting publications in leading media, and distributing educational materials broadly.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

This project has massive potential, as reducing 90+ percent of trade barriers across the continent would mean substantial gains for 1 billion people. Individuals will achieve greater economic freedom, empowerment, and prosperity when they are able to more easily access global networks and benefit from reduced barriers to global exchange. This project has the capacity to change protectionist perceptions so that borders can be opened, and the benefits of greater liberalization can be enjoyed by those living across the region.

In order to change policy, minds and outlooks must be changed first. Hence, the inclusion of a component of this project that teaches individuals the power of free trade and the principles and foundations of free societies. This teaching will be done by distributing mini-libraries of classical liberal texts on CDs, books related to free trade, events (some online with many in-person), and articles across national media outlets. These avenues will in total reach millions of people. The IATP itself will also produce six professionally made videos that can be shared online. Once these videos are shared by partners in their network, it is likely they will at least attract tens of thousands of views. These videos will be intended for both policy leaders and broader audiences across the content that arent necessarily located in target countries.

Read more on the Initiative for African Trade & Prosperity at https://theiatp.org/

Greek Economics Olympiad

Greece has suffered for years from a tumultuous economic crisis spurred on by government debt and fiscal deficits. The Center for Liberal Studies (CLS) strongly believes that a lead contributor to this economic crisis and the subsequent rise of illiberal ideas and policies can be largely attributed to widespread economic illiteracy. To increase economic literacy throughout Greece, CLS is organizing the Greek Economics Olympiad and creating supplemental teaching materials, including a Greek edition of the award-winning economics textbook Economics in 31 Hours. They are also creating 31 basic economics education videos tailored to the Greek context that will be distributed on YouTube (and other platforms) for a high school audience.

CLS determined that the Economics Olympiad was the right initiative to reach their goal of achieving greater economic literacy in Greece through engaging high school students in a high quality and fun competition on basic economic concepts. Supplementary education materials will also serve to further influence Greek high school students.

The Greek Economics Olympiad was organized for the first time in the 2020-2021 academic year by CLS. The competition was launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and with the support of the Bank of Greece as well as the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy. The first competition attracted 1,105 students from 135 high schools from all over Greece and one school from the Greek diaspora. The Olympiad competition was mentioned 276 times in Greek media, including major television, radio, newspaper, and web outlets. Moving forward, CLS seeks to replicate and extend this success by increasing student participation while also increasing the quantity of high-quality resources available for students to gain basic economics education.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

There is a pervasive problem in Greece of a lack of basic economic literacy. Currently, throughout a typical education, students may never encounter any training in basic economics whatsoever. This is likely one reason for the great economic challenges Greece faces today. Through this project, students will receive fun, relevant education in basic economic principles which will increase their human capital while at the same time benefit Greek society into the future through a more informed and educated citizenry regarding basic economic principles. The goal of the Greek Economics Olympiad is to equip students to make important decision in both the political and personal realm that are anchored in sound economics. In just 5-10 years, at the current pace, they will have trained more than 100,000 high school students in sound economic principles in a country with a population of just 10 million.

Myne-Poverty Stoplight Integration

This project aims to increase personal freedom and activate personal action through an integration of two easily accessible technologies Myne and Poverty Stoplight. Myne is an agency-oriented software using proven gamification techniques to empower participation in personal transformation. Poverty Stoplight is a global movement with an effective bottom-up methodology and technology platform that activates the potential of families to identify and own their poverty-related challenges.

This project aims to address the lack of personal autonomy within the current systems targeted at poverty reduction by joining two technologies, whose values are deeply connected, to achieve individual and system level transformation. The Myne Community App will integrate with the Poverty Stoplight tool, showing the Client Life Map, priorities, and relevant resources. Our goal is to directly connect participants to their individualized resources and show the impact of daily decisions on large goals in a smaller feedback loop. It will include gamification features that are widely used across the for-profit sector but less well utilized in social services. Three pilot projects will focus on key stakeholders: funders, organizations and with a primary focus on  participants use and outcomes. Pilots will be in the UK Poverty Stoplight hub, Signal and US, including Texas hub, Dallas Lights.

Myne has three principles that govern its development and are part of its measurement strategy:

• Developing and deepening Ownership of personal choices and sense of agency (it is mine).
• Discovery: the process of collecting, seeing, and reflecting on data about ourselves helps us to understand our behaviors, attitudes, and mindsets better (mining for knowledge)
• Community: a network of trusted relationships that provides a secure environment i.e. our social capital is important (mining is not successfully done alone).

The Myne Community App provides a means to record, track, and measure the smaller actions of our daily lives, the activities we undertake regularly, and the moments that we acknowledge for ourselves. This can then be visualized to show the tangible progress that is happening. While small and often unnoticed, these moments add up to significant change. Similar to a dieter's decision to stick to an eating plan, when the scale begins to show small increments of progress (a visual representation of the progress), these small moments encourage someone to continue on a new path that is right for them.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

We believe Myne and Poverty Stoplight can, together, have a significant local and global impact on the everyday lives of individuals, creating personal freedom through increased agency and ultimately drive systems change at multiple levels.

Myne is a step towards the dignity, confidence, and empowerment that characterizes this enhanced freedom. It shows individuals how their work of showing up, persisting, progressing, and achieving goals within safe relationships can add up to healthier outcomes. For all stakeholders, it encourages participation in an ecosystem that helps families and communities to thrive. Myne shows how small-scale events and activities (that are often overlooked) are significant steps to an individuals achievement (research shows us these are the building blocks of building confidence). Combining this with Poverty Stoplights ability to visualize self-driven goals through its Stoplight Life Map will produce a powerful data-driven, relationship-based, and bottom-up approach to personal liberty and self-directed poverty alleviation.

Without personal autonomy, individuals will show some progress in traditional, particularly data-extractive only programs. However, they are more likely to revert to their previous circumstances as soon as the strict parameters of the program are removed.  With personal autonomy, an individual is more likely to experience sustained progress and change as they typically choose goals that will fit within their current parameters. 

Daron Babcock, CEO Bonton Farms, and member of Dallas Lights, connects Myne with that principle: We believe deeply in the idea that we should not do for others what they are capable of doing for themselves. However, [sometimes we can] rob them of the dignity, confidence and empowerment that comes with an honorable exchange. TheMyne app would allow us a way to quantify and track the work that is done by people, so we can empirically show them that they are responsible for their success; that it is earned and not gifted.

On a larger level, as more communities begin to use the tool, data points about community, country and regional needs will develop. As multiple nonprofits within a city begin to use the tool, data points will begin to show if self-identified needs have commonality by region. Example: The south side of the city self-reports the need for jobs, whereas the north side of the city reports the need for childcare. Utilizing these data points, funders may target their support to programs that provide assistance with these targeted needs, thereby creating systems level shifts in program implementation.

Community Independence Initiative

The primary means by which low-income populations get ahead economically, or even only survive, is through entrepreneurship and micro-business. This is especially apparent in developing countries: they sell soap, food, concrete blocks, gasoline by the jar, cut hair, and sell what they grow. History has proven that these entrepreneurs have the capacity to grow into more formal businesses in environments where people help one another, pool their funds, and grow their ideas.

This is where the Community Independence Initiative (CII) comes in to create a mutuality rich environment. Their approach is based on peer-driven change, acknowledging that those at the bottom of our economies are the only experts of their lives and are capable of agency. CII identifies local approaches and supports the most effective efforts by highlighting them or investing in them so that peers can follow those same paths. Low-income populations rely on families, not professional staff, to be the advisors, trainers, and role models for peers. They accomplish this work through partnerships with other organizations as well as the innovative, open source ImpactX Mutuality Platform that creates an eco-system with a core principle of working together and helping one another.

Ultimately the vision of CII is to fundamentally change current anti-poverty work of NGOs as well as UN organizations away from top-down, paternalistic approaches towards recognizing and supporting self-help efforts by low-income populations themselves. This model began in the United States under the Family Independence Initiative and is now being expanded internationally through CII by creating a naturally expanding eco-system that encourages and invests in entrepreneurial efforts that combine expectations of self-help and mutuality.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Local entrepreneurship is one of the few avenues those living in and around poverty have as a tool to get ahead or survive. Philanthropy and government cannot fill that role for the billions struggling directly, but by investing in these self-help efforts, can grow the pie for everyone. There is untapped latent potential that can be unleashed if we treat those struggling with poverty like we treat those in more privileged situations. Rather than being treated as drains on society we need to respect this population as the future builders and makers of their own economies. We are missing the talents, ideas, and energy of 75% of the worlds population.

This project aims at both creating the evidence, backed by data, that can then communicate to a global audience, the potential of entrepreneurship and of humanity when we encourage the poor to work together as peers. CII aims to see this bottom-up practice becoming the gold standard for dealing with poverty and economic mobility.

Powering Prosperity and Economic Freedom for Women and Youths

Today, 48% of Cameroonians are living below the poverty line and 98% of Cameroons businesses are small and medium enterprises (SMEs), 90% of those SMEs are micro enterprises (<5 employees). At the same time, widespread disparities in freedom of economic access exist, especially for women, hindering the contribution of SMEs to contribute to GDP growth. This project addresses the root causes of SME underperformance and job access in Cameroon through programs in the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center of the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation in Cameroon. They build individual capacity of future entrepreneurs while working for overall system change to improve the climate for SMEs and enhance opportunities for women and young people. Moreover, they focus at least 25% of opportunities, including business education, resources, productive employment, fair working conditions and financial services, in conflict zones with Internally Displaced People (IDPs).

The Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation in Cameroon was founded to catalyze the economic transformation of the country by focusing on social entrepreneurship, science and technology, innovation, public health, and the implementation of progressive policies that together create economic opportunities for all. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center aims to create a more robust and diverse middle class in Cameroon through fostering free enterprise.

In order to accomplish this, the Foretia Foundation is creating an advocacy campaign with their coalition of stakeholders to promote economic freedom while deepening the roots of SBEC to receive recognition as a go-to resource for entrepreneurial training and development. Along with measurable policy improvement, training programs and SME support across four regions will result in $3 million in new economic generation, 600+ SMEs improved and 4,500+ workers with entrepreneurial soft skills.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

This project aims at holistically changing the business environment for SMEs in Cameroon and hence making entrepreneurship a viable option of development for its citizens, removing regulatory barriers and empowering individuals to become active contributors to the prosperity of their communities and country. With a specific focus on conflict zones, enhancing economic freedom in these areas, it will help alleviate the tensions that are contributing to ongoing conflict and help establish a lasting and sustainable peace.

Read more on the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Center here

Coaching for the realization of education with professional goal

There are a growing number of individuals who are highly motivated to take another step in their education but lack the financial means and do not qualify for any of the public or private scholarships. Statistics show that every year approximately 10,000 young people in Switzerland cannot follow through their educational plans due to financial shortcomings.

EDUCA SWISS offers a private sector solution where lenders offer loans to students at socially acceptable interest rates, combined with a philanthropically-funded coaching program, enhancing equal opportunity in Switzerland through access to finance without restrictions regarding financial background, social class, field of study or age. EDUCA SWISS provides loans to individuals in Switzerland who do not qualify for financial support from the government or other private scholarships for their education projects.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

The approach of EDUCA SWISS is giving individuals who lack resources themselves, and do not qualify for any government support in Switzerland, the freedom to follow their educational dreams and allow them to invest in a more prosperous future. It offers an efficient and superior solution to loans or scholarships provided by the Swiss government. The combination of loans and coaching, capital and philanthropic money, allows students to access capital from individuals and institutions at reasonable interest rates and offers an attractive impact investment opportunity at relatively low risk.

EDUCA SWISS is setting an important example in the Swiss education system that market-based approaches work and often create better solutions than government. It further promotes the principles of self-determination and self-sufficiency not only to the students but its broader stakeholder base.

Project on Poverty and Inequality in California

For decades, America has waged a failed war on poverty that relies on government paternalism and counterproductive welfare policies. California has proved an especially extreme example as they boast a dismal record of failed government redistribution. Many have failed to move up the economic ladder and out of poverty due to the myriad of rules and restrictions that disproportionately effect Californias poorest. Cato Institute, a leading free-market think tank, has successfully engaged in decades of research demonstrating how government programs and regulations trap individuals and families in poverty.

More recently, Cato has realized that to truly change outcomes for the poor, ideas must move beyond research and be placed in action. To this end, they launched the Project on Poverty and Inequality in California. This initiative seeks to engage Californians in practical ideas to reduce government-imposed inequality and empower the poor to better their own lives rather than rely on paternalistic programs.

This project targets diverse audiences who have not or might not otherwise encounter libertarian solutions to poverty. This includes grassroots leaders, advocates, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and the public through a public awareness campaign, one-on-one meetings, major conferences and convenings, a digital video campaign, and a dedicated web platform. The project focuses on five target areas: (1) housing and homelessness; (2) regressive regulation; (3) criminal justice; (4) education; and (5) financial inclusion.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

California has one of the highest concentrations of poverty and homelessness in the United States while also embracing the redistribution of wealth and top-down government programs more than almost any other state. This has left many advocates, grassroots leaders, and government representatives looking for answers. Cato works to influence public and elite opinion towards more market-oriented solutions that recognize the freedom and dignity of the individual.

The project advances market-oriented reforms in sectors that have traditionally been dominated by government intervention and philanthropic forces that do not recognize the dignity of each individualtreating those on the margins as objects of charity rather than as subjects. The public is educated on how regulations and other government burdens are contributing to the inequities they seek to remove. Read more about this project here 

Investing in Agricultural Enterprises to Build Rural Prosperity in Colombia

Colombia is the worlds third largest producer of coffee by volume, and a leader in quality; the coffee sector is the largest source of rural employment. And yet, farmers contend with significant challenges: small plots of land, high costs, stagnating yields, and stifling government intervention. Colombias National Federation of Coffee Growers (the Federation) provides government subsidies to farmers, including low-cost credit and free inputs, on the condition that farmers export exclusively through the Federationmaking those farmers subject to its largely undifferentiated international marketing strategy, and hurting the relative competitiveness of those who seek out other options.

Root Capital is aiming to unlock local prosperity by empowering enterprises representing thousands of small farmers to fulfill their potential in rural communities where the governmental structures of the Federation have often hindered their prospering. The credit plus capacity model helps eliminate obstacles for creative individuals in remote rural communities by equipping coffee enterprises to pursue an alternate, market-driven path through business advisory services in combination with access to finance.

No matter an enterprises stage of growth, increased access to credit builds the essential foundation for independence, competitiveness, and resilience. Root Capitals loans enable enterprises to pay their supplying small farmers higher prices for premium coffee than the Federation offers, and to pay them upfront and on time for their crop. These practices lead farmers to sell their crop consistently to the enterprise, and helps the enterprise hone the quality of its supply, boosting its reputation and market share with specialty coffee buyers.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Investing in underserved agricultural enterprises by building their entrepreneurial capacity and increasing their access to finance transforms individual lives: it enhances enterprises ability to create opportunity for thousands of people in rural communities, through quality employment for enterprise workers and improved market access for farmers. With growth and increased capacity, enterprises can improve farmer livelihoods while also increasing resilience, sustainable resource use, and market-driven social impact.

Acton Children’s Business Fair: Entrepreneurship Mini Quest Curriculum

Research shows that Americans have become more risk-adverse, less adventurous, more static, and less entrepreneurial. The share of Americans under 30 who own a business has fallen 65 percent since the 1980s. This decline in entrepreneurship in America is a troubling sign. The Acton Childrens Business Fair is reigniting the entrepreneurial spirit in the United States by inspiring children to develop a taste for entrepreneurship at a very young age. Moreover, it showcases the power of entrepreneurship for tens of thousands of visitors worldwide. Since the Acton Childrens Business Fair was started in 2007, it has grown to 455 fairs around the world, serving 23,022 young entrepreneurs in 206 cities and 12 countries.

The Acton Childrens Business Fair of Washington, D.C. is a one-day showcase of the power of entrepreneurship for children. Children ages 6-14 create a business, sell to real customers, and keep the profits. Organizers provide outdoor tents and tables. Along the way children learn about entrepreneurship, but more importantly, about themselves and their character. Over the past four years, the Acton Childrens Business Fair of Washington, D.C. has grown to become the largest one-day childrens entrepreneurship event in the world, hosting around 125 young entrepreneurs who serve over 3,000 customers each year.

To further deepen childrens entrepreneurial understanding, Acton Academy is developing a new prototype curriculum an Entrepreneurship Mini-Quest. It will guide children in a four-week series of fun challenges that help them create a business for the Acton Childrens Business Fair, sell to real customers, connect their activity to larger principles of entrepreneurship, and reflect on lessons learned.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

With entrepreneurship on the decline in the United States, this project inspires and empowers children to view themselves as active protagonists instead of passive participants. By convincing children that problems are best solved by private individuals engaging in peaceful, voluntary transactions, the Acton Childrens Business Fair cultivates a mindset shift that will make bureaucratic top-down solutions to social problems unattractive for these students in the future. As children participate in an open market, selling their goods to customers, they are forced to make difficult decisions, engage in peaceful and voluntary transactions, and fail or succeed on their own. Through this, children learn that they have the power to write their own story and that they are free persons with creative capacity.

Enhancing Social Innovation in Conflicted-affected Societies

Every year, Rondine Cittadella della Pace (Rondine) recruits 15 young leaders from the most conflict plagued and post-conflict societies to attend their World House Program in Arezzo, Italy. These students matriculate in an M.A. program at an Italian university while simultaneously partaking in Rondines globally recognized peace building process over two years. During their time of study, students develop their own social enterprise idea to implement upon return to their country.

The project aims to empower young peacebuilders and aspiring social innovators to become agents of change, especially in divided communities affected by conflict or post-conflict situations. Rondine believes that Peaceful societies are only possible when individuals are free to make their own choices and economically empowered to do so. Students receive training in conflict transformation and social innovation, as well as personal freedom, free-market economy, and prosperity.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Rondine has concluded that to sustain peace in conflict-ridden areas, they also need to invest in social and economic development through empowering young people to become agents of change, contributing to peace processes worldwide. Through this approach, Rondine not only contributes to enhancing freedom by promoting peace, but also by advancing local economic development. Rondines World House Program includes a combination of conflict transformation and classical liberal educational activities, with the aim of not only teaching peace, freedom, and classical liberalism, but also encouraging and supporting the development of concrete international project ideas.

Over the course of the project, approximately 50 young people from conflict or post-conflict societies will undergo this training program followed by a mentorship program that is dedicated to the development of their project ideas. Finally, the best project ideas will be selected to receive funding for implementation.

Liberal arts for all: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics for indigenous and ethnic minorities of Ecuador

Many senior positions in Ecuador require a graduate degree, but few indigenous and ethnic minorities have access. Students from low-income families who are not admitted to the limited slots in public university rarely access higher education at all, with only 2.7% of the indigenous population obtaining a graduate degree. Most Ecuadoran post-graduate programs are located in Quito and Guayaquil, while Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) programs from other countries are taught in English. This presents a barrier for low-income students or minorities who primarily live in more remote communities.

Liberal Arts for All will expand opportunities for indigenous and low-income youth to access high-quality, nonpoliticized education in liberal arts. The Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Universidad de las Amricas (UDLA) in Quito, Ecuador, with the support of Fundacin Ecuador Libre (FEL) and the PPE program at the University of Pennsylvania, launched the first PPE Diploma in Latin America. The diploma has developed into a one-year masters degree (M.A.) based on core ethical, economic, and political ideas in the classical liberal tradition combined with practical application through a component called Ignite in Action. A scholarship program gives low-income minority students access to a postgraduate program at UDLA, a top-rated private university in Ecuador. What's more, the program - taught primarily online with an intensive series of in-person seminars - will be subtitled into Spanish and Quechua to facilitate easier access for targeted populations.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

The project will empower individuals by teaching them the core ethical, economic, and political ideas in the classical liberal tradition. It will also help them live meaningful lives as free and autonomous agents by providing them with the material opportunity, skills, social connections, and mindset to thrive. Earning this masters degree will increase their ability to achieve goals that are out of reach for many people in their communities

The content of the program teaches students the mindset to thrive in a free society. It covers the moral basis of a market society, the importance of the rule of law, and the ways in which private property and exchange promote social welfare. But it will also teach them how to interpret ideas they disagree with charitably, and how to debate and argue with people they disagree with in a civil manner. This project will help to form the next generation of indigenous and ethnic minority leaders, giving them a voice and platform to act as individuals with their own voice."

Reaching the Rising Generation with the Ideas of Freedom

There are many books that teach on free markets, individual freedom, and prosperity for adults, but there has been (and continues to be) a profound void in the childrens literature market. Libertas Institute has the unique opportunity to offer families a better alternative through an expanded suite of Tuttle Twins resources, including more of the Tuttle Twins book series and a monthly magazine which promotes the ideas of freedom and liberty to children and young adults. Simultaneously, they will produce a new American history textbook along with a supplemental curriculum. Students will be able to identify the ideas of freedom that shaped American history and, through activities in their curriculum, learn about their enduring relevance to their lives today.

The Tuttle Twins series has sold over 3.5 million copies globally, with 23 childrens books being translated into a dozen languages. They will now have books for toddlers and teenagers, selling over 4,000 books a day with a strong interest due to the surge in homeschooling and concern over the rise in authoritarian government actions. On Amazon, they have achieved 1,000s of 5 start reviews on the existing Tuttle Twins suite of books. The ultimate objective of this project is to educate children on the principles of a free society and cultivate a successful pipeline of resources for toddlers to college students that will in turn make them lifelong defenders of freedom.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Libertas Institute is growing an increasingly large audience of families dedicated to freedom. This will have a significant and lasting impact by introducing many more people to the ideas of freedom. At its core, this is a teaching freedom project - introducing and solidifying a deep understanding of individual liberty and ensuring children learn the importance of personal responsibility, understand why freedom is so important, and recognize why free markets and limited government are essential to prosperity.

Time4 – for individual, self-determined, self-learning, free young people

Many young people in Switzerland feel that the traditional pathways offered through government education are not right for them. They increasingly choose educational pathways that are outside of the traditional system. However, support for young people that choose such a self-determined educational path has been very limited in the country. Time4 offers these young people an alternative development and education path compared to traditional vocational training, apprenticeships, or middle school. The participants of Time4 plan their educational path themselves but are supported by the Time4 team and their peers in the reaching of their self-set goals.

Time4 is now working to scale its offer in supporting them along their self-determined learning paths. Designed for young people who have a strong intrinsic motivation for learning and don't fit the paths designed by public education, the program offers support through in-person meetings, clear goal-setting and monitoring. They may go and learn a new language, set up their own company, or present their art to the public often things that were previously considered not possible.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Time4 offers an alternative to public education in Switzerland. It offers young people an environment in which they can follow their individual learning pathway towards earning their own living. This rpgram challenges the traditional system of education and offers a unique alternative with the potential to become more mainstream in the long-term.

An increasing number of young people are struggling with the pre-defined educational pathways, ending up demotivated and without objectives, as a self-determined learning path is not currently an option in the system. Time4 adds this new perspective to the Swiss educational landscape and offers young people the level of support and assurance needed that will allow them to follow pathways in a flexible manner that were unthinkable in the traditional education system. Time4 offers young people a framework in which they can discover, refine, and deepen their interests and talents. Thanks to individual, self-defined work steps and learning objectives, the young people can follow their own needs and wishes. They are given the time they need to tackle their own small and large tasks, make their own decisions, and manage the resulting consequences themselves. In it they grow up to be free and empowered adults.

Enterprise Success in Uganda

Low skilled, poorly-paid employment and significant underemployment are the reality for the majority of Ugandan youth who make up 78 percent of the countrys population. The main barriers for young people - including a lack of skills, progression pathways, networks, and access to capital - trap them in a futile cycle of poverty. The Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF) project offers a path out of poverty for youth that choose to participate and are motivated to improve their own and their families economic situation.    

This project is an expansion of the proven School Enterprise Challenge (SEC) program of TAMTF, in which trained teachers support students at local schools through a 14-step program to establish and run a business. The programs purpose is to unleash the creativity and power of young people to fulfill their potential in school, work, and life and contribute to their communities prosperity. 

TAMTF is expecting to engage over the three years with 4,400 disadvantaged students (50% female) in 60 schools. With guidance from TAMTF, school business teams create a profit-share agreement in which 25 percent of profit is reinvested to keep the business operational for the following year and the remainder is allocated as students see fit, with some funds going towards the students and teachers that support the business. Currently existing businesses at schools in Uganda vary, with some of them engaging in vegetable farming, food processing, manufacturing (soap, charcoal), canteen and catering services, and livestock farming. One youth group started their own tent and chair rental business after recognizing the opportunity that daily village gatherings (meetings, funerals, etc.) posed. The school business provided a previously unavailable service in the community, meaning that event organizers were no longer required to travel the 82 km to the nearest town. 

The SEC education model uses the challenge of launching and running a real business at school, offering the participating students the experience to discover their talents, earn money and foster competencies and character qualities such as entrepreneurial mindset, social conscience, and agency. An additional "high-flyer" component of the program is a new training to particularly committed and promising young entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses outside of school.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

This project encourages graduates from an entrepreneurship program to create their own network of productivity and exchange rather than rely on government aid or NGO handouts. As part of the proposed project, participating students will also be trained to start self-managed Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) to gain access to capital for their own individual businesses. The VSLAs provide a safe savings and loan facility to youth who lack easy access to formal financial services. This project aims to make schools an empowerment pathway for marginalized Ugandan youth, equipping youth with vital skills, agency, and confidence to fulfill their potential in life. The comprehensive program embeds skills and resources within the schools for the long-term: teachers learn to facilitate practical, student-centered entrepreneurship and skills-building education and are furnished with a wealth of resources; while school-businesses generate additional income with a profit-sharing agreement that secures the school-business in their schools as an educational tool. The project presents an exceptional opportunity for young women and men in Uganda to transform their lives, empowering participants with the skills and agency to succeed and become confident, active agents of change within their communities. 

She Rises Up

While the World Bank reports that over a billion people have come out of extreme poverty in just 25 years, many women remain trapped without equal access to economic opportunities and legal rights. For those living in extreme poverty, there are often obstacles beyond their control that make progress nearly impossible from government regulations with unintended consequences to cultural attitudes that prevent women from accessing or controlling their own income. 

"She Rises Up is a feature documentary film that will tell the stories of inspiring women who are pulling themselves and their families out of extreme poverty. The film will explore the explosive implications of womens economic participation and share powerful methods that work toward the eradication of extreme poverty, reclaiming the moral high ground for economic freedom. Compelling stories in Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Burundi will highlight the power and importance of economic freedom for women.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

Freedom of the individual is dependent upon the culture highly embracing that value. While no one film can transform a cultural mindset, by generating interest and discussion around the benefits of free markets and entrepreneurship, Sky Films Inc hopes to ultimately contribute to systems change. Economic freedom is a necessary, though not sufficient, tool to erase poverty and generate human flourishing. "She Rises Up" can generate a narrative change in the way we view economic freedom and entrepreneurship globally.

Essential Scholars II

Essential Scholars is a public education project aimed at educating high school and university students and young adults more broadly about the main insights of the key thinkers in the classical liberal tradition. The project comprises 15 modules, each centered on a short book written in an accessible style by an acknowledged expert and supported by short animated videos (80 total) and links to other online resources. Some 200,000 copies of the books have been distributed, while the videos have been viewed over 3.7 million times.

The Essential Scholars II project is expanding both the extent of these learning resources (by adding audio versions of the books, creating podcasts, and developing lesson plans) and their reach (by training teachers and through promotional efforts in collaboration with independent think tank partners in Australia, the UK, and the US). The podcasts will explore the core ideas of the scholars and their relevance to modern day policy questions. The lesson plans will incorporate project material for use in high schools, and webinars will be held to instruct teachers in their use. The project website (essentialscholars.org) will be overhauled to add new resources and improve functionality for high school teachers wanting to include Essential Scholars materials in their classrooms.

Contribution to enhancing freedom

The ultimate goal is to achieve future systems change as students who have been introduced to the key ideas and leaders of classical liberalism enter the marketplace and become influencers themselves. Essential Scholars provides an attractive introduction for new as well as sympathetic audiences to the key ideas of liberty. The books themselves are excellent introductions to these ideas and the audio books will provide a new way for people to access them. The videos provide even easier access to the ideas of freedom and are easily adaptable for use in the classroom. Providing teachers with lesson plans that incorporate these resources and providing training will promote and enrich classroom learning about the ideas of freedom.

Educational Video Series

Objective education materials allow students to better understand the consequences of economic policies, making abstract policies such as taxes or government spending more tangible. This project, with a promising new player in the Swiss research context of economic policy, involves the creation of a twelve-part video series titled Taxes, debt and Switzerland simply explained - covering a variety of topics, including inequality, pensions, federalism, democracy, taxes, government spending, etc. The videos are aimed to be highly tangible for the student, which is ensured by starting each video lesson with a focus on how the topic is impacting the student.

The video series provides an essential individual learning opportunity for students supporting them in their recognition and understanding of economic policy interrelationships. Each five-minute video will have supporting content that includes a written summary of the topic covered and a series of exercises to ensure student understanding of the concepts introduced. The videos will be distributed through the new Swiss online learning platform Evulpo, where they will be freely available to students. Evulpo, is a young, dynamic, and fast-growing Swiss start-up that operates as a digital learning platform offering free explanatory videos, summaries, and exercises linked to the Swiss Governments education agenda for public schools.
 

Contribution to enhancing freedom

A free and solid basic education in economic policy issues is important for the preservation and development of our prosperity and society. This school-supplementary content from an independent authority guarantees, in addition to the scientific foundation, the greatest possible individual freedom in the acquisition of new knowledge and in the understanding of economic contexts.