Agency and Flourishing Initiative

“It is only where the individual has choice, and its inherent responsibility, that he has occasion to affirm existing values, to contribute to their further growth, and to earn moral merit.”

– F. A. Hayek

Through the Agency + Flourishing Initiative, RTF seeks to open discussions and promote projects that enhance the mindsets, skills, and freedoms by which individuals can live life on their own terms.

Agency

The capacity to shape one’s life path through self-directed decision-making and accept the responsibility for how these actions impact oneself, others and one’s community.

Flourishing

Finding fulfillment through the pursuit of excellence and building a better future for yourself and those around you.

A free society, providing freedom of choice and opportunity is a prerequisite for expanding the sphere of human agency and driving societal progress. Yet, only when people are empowered with the skills and belief that they can strive towards their goals and accomplish meaningful tasks can individual progress and flourishing occur.

Internal and external barriers such as fixed mindsets, insufficient skills, oppression or onerous governmental policies that limit an individual’s ability to act freely restrict flourishing and quell agency.

Governments worldwide attempt to centrally plan flourishing through misguided interventions that maximize social welfare and breed cultures of state dependency. Simultaneously, such government planning erects obstacles that limit opportunity and impede individuals’ freedom to act, build a better future, and serve others.

Our approach presents an alternative to the narrow minded paternalistic top-down methods found in much of the development, education, aid, and philanthropic sectors. Rather than being planned from above, we believe greater agency and flourishing comes when individuals are empowered, capable, and free to take responsibility to direct their own lives and be the protagonists of their lives. By removing barriers and increasing economic freedoms, an environment is created in which individuals have more opportunities to innovate, solve problems, and create value that benefits not just themselves, but society as a whole.

Whether it be non-profits working to improve individuals’ capacity for self-determination, developing private sector solutions to enhance people’s skills to build a better future, or advocating the removal of policy barriers that inhibit opportunities, the Rising Tide Foundation has supported dozens of projects that enhance the ability of individuals to live life on their own terms.

Grantee Video Spotlight

Whether it be non-profits working to improve individuals’ capacity for self-determination, developing private sector solutions to enhance people’s skills to build a better future, or advocating the removal of policy barriers that inhibit opportunities, the Rising Tide Foundation has supported dozens of projects that enhance the ability of individuals to live life on their own terms.

Explore the videos below to see how our grantees have enhanced mindsets, developed skills, and removed barriers worldwide.

Removing-barriers

Removing Barriers

These projects have helped abolish barriers that inhibit individuals living life on their own terms.

With their Khaya Lam project, FMF have supported over 15,000 South African households gain a title deed to their home.

Through its social enterprise staffing model, First Step Staffing provides immediate employment to individuals overcoming homelessness and other barriers to work.

The True Charity Network is expanding its coalition of nonprofits to champion effective, outcome-driven charity and transform poverty alleviation in the United States.
Developing-skills

Developing Skills

These projects have empowered thousands of individuals with the skills to build a better future.

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center creates a freer business environment and builds the capacity of SMEs in Cameroon.

Avasara Academy provides high-potential girls from low-income backgrounds in India with the academic and leadership skills to become future leaders.

The Maharishi Invincibility Institute's "Education Town" provides marginalized youth in South Africa with cutting-edge skills and holistic development, leading to job placement and community revitalization.
Enhancing-mindsets

Enhancing Mindsets

These projects have equipped people from around the world with the belief they can strive towards their goals.

Learn about the history of the LFMI and their projects on labour market reforms, youth debates, and lack.  Watch video
The Freedom & Virtue Institute’s training and Self-Reliance Clubs replace dependency-based charity with a model that fosters dignity, entrepreneurship, and empowerment.
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Khaya Lam Initiative

Through the Free Market Foundation’s Khaya Lam Project, over 15,000 households have received title deeds to their property for the first time. Strong and enforced private property rights are the backbone of both individual and societal flourishing. By removing outdated barriers for households to receive their title deeds, this project continues to expand the realm of human agency and flourishing.

Nkafu Policy Institute

For years, the Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation, through the Nkafu Policy Institute, have worked to create a freer and more prosperous environment for Cameroonians. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center represented a new leap for the institute; to develop the skills of entrepreneurs so that they can increase their capacity, create more effective business strategies, and bolster their revenue, leading to a better future for entrepreneur and their community. 

Lithuanian Free Market Institute

The Lithuanian Free Market Institute is one of the Eastern Europe’s first and most successful free market think tanks. In this video, their Vice President Aneta Vaine, shares details on the organization’s history, and their recent projects that, among other things, have explored the connection between scarcity as a fundamental driver of change and how lack impacts individual agency and flourishing.

First Step Staffing

First Step Staffing is a unique social enterprise that uses a non-profit staffing model to provide a powerful solution to poverty and unemployment. Led by CEO Amelia Nickerson, the organization partners with private businesses to offer immediate work opportunities to individuals facing significant barriers to employment, including homelessness. By being the first to say “yes” when others say no, First Step Staffing provides not just a job and an income, but a crucial first step toward restoring dignity, hope, and a path to self-sufficiency for those who have been left on the sidelines of the labor market.

True Charity Initiative

The True Charity Initiative is working to transform the charitable landscape in the United States away from a culture of handouts and dependency. Founded by James Whitford, the organization champions a privately funded, effective, and outcome-driven approach to poverty alleviation rooted in personal responsibility and human dignity. Through the True Charity Network, they are building a coalition of like-minded nonprofits, equipping them with training, toolkits, and action plans to implement work-oriented programs that empower people to break free from cycles of poverty.

Avasara Academy

Avasara Academy, founded by Roopa Purushothaman in Pune, India, is working to accelerate the academic and leadership outcomes for adolescent girls from low-income backgrounds. The academy’s flagship school provides a rigorous education combined with a unique curriculum focused on leadership, entrepreneurship, and social-emotional wellness. By equipping high-potential girls with the tools for success, Avasara aims to create a new generation of female role models who can challenge societal norms and inspire change within their communities.

Maharishi Invincibility Institute

The Maharishi Invincibility Institute (MII) in Johannesburg, South Africa, is pioneering a new approach to tertiary education for youth from marginalized backgrounds. Led by Dr. Taddy Blecher, MII’s “Education Town” project is transforming the city center into a world-leading educational hub, providing students not just with cutting-edge skills in fields like cybersecurity and investment banking, but also with tools for personal development, such as meditation and yoga. With a 95% job placement rate, the institute’s unique model of Consciousness-Based Education empowers young people to overcome trauma, develop their inner potential, and become successful leaders who lift their families and communities out of poverty.

Freedom & Virtue Institute

The Freedom & Virtue Institute, led by Executive Director Ismael Hernandez, is working to transform the way we help the poor by shifting the focus from handouts to empowerment. Drawing from his personal journey, Ismael established the institute to counter traditional charity models that can foster dependency. Through “Effective Compassion” training and practical “Self-Reliance Clubs,” the organization equips nonprofits, churches, and young people with the principles and tools needed to unlock their own potential, championing the idea that every person possesses the dignity and capacity to become the protagonist of their own story.