Click Here to View the 2008 Freedom Dinner Photo Album
On November 12, 2008, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation held its annual Freedom Dinner to celebrate the week of World Freedom Day and the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. 300 guests from around the world gathered at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC to join Atlas in giving a toast to freedom.
With Atlas’s executive vice president Brad Lips serving as Master of Ceremonies, the dinner program opened with Toasts to Freedom by Ziba Ayeen (Atlas Economic Research Foundation), Jose Saccheri (Victims of the Terrorism Association, Argentina) and John Lenczowski (Institute for World Politics). Each toasted to the importance of liberty and struggles in their personal fight for freedom. Atlas’s president, Alex Chafuen, presented the 2008 Freda Utley Prize for Advancing Liberty to Rocio Guijarro from CEDICE in Venezuela.
After dinner, Michael Reagan, syndicated radio personality and the elder son of late President Ronald Reagan, delivered an uplifting and memorable keynote address. His thought-provoking speech touched upon the important role that free market institutions play in the promotion of liberty around the world. He emphasized the need for a return to the fundamental principles of limited government in order to reignite the march of freedom that made so much progress during his father’s administration in the 1980s. Click here to watch his speech.
The Freedom Dinner was preceded by an exclusive Atlas Club Briefing (for Atlas Club members who donate $1,000+ per year), which featured Antony Livanios of the Hellenic Leadership Institute in Greece. Livanios discussed how his think tank has been building a presence in Cairo, running programs to promote and explain the ideas of entrepreneurship to future leaders of Egypt.
On the day following the Freedom Dinner, Atlas recognized the 16 winners within its Templeton Freedom Awards program within a half-day conference. Participants of the Freedom Dinner and local friends and contacts were invited to a breakfast and two panel discussions featuring the work of Atlas’s partners from around the world.
This year’s program, held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC featured:
Keynote address by Michael Reagan
| Over five million listeners hear Michael Reagan daily via his nationally syndicated talk radio program, “The Michael Reagan Show” where Reagan has earned stellar ratings by concentrating on substantive national issues, albeit with a healthy dose of his biting humor, wit and warmth. In the past several years, Reagan has written numerous books including The Common Sense of An Uncommon Man: The Wit, Wisdom & Eternal Optimism of Ronald Reagan. Watch the video of the keynote address here. |
Master of Ceremonies Brad Lips, Atlas Economic Research Foundation
| Brad joined the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in 1998, and became its executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2000. Prior to joining Atlas, Brad conducted research on information technology and regulatory issues at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Brad received his MBA from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University (Atlanta, GA, 1995) and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Princeton University (Princeton, NJ, 1992). In addition to publishing shorter pieces on capitalism and labor markets, Brad co-authored a book, The Reagan Vision, which was released by the Goldwater Institute in 2004. |
Toasts to Freedom
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