The initiatives aim to complement—and finds ways to collaborate with—other efforts to advance sound policy ideas that create freedom, prosperity, and peace. We welcome inquiries about how we might work cooperatively with other organizations pursuing similar ends.
Atlas Network’s partners with local civil society organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada to create positive perceptions of the role of free enterprise and individual liberty in advancing a freer, more prosperous world for all.
Latest regional updates
This is a critical time for champions of free enterprise and liberal democracy in the U.S. and Canada. Our two countries have achieved enviable success in eradicating poverty, extending life expectancy, and achieving other key measures of human progress. That progress is a result, in part, of the degree to which our two countries have succeeded in enshrining the principles of individual liberty, rule of law, and free markets within our institutions. While we celebrate the success we’ve had, we remain highly motivated to strengthen the equality of opportunity those principles promise everyone when observed faithfully.
We invite all of those who share this mission to join us as we work to accelerate our individual efforts through peer learning and collaboration. Atlas Network provides a variety of opportunities to engage, compete for funding, and get inspired throughout the year. We are here to help you make the most of those opportunities. We believe our individual talents are magnified when we work together to expand our shared vision for change as we challenge ourselves to innovate in new ways. We look forward to celebrating with you as you and your team reach new heights as leaders in organizations serving a cause that merits the very best of all of us.
Dr. Lyall Swim
Director, Atlas Network, Center for U.S. & Canada
Niels Veldhuis
Senior Advisor, Atlas Network, Center for U.S. & Canada
Initiatives
A special priority of Atlas Network is to seek solutions for achieving a more inclusive prosperity in American and Canadian communities via an engagement strategy that has yielded successes in other countries. We seek to transcend traditional ideological divides and focus on the important role of the individual, not the state, in carving a path out of poverty.
News & ideas
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Grant McCarty Wins Tech-Focused Think Tank Shark TankAtlas Network’s Radical Innovation Summit—held in collaboration with Universidad de la Libertad and Centro Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego—brought blockchain experts to Mexico City on August 31, 2023 to exchange ideas and develop their plans to advance sensible policy solutions in the decentralized technology space that defend innovation, entrepreneurship, and privacy.Read Article- FIRE Wins Atlas Network’s 2023 North America Liberty AwardAtlas Network is pleased to announce that the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is the winner of our 2023 North America Liberty Award. The prize officially honors FIRE's expanded free speech advocacy and litigation programs, growing beyond the organization's successful campus focus in previous years to become a leader for the first amendment nationwide.Read Article
- Does Economic Freedom Yield Prosperity?Researchers at the Fraser Institute conducted a meta-analysis of 721 articles to assess the impact of economic freedom as documented by academic literature.Read Article
- Tennessee Aims to be the US Innovation CapitalThe Beacon Center of Tennessee, an Atlas Network partner, aims to promote innovation in Tennessee by identifying where regulatory barriers hinder entrepreneurs and advocating for solutions through public policy reforms. Tennessee is well on its way to becoming the U.S. innovation capital, and Beacon is at the head of policy advocacy.Read Article
- 2022 Templeton Freedom Award Finalist Spotlight: Pacific Legal FoundationAs governors across the United States seized unilateral power and issued emergency declarations months and even years into the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) and a network of state-based think tanks pushed back. PLF helped draft, advance, and defend legislation limiting gubernatorial power in an emergency.Read Article
Experts
About Niels Veldhuis
Niels Veldhuis is President of the Fraser Institute, Canada’s top ranked think-tank and among the top 20 globally, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Go To Think Tanks Report. Niels has written six books and more than 50 peer-reviewed studies on a wide range of economic topics. In 2011, he was awarded (along with his co-authors) the prestigious Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for the best-selling book, The Canadian Century. Niels is in high demand for his opinions and perspectives on major economic and social issues, appearing regularly on radio and television programs across Canada and in the United States. He has written more than 200 articles that have appeared in over 50 newspapers including the Globe and Mail, Wall Street Journal, National Post, and the Economist. Niels is best known for his ability to explain matters of government policy in a down-to-earth manner, making them easily understandable. He travels widely across North America, speaking to business groups, corporate gatherings, voluntary organizations, and students. In 2011, Niels led a discussion between former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush at the Surrey Economic Forum. Niels holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, with joint majors in business and economics, and a Master’s Degree in Economics from Simon Fraser University. In 2010 he was named one of Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40 by Business in Vancouver.
FP Virtual Dialogue: Can Local Think Tanks Save Democracy?
Foreign Policy, in partnership with the Atlas Network, hosted a discussion on the role and impact of think tanks: Against a backdrop of polarized politics, economic strife and a changing global order, how are think tanks adapting and how should they evolve to bring value to the communities where they operate?
Frequently Asked Questions
The mission of our initiatives is to help achieve inclusive prosperity in the U.S. and Canada, providing justice and opportunity to all citizens on both sides of the border. Our strategy is to assist civil society organizations in the region to implement bottom-up projects that increase freedom. We focus our attention on helping our partners by providing (1) training; (2) competitive grant opportunities; and (3) networking opportunities. Through our Liberty Forums and other events and public campaigns, we also bring public attention to the projects of our partners and the importance of their work.
Since we believe the best policy solutions come from the bottom-up, our strategy is to listen to our partners rather than direct them. The principal focus of our work is in supporting our partners’ locally-grown solutions to poverty and other problems via training, grants, and networking opportunities.
Current themes include:
• Improving understanding of the benefits of free trade and individual liberty
• Rooting out corruption and political privileges that distort the economic playing field
• Using tools like the Doing Business report of the World Bank and the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World report to identify reforms that can measurably increase economic freedom.
The initiatives are not endowed and do not accept funding from any government. They rely entirely on the generosity of individuals and institutional donors that share a desire to create greater freedom and opportunity for people throughout the U.S. and Canada.
If you would like to learn more about our initiatives and meet those involved in their work, consider attending Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner in New York City.
If you are working for a think tank or civil society group that would like to take part in training programs and grant competitions, the first step is to go through Atlas Network’s partner approval process.
If you are a philanthropist wanting to learn about the initiatives' work, please contact Chad Goote, Atlas Network’s Chief Development Officer, for details that will help you make an informed decision about how gifts to the Center for U.S. and Canada may fulfill your philanthropic goals. Atlas Network, also known as Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Our tax identification number is 94-2763845. A donation can be made here.
If you are a member of the media, we welcome your inquiries about how you might contribute to a better understanding of the work of the Center and the achievements of our independent partners. This FAQ may answer your questions. For additional information, please contact Adam Weinberg, Atlas Network’s Director of Marketing & Communications.
Our initiatives in U.S. and Canada serve a network of independent think tanks and civil society organizations that take their own positions on specific policy topics in specific countries. We are not a think tank ourselves, so we are not in the business of providing breaking news commentary on the issues of the day. On occasion, our team can assist media inquiries by providing references to experts associated with our partner organizations, but these individuals do not speak for the initiatives themselves.
No. Our initiatives in U.S. and Canada do not engage in partisan politics. Our focus is on building a long-term consensus around the principles that foster peace and prosperity, with the sincere hope that such a future will see ‘less at stake’ in individual elections, because all parties will be respectful of fundamental freedoms.
Our initiatives in the U.S. and Canada collaborate with partners that understand how individual rights, limited government under the rule of law, and free markets create prosperity and improve the prospects for peace. The initiatives call for an end to cronyism, corruption, and political privileges of all kinds, and looks forward to working with all people of goodwill who share this vision. In this way, the initiatives adheres to a set of principles, but not to a narrowly-defined ideology or political orientation.