Rising Tide Foundation: Empowering for Freedom

The Rising Tide Foundation’s Empowering for Freedom initiative will support projects that show entrepreneurial approaches to social issues that advance the freedom of individuals and society. The theory of change is that freedom is the most important explanatory factor driving and shaping human wellbeing around the world. Freedom of individuals can be advanced by:

• Reducing the constraints (e.g., governments, societal norms, prejudices) and promoting the freedom and autonomy of the individual (e.g., through market access, fair competition)
• Empowering and inspiring individuals to seize opportunities freely (examples include but are not limited to enhancing economic independence, expanding networks of productivity)

The focus and objective of the Empowering for Freedom initiative is to surface existing and planned initiatives that empower individual freedom in one of its dimensions and hence advance the wellbeing of individuals in the long-term. Application areas could be, for example, personal liberty, freedom of speech, improved property rights, economic independence, less regulated entrepreneurship, innovation in education, private sector solutions to public issues, etc. The Foundation is committed to identifying and funding the most innovative, disruptive, and impactful projects worldwide.

In order to be eligible, projects need to advance the freedom of the individual through one of the following two approaches:

1. Directly enhance the freedom of individuals along at least one of its dimensions by:

• Reducing obstacles, barriers, constraints, or interference from others to the freedom of the individual through innovative approaches (not including general awareness, publication, or policy work)
• Enabling individuals that may otherwise not have the chance to access transformational interventions (non-governmental) and programs that empower them to live an independent, sustainable, and self-determined life (not including scholarships)

2. Design, pilot, or implement bottom-up alternatives to existing government solutions to societal issues organized as decentralized networks, private sector organizations, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), etc.

Amount: Grants will range from $50,000-$1,000,000 for a period of up to five years.

Eligibility: Projects should fall into one of the following two types of projects:

• Funding of training and incubation in some form of entrepreneurship: Projects by incubators, accelerators, or training institutions that provide skills, training, and funding access to individuals, communities, and non-/for-profit organizations
• Direct project funding: Grant funding will be provided to nonprofit or hybrid organizations for testing, implementation, or scale up of their focus activities

The following types of projects are excluded from funding: projects run by individuals; projects run by organizations with a political or religious mission; infrastructure; humanitarian aid; conferences and travel.

Geographic preference is given to regions where the political infrastructure is robust enough to allow free market principles to be promoted, and the rule of law can realistically be expanded and grow.

Link: https://www.risingtide-foundation.org/call-for-proposals

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