Decentralizing Liberty: How Local Champions and Bold Philanthropy Drive Real Reform

When Jonathan Fortier of the Cato Institute sat down with Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network, on The Liberty Exchange Podcast, the conversation wasn’t about policy theory. It was a front-row look at how liberty is advancing today — through local leaders who act, not just advocate.

“We want to find the entrepreneurs that have fire in the belly to tackle some important problems,” Lips said.

A Global Model Built on Local Trust

Atlas Network is the legacy of Sir Antony Fisher, a think tank pioneer who believed good ideas, communicated clearly, could shift public opinion and policy. “He had the faith that by talking in a principled manner about economic liberty, individual freedom, and the dangers of expansive government, he might change the course of discussion in his native UK,” Lips explained.

That founding principle now supports over 500 organizations across more than 100 countries. Atlas Network helps them grow, connect, and win, but not by dictating solutions from above. “We’re not here to dictate the agenda,” Lips said. “We let our partners identify what they see as the most crucial battles for freedom.”

This philosophy shapes the way Atlas Network approaches philanthropy too. “We act like a mutual fund for donors who care about the global freedom movement,” Lips said. “We provide financial support that we ask our partners to match with local funding, so they can be sustainable over time.”

That’s a direct challenge to the traditional foreign aid model. “USAID’s top-down approach has failed in many respects,” Lips noted. “Private philanthropy, rooted in local knowledge and local entrepreneurship, can do more for less and actually produce change.”

What Change Looks Like on the Ground

One of the most powerful examples Lips shared came from Burundi. Centre for Development and Enterprises Great Lakes (CDE) uncovered that a 19-step process for cross-border trade wasn’t just inefficient. It enabled abuse. “You find out that the largely female population doing this trading were routinely subjected to sexual abuse and violations of their dignity,” Lips said. “Agents of the government felt they could act with impunity.”

The organization's solution was deceptively simple: cut the red tape. “They were able to reduce the number of permissions to one that was renewable on a monthly basis,” he said. “That’s not just making it easier. It’s removing a really horrible, parasitic type of relationship that people had to deal with.”

That’s what bottom-up change looks like. By reducing the process to just one renewable permit, the organization dismantled a corrupt system.

Another example comes from Argentina, where Lips described years of behind-the-scenes investment in think tanks and educational programs that helped shape public opinion long before libertarian economist Javier Milei became president. “It was really tough to say that those were generating return on investment while Argentina continued to spiral,” Lips said. “But we helped keep those conversations alive.”

Milton Friedman's Enduring Legacy

Many of the ideas that define Atlas Network’s work today trace back to Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. The most recent edition of Freedom’s Champion, the organization’s biannual magazine, celebrates Friedman’s global influence, not just as an economist, but as a strategist.

“More than any other 20th-century economist by far, he remains quoted and referenced all the time in social media,” Lips said. “He was a master at delivering devastating cutdowns of bad ideas and explaining economics with clarity.”

One quote that sticks with Lips comes from Friedman’s 1982 preface to Capitalism and Freedom: “Only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change.” That principle guides Atlas Network’s entire strategy. “Our job is to make sure our ideas are alive and available so that what was once politically impossible suddenly becomes politically inevitable,” Lips said.

Lips also addressed the common distortion of that quote, used by critics like Naomi Klein to suggest that Friedman wanted to exploit chaos. “It’s insane to think Milton Friedman was trying to cause political crises,” Lips said. “He talked to anyone who would listen, from the Soviet Union to China to Chile, offering sound economic advice.”

Liberty Needs Its Champions

At every turn, Lips emphasized a clear message: real change is local, principled, and entrepreneurial. It takes people who understand the stakes and who are willing to step up, not wait for permission.

“We want to help local leaders make freedom real for the communities they live in,” Lips said. “That’s how you restore dignity, remove barriers, and change lives.”

To hear Brad Lips' complete insights on how Atlas Network is strengthening the worldwide freedom movement, listen to the full episode of The Liberty Exchange Podcast. The conversation offers deeper context on everything from Milton Friedman's lasting influence to the innovative strategies that are transforming lives across more than 100 countries.