A panel of judges at Atlas Network's Latin America Liberty Forum chose Jamil Assis of Brazil-based organization Instituto Sivis as the winner of the 2027 Latin America Smart Bets pitch competition. As winner of the Latin America Liberty Forum 2027 semi-final competition, he earned the opportunity to deliver his pitch in New York City at Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner held in November.

Assis pitched his organization’s plan to expand their already-successful Voxius Center for Free Speech. Over the past decade, Brazil has moved from celebrating free speech to treating political speech as a risk to be tightly controlled, especially around elections. Electoral courts and the Supreme Court increasingly rely on vague notions of “disinformation” and “hate speech” to remove content, restrict critics, and threaten platforms, often without clear legal standards or due process which has led to a culture of self-censorship.

The Voxius Center for Free Speech combines legal and political scholars, experts, and advocacy professionals to advise legislators, journalists, and technology companies on democracy-related issues. The trust they have built among traditional and digital media, allows Instituto Sivis to raise sensitive concerns about free speech without being dismissed as partisan. In Voxius’ first year, legislative wins, impactful op-eds, and high-level convenings showed that this mix of impartiality, access, and technical depth can move the needle. With the Smart Bets prize, Instituto Sivis will monitor free speech cases in the 2026 election cycle, turn this evidence into legal reform proposals, high-level trainings, and strategic media work, and convene trusted, off-the-record forums so that Brazil’s laws, courts, and public debate are re-anchored in liberal democratic principles that make robust free speech the normal expectation.

Jamil recently appeared on an episode of our Atlas Network podcast with Michael Carnuccio. Click below to see the entire episode.

The Smart Bets Grant encourages Atlas Network partners to dream big by funding innovative ideas that accelerate freedom and prosperity. While only a handful of applicants advance to the final pitch competition, the caliber of submissions underscores the dynamism of the worldwide liberty movement. The runner-up finalists from our Latin America Liberty Forum held in Lima, Peru included Jorge Chuya Chávez from Humanamente (Ecuador), and Pablo Velásquez from Centro de Estudios Económico-Sociales (CEES) (Guatemala).

Atlas Network’s Coach, Compete, Celebrate! model is on full display at each of our four Regional Liberty Forums, through the Smart Bets semi-final pitch competition. In this event, three pre-selected Atlas Network partner organizations take the stage to pitch a panel of judges on why they should be a part of the next Smart Bets cohort—gaining access to unique opportunities to accelerate their work—and the winner of a $40,000 grant and an additional $25,000 matching grant. Winners also have the opportunity to pitch on stage at Atlas Network’s Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner in New York City for the chance to win an additional $50,000 prize.

Visit AtlasNetwork.org/Events to find out more about events in your region and sign up to get notified when registration opens.