“There’s a great deal of philanthropy focused on alleviating the symptoms of current poverty, but relatively little focused on preventing future poverty.” - Sir John Templeton
When individuals have the opportunity to prosper, the world benefits
We believe that all individuals have the right to pursue opportunities, enjoy success, and live a life of freedom without coercion or persecution. And so we tirelessly aid in the unshackling of individual liberty, free enterprise, and voluntary cooperation to prevent future poverty, as Sir John Templeton imagined.
Our MissionAreas of Focus
We help unlock individual opportunities that empower global prosperity by supporting partners worldwide in 5 key areas to achieve social and economic freedoms.
Our founder
Antony Fisher
Our founder, Antony Fisher, served as “one of the few” in the British Royal Air Force in WWII and saw firsthand the impact that could be achieved by the will and determination of a small group.
Our Creation Story
Atlas Network’s founder, Antony Fisher, knew what it meant to find your own place in the world after his father was killed in the first World War, when Antony was only two years old. He went on to serve as a pilot in the Royal Air Force in World War II. The quote below by Winston Churchill resonated with him as he experienced firsthand the sheer impact that can be achieved by the will of a small but committed group of people.
Seeing Britain embrace a socialist economic agenda at the end of the war, Antony was dismayed by the subversion of individual enterprise in service of a government-led centralized policy. He came across an abridged edition of F. A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, which proposes that central planning inevitably erodes individual liberty and enables tyranny. Hayek’s philosophy not only influenced Fisher’s own career trajectory but also inspired him to think of ways to drive grassroots-level change that promoted free-market opportunities.
Fisher’s journey as an entrepreneur and change agent brought him to the U.S. In 1981, he established what became Atlas Network to institutionalize a process of helping think tanks unshackle the power of individual liberty and enterprise.
Today, Atlas Network partners with almost 500 think tanks in over 100 countries that drive change in ideas, culture, and policy; remove barriers to opportunities; and empower individuals to live a life of choice.