2022
Annual Report atlassociety.org | donate@atlassociety.org
atlassociety.org | donate@atlassociety.org
2
Annual Report
Table of Contents A Message from our CEO and Board Chair......................... 4-5 A Message from our Founder....................................................6-7 Scholars & Fellows........................................................................8-9 Atlas University......................................................................... 10-13 Webinars & Discussions......................................................... 14-16 Social Media............................................................................... 17-19 “Draw My Life” Animated Videos....................................... 20-21 Sociedad Atlas........................................................................... 22-23 Publications............................................................................... 24-25 The Atlas Society Gala...........................................................26-27 Our Goal...........................................................................................30 Ways to Support our Work...........................................................31
atlassociety.org
3
A Message From Our CEO For most of the last six years I’ve prioritized pioneering creative content that would appeal to young people. The strategy helped us build an enormous community of highly-engaged young people, for the majority of whom The Atlas Society’s videos, graphic novels and social media have served as their first introduction to the ideas of Ayn Rand. More recently, thanks to your generosity, we’ve had the opportunity to recruit an all-star team of scholars to provide programming that invites young people on the next stage of their intellectual journey. Now more than ever, young people are searching for answers about life’s purpose, struggling to make sense of today’s tribal politics, and worried about crime, international instability, and their own economic prospects. As Ayn Rand observed, most young people “have never heard of philosophy, but they sense that they need some fundamental answers to questions they dare not ask.” Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism provides those answers. Over the last year, we’ve dramatically increased the opportunity for young people to find the answers they need—not just here in the United States, but increasingly internationally, by: • Hosting a minimum of four discussion groups and webinars a week. • Foreign language video content reaching tens of millions worldwide. • Doubling our presence at student conferences and other events.
And providing a clear alternative to both the socialism and identity politics of the left, and the religious nationalism of the right. You’ve rewarded our results with increased investment, making 2021 our strongest on record in terms of revenue growth. When we ask donors (new, returning, and increased donors) why they chose to support our work, with so many other organizations competing for their donation dollars, the words we hear most frequently are “energy,” “creativity,” “entrepreneurial” and “attitude.” At The Atlas Society we adopt an attitude of gratitude—for the tremendous privilege of advancing Ayn Rand’s ideas, for the opportunity to work with such enthusiastic, positive and talented colleagues, and of course for confidence and camaraderie with our deeply appreciated donors, who make our work possible. Thank you for your support, and for this opportunity to report on the great strides your generosity has made possible this past year.
Jennifer Grossman, CEO The Atlas Society
4
Annual Report
Founder, David Kelley & Board Chairman, Jay Lapeyre at The Atlas Society Gala
A Message From Our Board Chairman In addition to benevolence, which The Atlas Society’s founder, David Kelley, identified as a major virtue of Objectivism, gratitude is the self-interested virtue that most resonates with me personally. Gratitude is what I feel for the unparalleled hard work, the seemingly endless creativity, the relentless perseverance, and the astounding results achieved by our tiny 24-7 team at The Atlas Society. Gratitude helps me recharge and achieve a mindset of strength, optimism, and objectivity to more fully appreciate what’s going well, and bring the passion needed to persevere as we strive to promote these life enhancing values made possible by the foundational philosophy of Ayn Rand, who inspires us to think independently, and demonstrated that art was, in her words, “the indispensable medium for the communication of a moral ideal.” Our track record, goals and value are why we confidently ask that you invest—to help us achieve the next stage in The Atlas Society’s growth. Spreading reason, achievement, ethical self-interest and capitalism requires capital investment. It requires your support.
Jay Lapeyre, Chairman of the Board
atlassociety.org
5
Statement From Our Founder, David Kelley This report serves as a roundup of our recent gains— our capital gains, our intellectual gains, and the evergrowing impact of our creative content and programs. But I am even more proud to tell you about a new initiative. Thanks to your support and Jennifer Grossman’s leadership, we have the staff and funds for a major expansion of our philosophical work. We have recruited a team of in-house scholars, who devote time to a set of new programs offered weekly and monthly both to young people and lifelong learners. The faculty meets monthly to discuss each others’ work, brainstorm new initiatives, and debate ideas. While we agree on the fundamental principles of Objectivism, I find it refreshing that our scholars occasionally diverge on applications, and bring different perspectives on politics and other issues. Open Objectivism in action! The growth of our intellectual leadership team is impressive, and it demonstrates that The Atlas Society is on the move—our organization and community are more vibrant than ever before. We have never been more stocked with talent; and with more talent come more programs, publications, seminars, and overall expertise. I’m grateful to all of you who have been with us since the beginning, and to those of you who recently have joined our ranks. I’m looking forward to the future that we are creating together.
6
Annual Report
Our Mission The Atlas Society promotes open Objectivism: the philosophy of reason, achievement, individualism, benevolence, and freedom. Objectivism is designed as a guide to life, and it celebrates the remarkable potential and power of the individual. Objectivism is a philosophy of reason, with an optimistic view of the world and an entrepreneurial approach to our place in it. It has the logical consistency, the moral clarity, and the intellectual accessibility to serve as the basis for a new Enlightenment, a culture committed to reason, achievement, and freedom. We know that the ideas of Objectivism will help everyone, and young people in particular, to understand their world, define their purpose, choose their values, and live their lives to the fullest. The Atlas Society succeeds in teaching this philosophical groundwork through our student programs, animated videos, webinars, and publications.
atlassociety.org
7
The Atlas Society’s Faculty
David Kelley Ph.D
Jason Hill Ph.D
Richard Salsman Ph.D
After earning a Ph.D in philosophy from Princeton University in 1975, David Kelley joined the philosophy department of Vassar College, where he taught a wide variety of courses at all levels. Kelley founded The Atlas Society in 1990 and served as Executive Director through 2016. Though officially retired, he continues to serve as a Trustee, and his parttime contributions to The Atlas Society include regular Clubhouse discussions and frequent Current Events commentary. His publications include The Evidence of the Senses, Truth and Toleration in Objectivism, and The Art of Reasoning.
Jason Hill, Ph.D hosts regular and widely attended Clubhouse chats for The Atlas Society, and has taken his turn on our Instagram, answering audience questions. A Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University, he’s the author of five books, including Jamaica Boy in Search of America, Civil Disobedience and the Politics of Identity, Beyond Blood Identities, and most recently What Do White Americans Owe Black People: Racial Justice in the Age of Post-Oppression.
Richard Salsman hosts a monthly seminar for students at The Atlas Society, Morals and Markets—here he explores the intersection between ethics, politics, economics, and markets. (Morals and Markets is also a podcast!) Founder and president of InterMarket Forecasting, Inc., Richard also received a Ph.D from Duke University where he is currently a professor of political economy. His works include Where Have all the Capitalists Gone?: Essays in Moral Political Economy, Gold and Liberty, and Breaking the Banks: Central Banking Problems and Free Banking Solutions.
“The Atlas Society offers a wonderful opportunity as a professional philosopher, to advance the philosophy of Ayn Rand in a climate of civility, respect and philosophical rigor. It has been a source of real personal and intellectual pleasure to work with The Atlas Society. I learn from my colleagues on a consistent basis.” “There is an abundance of ideas floating in our culture. What is rare, is the correct fit between ideas and reality. Rand’s ideas ought to be supported because of the inexorable logical connection between her theoretical philosophy and its ability to solve many of the seeming irreconcilable tensions and problems in the world. The last of our great intellectuals were our Founding Fathers. Ayn Rand is the first of their return.” – Jason Hill
8
Annual Report
To read more about our team—visit atlassociety.org/about/scholars-fellows
Stephen Hicks Ph.D
Antonella Marty
Rob Tracinski
Stephen Hicks teaches The Atlas Society’s Atlas Intellectuals where he discusses Objectivity, Altruism, and weighs in on thinkers from Milton Friedman to Karl Marx. A Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, Stephen has authored Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Nietzsche and the Nazis, and most recently Eight Philosophies of Education for The Atlas Society. He is also the Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, and has appeared on Jordan Peterson’s podcast.
Antonella Marty leads Sociedad Atlas, curating Spanish language content for social media, posting weekly Instagram Takeovers, and hosting regular live interviews on Twitter. She also represents The Atlas Society at numerous conferences across the globe. She recently published Objetivismo: Preguntas y Respuestas (Objectivism: Questions and Answers), and her other titles include The Intellectual Populist Dictatorship, What Every Revolutionary of the 21st Century Should Know, and Capitalism: Antidote to Poverty.
Rob Tracinski hosts weekly talks on Clubhouse for The Atlas Society and is a regular on our Current Events series. He is the author of So Who is John Galt Anyway?: A Reader’s Guide to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, and What Went Right?: An Objectivist Theory of History. He is publisher of the journal Symposium and his popular newsletter, The Tracinski Letter, which covers culture and politics from an Objectivist perspective. Rob has been published everywhere from The Chicago Tribune to the San Francisco Chronicle, and hosts a podcast called Salon of the Refused.
“I spent many years outside the organized Objectivist movement, partly because I ended up on the wrong side of a number of the usual senseless Objectivist schisms, and partly because this pushed me to make a career independently by reaching out into the mainstream of the American political debate.” “I haven’t stopped doing that, but working with The Atlas Society has helped me to reconnect with a growing group of Objectivist scholars and to reach new people— particularly young people—who are interested in Objectivist ideas.” “It’s a step toward helping Objectivism as a philosophy rebuild the productive movement of independent-thinking intellectuals that it needs to flourish in a new century.” – Rob Tracinski
atlassociety.org
9
Atlas University Overview: In the latter half of 2021, The Atlas Society’s Student Programs rebranded under the umbrella of Atlas University. The goal of Atlas University is to merge our longstanding archive of scholarly work with a fresh new program curated for an up and coming generation of freedom lovers and Objectivists.
Atlas Intellectuals is a 90-minute
The Atlas Advocates Speaker
Morals & Markets is a 90-minute
monthly discussion group hosted
Bureau New in 2022, The Atlas
webinar held on the fourth Thursday
by The Atlas Society Senior Scholar
Society is sending our senior scholars
of each month (8:00 PM–9:30 PM
Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. Each discussion
across the country to speak on
ET), by Richard Salsman, Ph.D on
draws on content from Professor
campuses in coordination with
topics that explore the intersection
Hicks’ most recent topic covered in
partner organizations who have tens
between ethics, politics, economics,
his latest Waterfall course.
of thousands of student-led
and markets.
chapters nationwide.
10
Annual Report
The Atlas Advocates Speaker Bureau
Overview: Experts in their respective fields, which include Philosophy, Economics, Business, Journalism and Academic Writing, The Atlas Society’s faculty and executive leadership are hitting the road to provide students with the philosophical framework to back up their beliefs in the classroom and among their peers.
Morals & Markets
Overview: Morals & Markets continues to reach ambitious high schoolers, college students, and young professionals with fresh, contemporary discussions hosted by Atlas Society Senior Scholar, Richard Salsman, Ph.D. He began hosting Morals & Markets for alumni of his classes at Duke who wanted to continue to have engaging conversations on contemporary topics that explore the intersection between ethics, politics, economics, and markets. Sessions begin with remarks followed by Q&A, discussion, and debate. Morals & Markets: The Podcast – Professor Salsman’s opening remarks from each session are uploaded to all of your favorite Podcast Apps and are available on The Atlas Society’s website! Recent Episodes include: • Egoistic-Foreign Military Policy • How The War On Fossil Fuel Fuels War • Central Bank Digital Currencies: What’s The Point? • The Economics and Politics of Cryptocurrencies
Student testimonial
Faculty testimonial
“Professor Salsman’s lectures from Morals and Markets always leave me with a newfound framework to consider important ideas; they serve as some beacons of critical thinking in a world that needs it. The topics discussed are always fully engaging, both intellectually and practically and the discussion helps me orient my views in a rationally focused way. I hope Morals and Markets grows to become an institution—it certainly deserves to be one.” – Clifford G. Jr.
“I much enjoy hosting my monthly ‘Morals & Markets’ webinar for university students, and developing new topics. I highlight the important interaction between ethics and economics and how Objectivist principles provide crucial insights into each field; the case studies reveal both truths and myths.” – Richard Salsman
atlassociety.org
11
Atlas University
(Cont.)
Atlas Intellectuals
Overview: Atlas Intellectuals is a 90-minute monthly discussion group hosted by The Atlas Society Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. Each discussion draws on content from Professor Hicks’ most recent topic covered in the Atlas Intellectuals Waterfall courses. Courses and their subsequent discussion seminars are scheduled on perennial and contemporary themes— Money, Socialism, the implications of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Slavery and Reparations, Objectivity, Envy, Capitalism, Anti-Capitalism, and the newest course Education’s Villains and Heroes. Each course includes twenty-four pieces of content, ranging from memes, videos, podcasts, texts by Ayn Rand, curated intellectual and scholarly texts by Objectivist and other thinkers from a variety of perspectives.
Student testimonials “The first session [of The Anti-Capitalism Course] was awesome, a lot to digest! I found the early quotes of Marx quite telling and you get a perspective of how that intellect formed. Despite the amount of information the session was well structured and concise.” – Graham W. The topics are so relevant in these totalitarian days, as we watch current events in horror. – Amelia H.
Faculty testimonial “I’ve been really enjoying watching the participants in my Anti-Capitalism and Education’s Villains and Heroes courses gain so much from these conversations. I think our rebranding under the Atlas University label will be effective at integrating our various scholarly initiatives—Waterfall content, Atlas Intellectuals, and so on.” – Stephen Hicks
The Atlas Society Book Club Bookworms of all ages join our team to discuss both recent publications and time-tested classics, written by our scholars, Ayn Rand (of course) and modern day authors—who often join the discussions! Previous guests include: • Jeffrey Tucker, Liberty or Lockdown • Michael Shellenberger, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All • Anne Heller, Ayn Rand & The World She Made • Timothy Sandefur, Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man • Stephen Kent, How the Force Can Fix the World: Lessons on Life, Liberty, and Happiness from a Galaxy Far, Far Away • Adam Thierer, Permissionless Innovation: The Continuing Case for Comprehensive Technological Freedom
12
Annual Report
Events 2021 | 2022 With the summer barely started, The Atlas Society’s presence at student conferences has already more than doubled the previous year’s total record. By exhibiting at and sending speakers to large events hosted by our partner organizations, we’re able to connect with young people, many of whom are hearing about Ayn Rand for the first time.
2021:
Young Latino Leadership Summit – Phoenix, AZ Young Women’s Leadership Summit – Dallas, TX FreedomFest – Rapid City, SD Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) Revolution – Orlando, FL Turning Point USA Southwest Regional Conference – Panama City Beach, FL Students for Liberty Freer Future Fest – Nashville, TN Turning Point USA AmericaFest – Phoenix, AZ
2022:
The Future of Freedom in the Americas –Miami, FL Students for Liberty All-Canada Conference – Virtual Festival de las Ideas Puebla – Puebla, México El Valor de Emprender: Creación de Riqueza y Trabajo – Rosario, Argentina Students for Liberty NE Regional Conference – Boston, MA Latin American Liberty Conference –Mexico City Turning Point USA Young Women’s Leadership Summit – Dallas, TX The Objective Standard Conference (TOS-CON) – Denver, CO FreedomFest – Las Vegas, NV Turning Point USA Student Action Summit – Tampa, FL Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) Revolution – Orlando, FL Students for Liberty LibertyCon International – Miami, FL Turning Point USA AmericaFest – Phoenix, AZ Suncoast Comic Con –Palmetto, FL Megacon Comic Con –Orlando, FL
atlassociety.org
13
Live Interviews & Discussions
What started out of necessity, when lockdowns put the brakes on our travel schedule, The Atlas Society Asks live webinars have continued consistently every single week. We celebrated the milestone of our 100th episode with a special “Scholars Ask Scholars” interview of our founder, David Kelley, Ph.D by our Senior Scholar, Richard Salsman, Ph.D. With as many as 180,000 viewers per episode, every week we invite entrepreneurs, economists, philosophers, artists, authors and other great minds to share their insights and take live audience questions. Recent guests include Gad Saad, Alan Dershowitz, Peter Diamandis, Blackwater founder Erik Prince, Dr. Scott Atlas, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, Bob Poole, Art Laffer and Steve Forbes. The Atlas Society Asks is live streamed to viewers across Zoom, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. The programs are also shared on all major podcast platforms, and we transcribe select episodes for our website.
14
Annual Report
What Viewers Are Saying:
What Guests Are Saying:
“Major intellectual discussion, compared to what’s going on in the rest of the country. But not just comparative, these guys are top notch thinkers that I admire greatly. Heroes for our time.” – Mike H.
“I think investing in The Atlas Society is a great expenditure. We need to use our resources to back principled decisions because civilizations are at stake.” – Jeffrey Tucker
“Splendid discussion with a passionate advocate for our freedom. Thank you.” – Mark Z.
“It was my pleasure to join you for a wonderful conversation with Richard! Thanks again for hosting me and for sending these links for me to share with family and friends who could not attend.” – Carrie-Ann Biondi
“We were so impressed with JAG’s command and performance with Kmele Foster. It is such a pleasure to witness ...The Atlas Society’s evolution.” – Jeff D. “The interview was awesome. Jennifer’s questions were spot on, and Dr. Atlas’ dedication to data and common sense came through loud and clear. I made a (small) donation shortly thereafter, I was so inspired. Thank you for bringing a fresh perspective and a ray of hope that this pandemic insanity may soon end.” – Greg S.
“Thanks for having me on the show. It was really great. You’re a fantastic interviewer.” – Ashley Rindsberg
Monthly Current Events Panels with Our Scholars Inflation, school shootings, Ukraine, Roe vs. Wade—the events that dominate news headlines are frequently debated from a partisan perspective, but rarely illuminated from a philosophical, much less Objectivist point of view. That’s where The Atlas Society faculty comes in, as each month they come together to deconstruct false narratives and move beyond the sound bites to provide deeper analysis and discussion. With over 3,000 podcast downloads and 45,000 views across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter, we’re growing a dedicated audience of viewers and listeners who are tuning out the noise and tuning in the signal when it comes to the philosophical principles underlying the stories of the day.
Current Events Testimonial:
“Spectacular! Data-driven, factual, deeply and scrupulously researched. AND wellpresented in the sense of engaging and tightly scripted. Great stuff.” – Michael M. “Richard’s interview with David is an uplifting and substantive reflection on what David founded and what we’re building together.” – Jay Lapeyre
atlassociety.org
15
Live Interviews & Discussions
(Cont.)
Clubhouse We’ve joined the club—and you’re invited. Clubhouse is a phone-only social media platform based on voice chat where people around the world come together to talk, listen, and learn from each other in real-time. We joined the Clubhouse platform in the summer of 2021 to give people the opportunity to interact with our faculty on various topics related to philosophy, Objectivism, current events, and more. An increasingly international audience is flocking to our multiple Clubhouse events each week, thrilled by the opportunity to pose questions to some of the most brilliant philosophical minds today. Recent popular discussions include: • David Kelley’s “Facts vs. Opinion” • Stephen Hicks’ “Ask Me Anything About Philosophy,” • Jason Hill’s “Ayn Rand and Sex Parts 1 and 2” • Richard Salsman’s “Distinguishing Four Types of Reality” • Robert Tracinski’s “What Drives History?”
Engagement: These live discussions have been downloaded as a Podcast over 8,000 times and see an average of 70 total visitors during the chats!
16
Annual Report
Testimonials: “The more wide-open Ask Me Anything Clubhouse discussions have felt like a 21st-century coffeehouse conversation, with participants from all over the world asking the big questions about philosophy and especially Objectivism’s unique answers to them.” – Stephen Hicks, Ph.D “After a year of frustration on Clubhouse, unable to find not only scholarly, but inclusive philosophy clubs and rooms, I finally found the regularly scheduled, on-time, consistent and fascinating philosophy rooms. Jennifer and her statured panel of captivating A.S. fellows are doing a wonderful thing for humanity in these rooms… that have made me enjoy Clubhouse again.” – Juan Pablo Santis
Social Media with a Strategy Why is social media so important? According to recent data from Pew Research, 71% % of Americans now use social media as a key source for news and information. Social media is where the conversation occurs. It is where opinions are formed and reformed. In the twenty-first century, social media is not only a critical component of any effort to effectively influence and educate, it is arguably the most important. When we attend student conferences, young people invariably recognize The Atlas Society because they follow our social media content. If as Ayn Rand observed, “art is the indispensable medium for the communication of a moral ideal,” then social media is an indispensable medium for the communication of ideals presented artistically—and that’s precisely how we utilize it. But there is a generational divide—with many in their “giving years” eschewing social media, or at least not understanding it very well. Donors are easily impressed by the size of an organization’s audience (number of followers) without digging into how engaged that audience is. That’s why every week we track a metric called “Average Per Post Engagement’’ (or APPE), that represents how many people comment, share and like EACH PIECE of content we post to our social media accounts. In February our APPE hit more than 51,000 and every week we average 22,000. In other words, EACH of the roughly 50 pieces of content (graphics, quotes, videos) prompts on average tens of thousands comments, shares and likes. That translates into MILLIONS of engagements a week—and that’s just on Facebook, one of the eight platforms we manage. What accounts for this phenomenal engagement? It’s not just compelling, edgy and often humorous graphics and posts. It’s the fact that our content inspires conversations—arguments, and ultimately community. The thousands of comments on each post are themselves a reason that people keep coming back—they come for the content, they stay for the discussion.
atlassociety.org
17
Social Media with a Strategy
(Cont.)
How it works… While our content packs a powerful punch into an image, the posts serve as just the beginning of deeper philosophical conversation. To achieve our goal of captivating the attention of a generation of young people who are constantly being pulled in different directions online, The Atlas Society has designed a social media landscape that includes diverse content that will hopefully move viewers down the “funnel” to deeper levels of engagement with our content.
Memes, quotes, short videos
Views & Follows
Journey for Advanced Engagement
Each post contains either a link to educational resources (articles, lectures, interviews) or an invitation to join Atlas University
Attending live virtual events, signing up for our Atlas University programs, reading our newsletter or supporting our work with a donation
Highest Performing Content! 18
Annual Report
572,000
Engagements
323,000
Engagements
Social Media
Expansion, Diversification, EXPLOSION!
With 260 million impressions over the last 12 months across all social media channels, The Atlas Society is reaching a monumental global audience online. Our Facebook audience has grown over 15% in the past 12 months. More impressively, each piece of content averages nearly 22,800 unique engagements (i.e., shares, comments, and likes, or comment on) by Facebook users alone. Additionally, our new TikTok page is one of the fastest growing pages on the brand, with over 485% increase over the past year.
12-MONTH SNAPSHOT
260 Million
THE ATLAS SOCIETY
*
GLOBAL IMPRESSIONS
23.9 Million
*
ENGAGEMENTS
345,000+
FOLLOWERS ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS
16.1M
VIDEO VIEWS IN PAST YEAR
40,000
INSTAGRAM TAP-THROUGHS PER WEEK
22,800
AVERAGE PER POST ENGAGEMENT *Since 05/2021
FOLLOWERS
APPE AVERAGE
22,800
64,354
210,999
36,885
4,861
TIKTOK
9,312
LA SOCIEDAD ATLAS
FOLLOWERS
6,029
2,365
2,219
COMPARISON DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS
FOLLOWERS
APPE AVERAGE
5,500
81,400
996,000
4,700
atlassociety.org
19
Draw My Life Videos Why is it important to understand not only the philosophical principles that support human flourishing—but also the evil ideas that imperil it? Ayn Rand’s answer: “In self-protection—and in defense of truth, justice, freedom, and any value you ever held or may ever hold.” To arm young people in defense of themselves and their highest values, we’ve created an arsenal of heat-seeking, lightbearing missiles, the most powerful of which are our “Draw My Life” videos. Inspired by a trend among celebrities to create simple, first-person narratives, in which the narrator literally draws key elements of their life on a whiteboard background, we adapted the genre to present stories of historical and modern day figures, literary characters, concepts and places. By recounting their parentage, their aims, their enemies and their allies, even esoteric subjects like “envy” and “socialism”
19M+ 31M+
are able to make philosophical connections while advancing a narrative in a suspenseful, engaging fashion. The vast majority of the 51 videos produced have gone viral, with an average of one million views each! We began executing translations a couple of years ago, with individual translations reaching as many as 8 million viewers each! In 2021 alone we produced 10 Draw My Life videos, and executed 14 translations. This year we’re on track to release 9 videos in English and 21 translations.
ENGLISH VIDEO VIEWS =
TRANSLATED VIDEO VIEWS =
20 Annual Report
VIDEOS TRANSLATED INTO:
SPANISH, FRENCH, PORTUGUESE, HINDI, GEORGIAN, JAPANESE, HEBREW, VIETNAMESE, ARABIC, UKRAINIAN
Draw My Life Videos All Time MY NAME IS AYN RAND MY NAME IS ENVY MY NAME IS MONEY MY NAME IS GREED MY NAME IS FREDERICK DOUGLASS MY NAME IS VICTIMHOOD MY NAME IS SOCIALISM MY NAME IS AMERICA MY NAME IS GRATITUDE MY NAME IS CHIP WILSON MY NAME IS HONG KONG MY NAME IS CORONAVIRUS MY NAME IS VON MISES MY NAME IS BERNIE SANDERS MY NAME IS VENEZUELA MY NAME IS PROPERTY RIGHTS MY NAME IS FREE SPEECH MY NAME IS POSTMODERNISM MY NAME IS PETER DIAMANDIS MY NAME IS KIRA ARGOUNOVA MY NAME IS NEW YORK CITY MY NAME IS MARS MY NAME IS CANCEL CULTURE MY NAME IS HOWARD ROARK MY NAME IS CAPITALISM MY NAME IS OBJECTIVISM
2022 VIDEOS
MY NAME IS UKRAINE MY NAME IS KARL MARX MY NAME IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY MY NAME IS FRANCISCO D’ANCONIA MY NAME IS CUBA MY NAME IS CRYPTO MY NAME IS ENERGY MY NAME IS DEMOCRACY MY NAME IS WOMAN
atlassociety.org
21
Sociedad Atlas – Our Sister Spanish Division Two years ago we began translating some of our most popular “Draw My Life” videos into Spanish, and the massive positive response inspired us to experiment with additional Spanish language content, culminating with the launch of a dedicated division within The Atlas Society for Latin America and Iberian audiences: Sociedad Atlas. Under the tireless leadership of Antonella Marty, a widely recognized author and sought after speaker now representing The Atlas Society at venues worldwide, Sociedad Atlas expanded to include Spanish language social media channels, interviews, Instagram Takeovers and videos. Most recently Antonella recruited 9 business leaders to join Sociedad Atlas’ Entrepreneurial Advisory and Academic Council, and wrapped up the filming of 31 videos based on her book, Objetivismo: Preguntas y Respuestas.
Worldwide Social Media Engagement Sociedad Atlas social media pages—Facebook, Instagram and Twitter—now have a cumulative following of over 10,000!
10 Spanish Draw My Life Videos with 9M+ views! Mi nombre es Venezuela Mi nombre es Ayn Rand Mi nombre es Capitalismo Mi nombre es Propiedad Mi nombre es Envidia Mi nombre es Peter Diamandis Mi nombre es Victimización Mi nombre es Chip Wilson Mi nombre es Gratitud Mi nombre es Victimismo Mi nombre es Ucrania
22 Annual Report
TOP LATIN AMERICAN ENGAGEMENT
Argentina & Chile
Online Events
Academia John Galt 2021
In our very first Academia John Galt last August, Sociedad Atlas partnered with FEE en español to host an intensive online course on Objectivism. During the live course, nearly 400 students heard from Antonella, Jennifer Grossman, and members of Sociedad Atlas’ Academic Council.
Live Readings
Antonella Marty takes to “the stage” to read chapters from The Virtue of Selfishness and Philosophy: Who Needs It for her massive social media following. She launched this initiative in partnership with Deusto, one of the most important book publishers in the Spanish-speaking world, which has recently published the entire Ayn Rand collection in Spanish with an improved translation.
Other online events include…
Conversaciones con La Sociedad Atlas: Antonella has hosted 8 webinar interviews with leading intellectuals and entrepreneurs such as Valentina Verbal, Roberto Salinas-León and Ricardo M. Rojas. INSTAGRAM • Takeovers: Social media followers submit questions, and we respond with one minute video responses. Between Antonella and other special guests, these takeovers have been hosted over 26 times! • Lives: Members of our Sociedad Atlas team have taken to Instagram LIVE 9 times in the last 12 months to discuss topical cultural and political issues. Twitter Spaces – On 8 occasions, we have conducted live interviews on Twitter with guests like Roxana Nicula, Juan Pina, and Jose Benegas.
Antonella Marty & Ladies of Liberty Alliance (LOLA)
Marcelo Salas Martínez, Sebastián Sosa, Verónica Razzini, Gustavo Lázari, Antonella Marty
Live Events Atlas Network’s Foro Libertad in Mexico City - Antonella kicked things off with her talk on “Creating Wealth to Conquer Poverty,” and moderated multiple panels throughout, including one with her colleague Jennifer Grossman and key female leaders of the liberty movement in Latin America. The Future of Freedom in the Americas - Both Antonella Marty and Jennifer Grossman spoke in Miami, FL this past February at a conference jointly hosted by The Atlas Society, The Libre Institute, FEE and the Adam Smith Institute. Festival de las Ideas Puebla 2022 - Antonella Marty dazzled one of the largest conferences in Mexico, speaking to more than 3,500 attendees on the importance of free enterprise and the ideas of Ayn Rand. El Valor de Emprender: Creación de Riqueza y Trabajo - At one of the most strategic faceto-face events hosted by Sociedad Atlas this year in Rosario, Argentina, Antonella brought together some of the country’s most prominent entrepreneurs, including members of Sociedad Atlas Entrepreneurs Council, to address hundreds of attendees. atlassociety.org
23
Distribution Update! In the past 12 months we have distributed 95,736 Graphic Novels and 11,780 Pocket Guides! This brings the TOTAL number of publications distributed in the past five years to 286,707. Our presses keep cranking. Over the past year, we’ve released four new publications (below). Various members of our faculty and outside writers contribute to these pithy publications. Our multi-pronged distribution strategy includes student conferences, classrooms, libraries, student activism kits, and when it comes to our graphic novels we ship to prison libraries, women’s shelters, deployed military personnel and of course, Comic Cons.
24 Annual Report
Now Available Pocket Guide to The Fountainhead This collaboration between David Kelley, Ph.D and Walter Donway provides an easy-to-use readers’ tool for fans and first-time readers alike. It encapsulates the story of Howard Roark and Rand’s theme of “individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man’s soul.”
Pocket Guide to Philosophies of Education This collaboration between Andrew Colgan Ph.D and Stephen Hicks, Ph.D compactly surveys Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Marx, Dewey, Montessori, Rand, Sartre, Skinner, Foucault and others—with special attention to the educational implications of their philosophies. Also available in Kindle
Romanticism Reborn: Ayn Rand, 20th Century Romanticism, and Romantic Realism
IN THE PIPELINE In addition to the publications you see above, we are also in the works of translating ANTHEM: The Graphic Novel into Hebrew and Spanish, thanks to seed funding from two generous donors.
Pocket Guide to Capitalism Richard Salsman, Ph.D contrasts the unsustainable systems of economic redistribution and central planning with capitalism, which “is sustainable because practical, practical because moral, and moral because egoistic.” This concise guide boils down Salsman’s vast knowledge and writings on capitalism into an accessible primer and reference.
Truth and Toleration – Spanish Edition
David Kelley, Ph.D writes in his preface: “Walter Donway references Rand’s Romantic Manifesto, with illuminating observations drawn from his deep understanding of her Objectivist philosophy. But he goes far beyond…in his detailed treatment of the Romantic movement. Even those well-versed in Objectivism will find arresting insights and applications.”
Originally published in 1990, the work has been revised as an analysis of the principles of intellectual collaboration, toleration, and responsibility. Antonella Marty and Vanessa Porras are spearheading the translation of this work of vital importance to understanding—and spreading— Open Objectivism.
Objetivismo: Preguntas y Respuestas
TOP SECRET: The Graphic Novel
Antonella Marty provides answers to commonly asked questions about Objectivism, offering a concise introduction for those curious about Ayn Rand, her philosophy, and its applications. She’s adapted the content into a soon-to-be-released series of 31 videos for Sociedad Atlas. Also available in Kindle
We are taking Ayn Rand’s notes for a screenplay about the development of the atom bomb and turning it into a full-length graphic novel, incorporating both real-life characters such as Oppenheimer as well as fictional ones like Ayn Rand’s Agent X. The theme of the story focuses on whether innovation is possible through collaboration by free minds vs. the stagnation of centrallyplanned industries. As of the publication of this report, just over 30% of the pages of this new graphic novel have been completed, with an estimated publication scheduled for early 2023. atlassociety.org
25
2021 The Atlas Society Gala Our gala last year saw record attendance, with 230 people joining us in person in Malibu to honor Peter Thiel. This was a 64% increase over 2020— which itself saw a 40% increase over the year prior—all at a time when most such galas were seeing attendance down by at least half. With this year’s spectacular gala lineup, and expanded program, we look forward to continuing to set records in 2022.
26 Annual Report
2022 This year we return to Calamigos Ranch to honor Michael Saylor, Founder and CEO of MicroStrategy, and the leading proponent of Bitcoin as a digital store of value. Peter Diamandis, XPRIZE Founder and 2020 Gala honoree, will present the award. Natalie Brunell, Host of Coin Stories, will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies. This year we’re thrilled to extend programming to the day of the gala, with presentations by and panels with our all-star faculty providing commentary on issues from an Objectivist perspective—PLUS afternoon panels with Michael Saylor and other leading thinkers on cryptocurrency, moderated by Brunell.
atlassociety.org
27
28 Annual Report
atlassociety.org
29
Our Impact In last year’s annual report, I shared our goal to reach a $3M operating budget by the end of 2024, and humbly asked donors to increase their giving to help us realize this fundraising milestone. Well, thanks to your generosity, and our success in attracting brand new donors, I can proudly tell you that our 2022 operating budget is $2.5M!!! I’m confident that with our continued momentum—driven by your continued support—our $3M goal by 2024, will be right on the money. A HUGE thank you to all of our donors who rocked our fundraising season and set us up for our biggest year yet. However, now’s the time to shift into overdrive and turbocharge our accelerated growth. The Atlas Society continues to overperform compared to similar organizations relative to size and budget. Our culture of continuous improvement, experimentation, testing and learning quickly puts us in a unique position to always reach our target audience with our mission. The embrace of individual rights and free market economics remains the lead driver of global enrichment, technological innovation and human flourishing. In modern times, Ayn Rand’s literature has proved the most effective “gateway drug” to spark adoption and further exploration of liberty’s foundational ideas. This report has demonstrated the creative ways we are bringing Ayn Rand’s ideas to young people who are consuming content in radically new ways. We leverage art, humor,
narrative, technology, and community to meet them where they are. I was 22 years old when my dad encouraged me to read Atlas Shrugged. I was working construction at the time and listened to the entire audio book in less than 10 days. (Back to my point about young people consuming content differently these days!) I knew I’d never be the same, and desperately wanted others to experience this profound awakening. If you share this desire, then please consider renewing and increasing your support for our work, and join us in inviting other young people on this journey of inspiration, illumination and ambition. Supporting our work today will mean more young people will have the opportunity to discover the life changing philosophy that so impacted me and you. At The Atlas Society, we have more ideas than we have staff or funding to implement. Our primary roadblock is the maxed-out bandwidth of our current staff, and lack of capital to expand and equally important, accelerate. A growing organization means more conference attendance, more campus visits, more adaptations and most importantly, more innovation.
Will you help us expand these initiatives— and accelerate the impact? With profound gratitude, Ana Freund, Development Director
30 Annual Report
Match Campaign = Your Support x2! NEW DONORS = GIFTS ARE MATCHED LAPSED DONORS = GIFTS ARE MATCHED CURRENT DONORS = YOUR INCREASED GIFT AMOUNT IS MATCHED
Ways to Support Our Work Donate by Mail | Donate Cryptocurrency | Donate Stocks | Become a Legacy Donor | Sponsor an Episode of The Atlas Society Asks | Buy Directly from our E-Store | Attend and sponsor our gala
SCAN QR CODE TO DONATE atlassociety.org
31
Atlas Society Board of Trustees James M. Lapeyre, Jr., MBA, JD - Chairman John Aglialoro - Trustee Clifford S. Asness, PhD - Trustee Baron Bond, JD - Trustee Franklin Brooks, AIA - Trustee Peter P. Copses - Trustee David Kelley, PhD - Founder and Trustee
atlassociety.org
22001 Northpark Drive, Suite 250, Kingwood, TX 77339
