Note: This article was originally sent as an email on November 24, 2022.
To all Friends of The Atlas Society,
This is our third year of sending out our “gratitude” email the week of Thanksgiving. At a time when so many (including us) are dismayed by certain cultural and political trends, this exercise provides each member of our team an opportunity to gain strength and hope by actively remembering all the things that are going right in our lives.
As you may remember from “My Name is Gratitude,” we believe that gratitude provides a powerful antidote to resentment, envy and victimhood. So please enjoy these heartfelt expressions of thanks from each member of our team, below—we’re thankful to have you take the time to read them.
Wishing you a beautiful Thanksgiving ahead!
The Atlas Society Team
Jennifer Grossman
CEO
Every day I give thanks for the enormous privilege of sharing Ayn Rand's ideas with young people around the world—and I'm particularly grateful for the generosity, encouragement and friendship of the donors that make that work possible.
I'm thankful for the 'master class' of learning from our faculty on a daily basis, and I deeply appreciate the commitment, productivity and creativity of our team—and the energy and positive attitude they bring to their jobs every day.
David Kelley
Founder
I’m grateful to JAG and her team for bringing my baby, TAS, to healthy, vibrant adulthood; to our trustees, who have stayed the course and helped us navigate turbulent waters; and to the scholars who have joined us and realized my life-long dream to be part of an intellectual community.
And I’m grateful to the many friends who encouraged me at the beginning and whom I met along the way, who provided so many treasured experiences.
Stephen Hicks
Senior Scholar
I'm proud to be a part of the high-powered intellectual team that TAS has become.
Richard Salsman
Senior Scholar
I’m enormously grateful for Lisa, my wife and the love of my life.
I’m also grateful to have been born and live in America, a relatively free and prosperous country, and to work with the talented, benevolent and cheerful folks at The Atlas Society in spreading the philosophy of Objectivism, which will make America freer still.
Antonella Marty
Director, Sociedad Atlas
This year I am extremely grateful for The Atlas Society team, the great achievements, and progress we have made in Latin America to expand Ayn Rand's ideas, and for all the support from the rest of the staff and directors.
I am also grateful for the good things of this incredible year, my family, my friendships, and the loving companionship of my beagle, Mia.
Rob Tracinski
Senior Fellow
Professionally, this year I was grateful for the opportunity to get out and talk about Ayn Rand with young people at a Students for Liberty conference.
Personally, I got the chance this summer to more directly educate the next generation on a tour of ancient cities in the Mediterranean with my two teenage sons, my wife, and my dad.
Ana Freund
Development Director
I continue to feel very grateful for this job (and for the donors who make my work possible!)—which affords me many unique opportunities to learn and grow both personally and professionally.
I am also very grateful to have traveled so much this year, including a trip outside of the country with my husband of one year.
Carly Gino
COO
I remain sincerely grateful for the love I have experienced from my dogs, my friends, and my family.
I am also so very thankful for the love I have given and the little (and big) joys that have made their way into my life year after year.
I am constantly reminded that life is what we make of it…and I look forward to every day!
Erin Redding
Director of Programs
As I wrap up my 5th year with The Atlas Society I continue to feel grateful to work for an organization that works tirelessly to teach young people the dangers of collectivism and the power of the individual.
Lorence Olivo
Associate Editor
I am grateful to work surrounded by great people at The Atlas Society who engage in and encourage a lifelong love of reason, liberty, capitalism, and Ayn Rand.
Abbie Berringer
Student Programs Manager
I am grateful for love, faith, and a life full of first-world privileges which most Americans enjoy on a daily basis but 90% of all who've lived throughout recorded history could never even fathom.
I am grateful for a workplace where I know my teammates share my values and wish to uphold the principles which once made America a shining light upon the hill for the whole world.
Clara Whitcomb
Development Coordinator
I am so grateful to work at a place that lets me be myself—and for all the connections I have made along the way.
I’m also thankful for my family; they always lift me up and never fail to make me laugh.
Scott Schiff
Fundraising & Operations Coordinator
I'm really grateful to have a place to talk about Ayn Rand's ideas without worrying about some closed-type telling me what I'm allowed to think.
I'm also very grateful to now be working with great, fun people while promoting some of my most important values.
Vanessa Porras
Director, Strategy & Operations for Latin America
As difficult as it was to live under Venezuelan socialism, I'm grateful that the experience provided a first hand perspective of what it's like to live without political and economic freedom.
Any hardships I experienced there have made me all the more grateful to live and work in America, and all the more motivated to try and wake up young people from the dangerous delusions of socialism through my work at The Atlas Society.
...and we're grateful for YOU!