France has always been part of the Acton Institute’s story. When Fr. Sirico and Kris Alan Mauren founded the Acton Institute in 1990 to promote a freeand virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles,among their main sources of inspiration were several French liberal thinkers such as Jean-Baptiste Say, Frédéric Bastiat, and…
At a dinner party in Grand Rapids in the early 1990s, Chip and Julie Wisse met some devout Roman Catholics who introduced them to the Acton Institute. This chance encounter blossomed into a decades-long relationship that profoundly shaped both their worldview and their legacy planning. “We talked about this a little bit,” Chip recalls. “I…
When Susan Roberts recalls how she and her late husband Owen first connected with Acton Institute, she remembers it started with a lunch meeting. In early 1995, one of their longtime employees announced he was having lunch with Father Robert Sirico, a Catholic priest. “I said, ‘Why are you having lunch with a Catholic priest?…
One evening on the streets of Joplin, Missouri, Ralph—a chronically homeless man—offered James Whitford half of his sandwich. At that moment, both men were living on the streets, though Whitford’s situation was temporary—a voluntary experience to better understand the people his ministry served. The simple act of sharing would later reinforce a profound shift in…
At National Heritage Academies (NHA), a network of 100 charter schools serving 65,000 students across nine states, Chief Learning Officer Nick Sheltrown guides the educational philosophy of an organization committed to both academic excellence and character development. But the seeds of Nick’s transformative work were planted years ago, during a summer internship at the Acton…
In the serene community of Ave Maria, Florida, Sydney McManus along with her brothers, Chris and Regan LaMothe carry forward a legacy of faith, education, and philanthropy established by their parents, Pat and Bill LaMothe. As directors of the Patricia A. and William E. LaMothe Foundation Inc., Sydney and her brothers continue their parents’ mission…
You approach a healthcare provider to discuss your concern about the new tightness in your chest. After listening to your description of your symptoms, the provider recommends an EKG study to examine your heart rhythms. The test is a little expensive, but it will provide insight into the health of your heart, one of the…
Michael Matheson Miller directed an award-winning documentary on poverty in the developing world. Now he’s turning his camera lens to the United States. Poverty, Inc., released in 2014, played in more than sixty film festivals, won a number of awards—including the prestigious Templeton Freedom Award—and has had a successful run on streaming services like Netflix…
It’s no secret that Detroit is struggling. Once a thriving metropolis, the Motor City suffered a dramatic fall from grace that began with an overreliance on the domestic automotive manufacturing industry. Detroit was hit incredibly hard by the Great Recession and the bankruptcies of both Chrysler and GM; then, the municipal government itself filed for…
There is a passage in Frederick Douglass’s autobiography that business professor Rachel Ferguson never forgets. Douglass describes how, when he was a slave, his owner’s wife started teaching him to read. When Douglass’s owner found out, he was furious and “proceeded to unfold to his wife the true philosophy of the slave system,” Douglass writes….