EFI receives 2024 Smith Student Outreach Award

The Smith Student Outreach Award recognizes projects which are shown to have had a tangible and meaningful impact for students. It is awarded annually at Atlas Network's Liberty Forum in New York. EFI is honored to have been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Award in recognition of our focus on network building for sustainability and impact. 

EFI is now working with partners in 11 countries across Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Our support covers both common projects in which all partners participate, such as the Economics Olympiad, as well as specific local and regional activities that include seasonal schools and bootcamps. As the impact of our work becomes more visible, both EFI and our partners are securing new sources of local and international support from foundations, businesses and institutions. 

This year alone, we’ve entered 20,000 high school students from 10 countries in the Economics Olympiad. In 2025, we'll support 11 countries. We've also launched an inspiring teacher training program, piloting in Georgia, Kosovo and Ukraine, that has trained almost 200 teachers this year and will reach a further 450 in 2025. Our estimate is that over the next five years, these teachers will reach an estimated 200,000 young people. This award is inspiring recognition of the hard work and passion we share with our country partners. Our programs are building communities, transcending borders and exciting schoolchildren, students and their teachers to explore the economic way of thinking. We are grateful to the Smith Family Foundation and the Atlas Network for their support.