Contents
The Franklin Club was founded in 2021 based on the ideas of freedom that Benjamin Franklin defended in America and Ilia Chavchavadze, a Georgian writer who led a 19th century revival in his native country, defended in Georgia. 2
Activities
The Franklin Club aims to help revive classical liberalism as a mainstream political force in Georgia by educating citizens and pursuing political change. As an association of classical liberals and libertarians, the Franklin Club seeks to bridge the divide between socialist and conservative visions with the values and solutions based in classical liberalism, namely liberty in the form of personal and economic freedom. 1
The Franklin Club developed its Franklin Academy as a four-week program for students featuring weekend lectures from academics at the University of Georgia and the Franklin Club’s experts and scholars. The primary subjects of the Franklin Academy include an introduction to politics, the political ideologies economy, human rights and the rule of law, international relations, and debating. The Franklin Academy also conducts organized educational trips. 3
Controversy
In 2023, the Georgian Dream party, the governing party of Georgia at the time, claimed that the Franklin Club was a group of Satanists and anarchists that had organized mass protests that occurred on March 7 through 9, 2023, in opposition to the Georgian Parliament’s controversial law restricting alleged foreign agents. The law would have required advocacy groups and media to register as agents of foreign influence if they received more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign sources. 4
Funding
Franklin Club is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. Franklin Club received two grants from the Atlas Network after its founding in 2021, and claims that these grants comprise 10 to 15 percent of its budget. 2
Academic Director
Revaz Topuria is a co-founder and academic director of Franklin Club. Topuria is a faculty lecturer at the University of Georgia (Tbilisi); the executive director of the UG Security, Policy and Nationalism Research Center; and a managing partner of the Centre for Economic Prosperity. 5
Board
Alexander Zibzibadze is a co-founder and director of development of Franklin Club. Zibzibadze was a speaker at both Atlas Network’s 2023 Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner and Atlas Network‘s Europe Liberty Forum 2022. 6
Saba Jajanidze is the head of the Startup Factory at the University of Georgia (Tbilisi) and the CEO of Solvio. 7
Mari Kapanadze is the program manager of the Regional Environmental Center. Kapanadze is a former project officer at the Biological Farming Association ELKANA. 8
Ana Khurtsidze is the dean of the law school at the University of Georgia (Tbilisi), the vice president of international education at the INADR International Academy of Dispute Resolution, and a member of the Global Mediation Panel at the United Nations .9
Sandro Tarkhan-Mouravi is a Strategic Development Consultant at the University of Georgia (Tbilisi) and a former editor of Forbes Georgia. 10