Students For Liberty alumnus and classical liberal policy writer, Martin Van Staden, recently started a new role as Deputy Head of Policy and Research at the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR).
Martin van Staden works daily to advance freedom in South Africa. He has been a part of Students For Liberty since 2014 when he joined the organization as a student. Martin recalls how his journey with Students For Liberty took him from being a “complaining armchair libertarian” to a classical liberal activist at the forefront of pro-liberty causes.
Before starting his new role at the IRR, Martin previously served on the Council of the IRR from June 2020 until the end of September 2022. Martin’s writing continually promotes liberty in Africa.
Speaking on his new role and his time at the IRR as a council member, Martin hopes to continue to exert a liberal influence on the course of South Africa’s political development, and working at the IRR (South Africa’s oldest continuous classical liberal organization, founded in 1929) is a surefire way to do so.
Martin’s involvement with Students For Liberty fueled his activism and led to his employment at the Free Market Foundation in South Africa as far back as 2016. Martin has a career history of working with several liberty-focused organizations. He serves as the South African policy fellow at the Consumer Choice Center, a member of the board of the Free Market Foundation South Africa, and Editor at Large for Being Libertarian. Furthermore, Martin is on the BridgeAfrica advisory board.
Martin served on Students For Liberty’s (SFL) African Executive Board from August 2015 to August 2018 and was a Young Voices Advocate from May 2017 to March 2018. Through his work, network, and publications, Martin is persistent in promoting liberty throughout Africa.
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This piece solely expresses the opinion of the author and not necessarily the organization as a whole. Students For Liberty is committed to facilitating a broad dialogue for liberty, representing a variety of opinions.
