
Event Recap
Sutherland Institute was pleased to bring the AEI FREE Forum to Salt Lake City on March 23, 2023. Immediately below are recaps and highlights of the Forum. Toward the bottom are ways to get involved in the next steps as Sutherland advances an ongoing campaign to promote the ideas of FREE throughout Utah.
This policy summit brought together educators, policymakers, philanthropists and other community leaders to chart a course for more widespread and sustained upward mobility for Utah’s youth. This important conversation was led by special guest and keynote speaker AEI Senior Fellow Ian Rowe.
In his new book, Agency, Rowe challenges the negative messages that pervade our culture and offers an empowering alternative that can uplift every young person as they make the passage into adulthood: agency activated and galvanized by the institutions of Family, Religion, Education and Entrepreneurship (FREE).
Religious groups are pillars in our society
Faith-based schools are crucial to churches
The Four Pillars

Family
Aimee Winder Newton led the discussion with Brad Wilcox, Jenet Erickson and Tim Carney on why including family structure is an important metric in data collection and public-facing research.

Religion
Following a keynote by Kathleen Porter-Magee, Sutherland’s Bill Duncan led the conversation with Kathleen and Pastor Corey Hodges on how religious participation leads to individual – and societal – benefits.

Education
Tony Sewell led with a keynote address, then joined Ian Rowe and Hanna Skandera to discuss the benefits of tailored educational options to create better opportunities for success.

Entrepreneurship
John Bailey provided a keynote address, then joined Ally Isom, who led a panel discussion with Margaret Busse and Natalie Gochnour on removing the stigma from certain fields of work and changing the tune for the next generation to encourage all forms of work and careers.
What’s Next?
Over the next year, Sutherland Institute will advance policy and social initiatives in Utah to elevate the institutions at the heart of the FREE framework, proposing policy reforms in 2024 and beyond. Together, we can strengthen families, communities of faith, educational opportunities, and the entrepreneurial pursuit of work as essential ingredients of a flourishing state.
Objectives:
Family
Include family structure as an essential data point in all public research on policy outcomes.
Religion
Equip community leaders with information and resources to demonstrate the social benefits of religion in secular and practical terms.
Education
Incorporate the success sequence — alongside financial literacy curriculum — in public education.
Entrepreneurship
Expand the definition of an entrepreneurial mindset to overcome the cycle of poverty and restore the dignity of work.
Help advance the principles of family,
religion, education and entrepreneurship — learn how at the link below.