Talent Market

Talent Market's mission is to promote liberty by providing talent for critical roles within the free-market nonprofit sector

  • SEND US YOUR RESUME
  • CANDIDATES
    • APPLY FOR YOUR DREAM JOB
    • JOB OPENINGS
    • SIGN UP FOR E-NEWSLETTER
    • CANDIDATE FAQ
  • CLIENTS
    • NEED HELP WITH A SEARCH?
    • OUTREACH
    • GEOGRAPHY & VIRTUAL WORK
    • TIPS FOR HIRING MANAGERS
    • CLIENT LIST
  • RESOURCES
    • ADVICE
      • TALENT TIPS
      • INTERVIEWING TIPS
      • RESUME TIPS
      • PREPARING YOUR RESUME & COVER LETTER
      • CONSIDERING THE NONPROFIT SECTOR?
      • CONSIDERING A CAREER IN FUNDRAISING?
      • ADVICE FOR ATTORNEYS
      • JOB HUNTING RESOURCES
    • INTERNSHIPS, CLERKSHIPS, & FELLOWSHIPS
    • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
      • STUDENTS & RECENT GRADUATES
      • MID-CAREER
      • ATTORNEYS
    • AWARDS
      • AWARD WINNERS
    • FREE-MARKET NONPROFIT DIRECTORY
    • FREE-MARKET NONPROFIT MAP
  • ABOUT
    • SUPPORT
    • SIGN UP FOR E-NEWSLETTER
    • OUR TEAM
    • ADVISORY COUNCIL
    • PARTNERSHIP WITH AMERICA’S FUTURE
    • SUCCESS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • CONTACT

Talent Tip #147: Why is the Liberty Movement Liberty’s Best Kept Secret?

July 19, 2022

Claire Kittle Dixon

 

How in the $@&# does the government deserve this much of my income?

I still remember the seething anger I felt when my accountant told me how much I owed the government in quarterly taxes.

At 24, I had started my own little company and was a 1099 contract employee. Going from a W-2 employee to being self-employed meant no more income tax withholding. And that meant I acutely felt the pain of how much Uncle Sam was skimming from my paycheck.

Being an entrepreneur was exhilarating and nerve-racking, and I absolutely loved the notion of success (or failure!) resting squarely on my shoulders. But it was the quarterly tax payments that inspired me to pivot away from this work and into a career that would allow me to fight an ever-expanding, overreaching government.

Within a year, I had packed my bags and moved to our nation’s capital to change the world.

Cliche, right? That and more than a little half-baked because I had no clue how I was going to change the world. I knew I wanted to reduce the size and scope of government, so Washington, DC seemed like a logical place to start…but now what? I had heard of a couple of big think tanks, but were those my only options?

I was completely unaware of the hundreds of nonprofits fighting to defend liberty. I didn’t know there were state-based think tanks in nearly every state and dozens of national think tanks. I had no idea there were numerous public interest litigation firms fighting the state from multiple angles. I was unaware of the countless free-market nonprofits focused on education, media, advocacy, and capacity building. In short, I didn’t know the liberty movement existed!

Somehow I slipped and tripped and ended up where I needed to be, but it shouldn’t have been that difficult. And the knowledge gap I had then about my career options haunts me today because it still exists! We hear from people all the time who say they had no idea the liberty movement existed until recently.

All of this raises the question: why is the liberty movement liberty’s best-kept secret? And, more importantly, what can we do about it?

  1. How did YOU first learn about the liberty movement? Drop me an email and give me your story. The more we know about how people find the free-market nonprofit sector, the better we can be at identifying new sources of talent.
  2. Student organizations: Ask Talent Market to present to your members about opportunities in the liberty movement. It’s too easy for young professionals to launch their careers without awareness of the free-market sphere as an option! Talent Market gives dozens of presentations each year to liberty-minded college students and we would love to deliver a presentation to your student organization about the landscape of free-market organizations and the most critical talent needs. With our bird’s eye view of the opportunities available, Talent Market is in a unique position to help college students understand how they can build a meaningful career in the liberty movement.  Contact katy@talentmarket.org to learn more.
  3. Nonprofits: Ask Talent Market to present to your interns/fellows about opportunities in the liberty movement. All too often, interns and fellows spend just one summer in the liberty movement and then disappear from our radar.  Talent Market’s outreach efforts are designed to prevent this from happening! We would be delighted to deliver a presentation to your interns/fellows about career opportunities in the liberty movement, advice about developing a strong network, guidance on creating a stellar resume/cover letter, and many other valuable topics for young professionals. These presentations will make your internship program more valuable for participants and will help the liberty movement engage and retain up-and-coming talent over the long-term. Contact katy@talentmarket.org to learn more.
  4. Encourage your friends and family who love liberty to explore a career in the free-market nonprofit sector. We all know someone who shares our passion for free markets but is pushing paper in a soul-destroying job. Friends don’t let friends stay in crap jobs! Please encourage your fellow free-market travelers to connect with Talent Market and send us their information so that we can keep them in mind for opportunities to advance liberty. Personal referrals are Talent Market’s #1 source of talent; we can’t do what we do without you!
  5. Encourage young professionals at your nonprofit to get involved with the free-market movement more broadly. Suggest that they join the local America’s Future chapter/hub and look into State Policy Network’s Generation Liberty Fellowship. Getting involved in growth opportunities such as this will expand young professionals’ knowledge of the liberty movement, bolster their networks, and hopefully help keep them engaged for the long haul.

Meanwhile, all these years later, I’m still irritated when tax time rolls around. And I remain angry at Milton Friedman for his role in income tax withholding, as it allows so many Americans to ignore what I was so incensed about then.

But now that I am in the liberty movement, I take comfort in knowing I’m doing my own little part to make the world a freer, more prosperous place for everyone.

I look forward to hearing from you about your story of discovering the free-market universe.

Keyword Search

Category Search

Talent Tips Archive Search

SEND US YOUR RESUME

If you want us to keep you in mind for opportunities, send us your resume so we have all the details that will help us help you.

About Us

Claire Kittle Dixon
Executive Director

Claire runs the day-to-day operations of Talent Market, manages searches for clients, and oversees the organization’s fundraising communications, technology, administration, and cat-herding efforts…
Read more

 

Katy Gambella
Director of Outreach

Katy oversees Talent Market’s outreach to young professionals and manages the outreach team. She also manages searches and executes outreach directly herself…
Read more

Stephanie Keaveney
Senior Manager of Outreach
Stephanie splits her time between managing talent searches for free-market nonprofits, maintaing Talent Market’s social media presence, and engaging in outreach to young professionals interested in liberty-oriented careers…
Read more

Bailey Drouant
Project Manager
Bailey assists free-market nonprofits with their hiring needs by helping them manage the search process from start to finish…
Read more

Savannah Rupp
Project Manager
Savannah channels her expertise to manage searches for free-market nonprofits, ensuring they find the perfect match to drive their missions forward. She also supports Talent Market’s…
Read more

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Wait, You’re a Nonprofit?

Talent Market is a nonprofit. We’ll wait here while that sinks in. We know it’s a crazy concept, but it’s been working like a charm since 2009.

Talent Market’s mission is to promote liberty by providing talent for critical roles within the free-market nonprofit sector.

We provide consulting and recruiting services at no cost to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that clearly and directly focus on advancing the principles of economic freedom, free enterprise, free trade, free speech, property rights, rule of law, and limited regulation. (We do not work with political organizations, organizations with mission statements that do not clearly advance free-market principles, organizations that focus on social issues, or organizations that have a focus outside of the United States. We are not a job board. ) 

Talent Market believes that the road to prosperity is paved with freedom and that the success of our movement hinges on the talent that will take us there.

Read more

Copyright ©2025 · Talent Market

Copyright © 2025 · AgentPress Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in