Active Citizen Blog

Freedom Inc. is a Black and Southeast Asian non-profit organization founded and run out of Madison, Wisconsin. This organization promotes leadership development and community organizing in low- to no-income communities of color. Freedom Inc. empowers individuals who are most affected by violence, poverty, racism, and discrimination, and challenges the deeper causes of these issues. This organization believes for true social change to happen, these individuals need voice, power, resources and choice. The program began in 2000 as a safe space for young Hmong women in the Madison area to talk about their lives and their struggles. The organization quickly expanded to include other Southeast Asian youth, and since then has grown to serve Southeast Asain and Black youth, women, gender non-conforming, and LGBTQ+ individuals. In 2003, the organization named themselves Freedom Inc., and established a motto of, “Our community is our campaign.”

Freedom Inc. offers numerous kinds of programs for youth and adults, and provides a wide variety of services such as immigration and citizenship attainment, navigating the health system, sexual assault advocacy, applying for federal or state benefits, and more.

If you would like to get involved or find out how, you can visit Freedom Inc.’s website at https://www.freedom-inc.org/index.php.

Written by Rachel Lentner, Associate Director of Community Outreach