From Students For Liberty’s network that spans more than 100 countries and thousands of student volunteers, three students and three regional groups are nominated annually for the prestigious honors of Student and Group of the Year. Here are this year’s nominees. Voting will take place among students and staff, and the winners will be announced at LibertyCon Europe in Madrid, April 24-26, 2026.
The Nominees for Student of the Year
Blazej Szkudlarek (Europe)
When Blazej Szkudlarek joined Students For Liberty, our team in Poland had only a few inactive members. In short order, Blazej made strategic partnerships with businesspeople and potential donors across Poland, and took over the Austrian Economics Club, brought it under the SFL umbrella, and expanded it to host events in a dozen cities across Poland.
It all culminated in the Austrian economics conference, which Blazej led in Krakow in 2025. Further, Blazej secured an SFL presence at Miltonalia, Bitcoin FilmFest, Freedom Games and other significant events. Overall, under his leadership, the team hosted an astounding 46 events in 2025.
That included a three-day-long conference attended by 250 participants, for which Blazej managed to raise more than €10,000.
A consummate teammate, Blazej also brought the Polish network to the Ukrainian Renaissance Conference. Blazej exemplifies everything Students For Liberty stands for, and he makes an excellent nominee for Student of the Year.
Effat Jahan Efa (South Asia)
Effat drew inspiration from the likes of Ayn Rand and Elinor Ostrom to embark on an intellectual quest in free-market principles.
She launched events like the “Empower Bangladesh Social Media Campaign,” “Launchpad SFL Bangladesh,” “Innovate With Liberty,” and “Freedom Pitch,” all of which spread the ideas of liberty — even amidst a revolution and government crackdown. Under her leadership, the Bangladesh network of 60 volunteers used VPNs to lead social media campaigns to inform thousands of people globally about what was happening in their country. And she was instrumental in leading her team to push back against the regime’s clampdown on the student-led Quota Reform Movement of 2024.
Overall, in 2025, she orchestrated 27 events, which attracted a total of 1,055 participants with 62,000 online impressions.
Effat exemplified SFL’s mission and vision, even when a freer future seemed hopeless. She makes an exceptional nominee for Student of the Year.
Cristian Romero (EsLibertad)
Cristian Javier Romero distinguished himself as a leader for Colombia’s future. He accumulated the equivalent of 140 full days of volunteer service, but his commitment delivered tangible impact, too: He organized and led 56 events, reaching 1,643 people nationwide. One of those events was a debate among political candidates that attracted 340 people.
Some of the questions held those candidates’ feet directly to the fire. He asked: What will you do to advance capitalism? And: What do you think about taxes?
His events were not only frequent but also strategic. From planning logistics to delivering content, Cristian consistently demonstrated a professionalism that inspired peers and participants alike. He also wrote and published a Libertarian Constitution for Colombia, which he presented across the country at in-person events.
Through his extraordinary commitment, leadership, and the inspiration he provides, Cristian Javier Romero has proven himself to be a true force for change, and he is a very worthy nominee for Student of the Year.
The Nominees for Group of the Year
SFL Spain
Team Spain expanded rapidly over the past year; it now counts more than 60 coordinators and 100 active volunteers, with chapters active from the big cities in Madrid and Barcelona to smaller regional centers as well as the remote Canary Islands and Mallorca.
This group mobilized massive volunteer efforts to assist flood victims in Valencia — more than 40 volunteers joined the clean-up efforts and helped deliver aid. But that was just the start. SFL Spain garnered national visibility with their dozens of weekly seminars, lectures, and reading groups, as well as regional conferences including LibertyFest Galicia and the Madrid Book Fair.
SFL Spain also became a digital powerhouse. Their podcasts, YouTube shows, and social media campaigns produced hundreds of hours of content, reaching more than 500,000 impressions and tens of thousands of engagements. Our hosts for LibertyCon Europe are a deserving nominee for Group of the Year, 2026.
SFL Canada
SFL Canada delivered perhaps the strongest year in North American history. Their flagship Impact Project, Student Petition Against the Carbon Tax, saw two volunteers travel across the country to host more than 30 campus events and protests at nine legislatures. They collected 1,200 signatures, helping to abolish the federal carbon tax. And on the provincial level, British Columbia’s premier followed suit the day after SFL’s protest outside his office.
On campus, SFLers helped overturn a student-union decision that blocked the creation of a club. Meanwhile, one Canadian volunteer ran as a Libertarian Party candidate for Parliament, while another ran for City Council in Quebec.
Additionally, SEVEN Canadian SFLers and recent alumni entered the Alberta government over the past year. After hosting 174 events, reaching more than 11,000 students, and piling up 8 million Social Media views, SFL Canada is an outstanding nominee for Group of the Year.
SFL Bolivia
Team Bolivia hosted 330 events and reached 7,890 people across the country over the past year, in the process becoming a nationally recognized political force. Their flagship initiative, Horizontes Libres, empowered high school and first-year university students through quarterly training in liberal philosophy, entrepreneurship, public speaking, and project management.
The Para Emprender program further amplified this vision by connecting young people with prominent leaders from the business sector. And the team’s commitment to dialogue and critical thinking was prominent in their Frater Liberal project, a weekly space dedicated to debating current issues.
Most notably, 2025 was an election year in Bolivia, and SFL’s team there hosted two public debates: one among the vice-presidential candidates and the other among senate candidates. Both auditoriums were overflowing with people who, after 20 years of socialist rule, were — partly thanks to SFL Bolivia — freshly enthusiastic about the ideas of free markets and liberty.
SFL Bolivia had an INCREDIBLE 2025, and they are richly deserving of this nomination for Group of the Year.
The Finalists for the David Boaz Impact Project of the Year Award
New this year is an award that honors one of the giants of the liberty movement.
David Boaz, the Cato Institute’s longest-serving staff member and a founding SFL advisory board member, believed in this organization before almost anyone else: he provided our first office space, introduced us to donors, and mentored our students until his passing in 2024.
Thanks to a generous gift from David and his husband, Steve Miller, the David Boaz Impact Project of the Year Award will now recognize, every year, the student-led Impact Project that creates the most meaningful and measurable change toward a freer world.
Watch the video introducing the award, in David’s own voice:
Choosing won’t be easy. Our students ran 179 Impact Projects across 36 countries this year. Three made the final cut.
Asher Boekestein (North America): The Radical Centrist
In a moment when political discourse turned poisonous, Asher Boekestein spoke up. His content platform, The Radical Centrist, makes the case for liberty, justice, and the rule of law in a way regular people can identify with. Leading a team of ten young creators producing pro-liberty content every week, Asher racked up more than 300,000 views and drove hundreds of new applications to SFL. David Boaz was, above all, a communicator of ideas. Asher is carrying that torch, and he is a superb finalist for this award.
Prasidika Dhungana (South Asia): Nepal Policy Forums
When Nepal’s government banned 26 social media platforms overnight and protests turned deadly, Prasidika Dhungana built something remarkable: a forum where policymakers and student leaders debate on principle, at a moment when debate itself carried real risk. Venues refused to host her events. Speakers backed out. Prasidika kept going. Her Nepal Policy Forums are proof that the ideas of liberty can take root in the hardest soil, and she is a fearless finalist for this award.
Bator Vari (Europe): Stop Chat Control
The EU’s Chat Control proposal would have required every digital message in Europe to be scanned by government. Bator Vari, a 19-year-old Hungarian, wasn’t having it. He organized volunteers in more than 20 countries who contacted 450 Members of the European Parliament, blanketed the continent with petitions and press, and generated over a million social media impressions. On the day of the vote, the proposal was rejected. Bator is a formidable finalist for this award.
