Editor’s Note: I met Nino Khvedeliani at SFL’s Ukrainian Renaissance event in July 2025. I intended to interview her for a Success Story, but when I read the speech she had given earlier that year at LibertyCon Europe, I realized: Nothing I’d write could be better or more poignant. These are her words, edited lightly for clarity. -Trevor Kraus

I walked into LibertyCon Europe 2024 in Tbilisi, Georgia, with curiosity; it was my first libertarian event. I left with a sense of purpose so strong that I submitted my application to be a Local Coordinator for Georgian Students for Liberty that very day.

So I’m no longer just an observer, like I was at that first event. But I’m not just a fighter for freedom, either. Freedom fights for me, too; my life has been profoundly changed by this movement. Let me show you how.

I joined SFL during a tense and challenging time in Georgia. New laws were being enforced that went against democratic values and Georgia’s European future. I was alarmed; I was scared; and above all, I didn’t want to stay on the sidelines.

Protesting alone no longer felt enough. I wanted to be part of something bigger, something that could actually create change.

So SFL came into my life at the right time. I immediately recognized it as a community where ideas turn into action. Within months, I found myself not just involved but leading one of the most impactful campaigns in SFL’s history.

We hosted the largest regional conference ever in Georgia, focused on how our upcoming elections could shape our democratic future. We brought together more than 400 people, from civil society leaders to journalists, students, and opposition voices — all in one room.

Soon thereafter, I became National Coordinator, where I helped launch a global fundraising campaign to provide protective gear for the brave people on the frontlines, standing up to injustice.

The government responded — first by banning masks, then by raising fines for protesting, freezing local funds, and targeting organization founders with false charges. But our campaign persevered. We reached a million people online and raised more than $5,000.

That money helped people who were being unlawfully prosecuted and their family members — some of whom were seriously ill, others who had lost, to prison, their sole providers of money. It also supported informational campaigns, hoping to inspire others in their refusal to let authoritarian regimes determine their future.

I couldn’t be prouder of those efforts, but there’s an even deeper, more personal reason SFL means so much to me.

For the first time in my life, I felt like someone heard my voice. I felt like my efforts mattered. In a country where status and recognition are often tied to nepotism, that feeling meant everything.

It was the amazing European SFL staff who made that possible. They made me see that hard work and passion really do count.

I’m still pretty new to the ideas of liberty. Before last year, I had never heard of Hayek or Mises. I had never thought about free speech or free markets. But since joining SFL, I’ve been thinking about those things A LOT.

For what it’s worth, I’ve concluded this much: Liberty is about human beings. It’s about my friends, my classmates, my surroundings, being free to speak, to live, to dream. To build a future in Georgia that belongs to them — to me — and not to those in power. And so, at the heart of everything I do is one goal: to make a real, positive impact on society.

For me, SFL isn’t just about organizing events or launching campaigns. It’s about showing people — especially young people — what I learned: that they don’t have to wait until adulthood (whatever that means) to make a difference. That even — especially — in a country under pressure, freedom is worth fighting for. And most importantly, that we are not alone in this fight.

So, thank you. To every donor, partner, speaker, and staffer. And to every SFLer, from the country of Georgia to the state of Georgia. Your work and your support aren’t just changing lives; your work and your support are saving them.

P.S. I have a twist ending for you: All along — for more than a year — I’ve been planning to move to Seoul, South Korea, where I was accepted to pursue a Master’s degree in international trade.

This had been my dream for years … but after working so hard and accomplishing so much for liberty in Tbilisi, I found myself second-guessing that dream. Through SFL and its team in Georgia, I fell in love with my country all over again.

I spent many hours thinking, but I ultimately decided to stick to my plan. I promise you: I will never give up on Georgia, and Georgia is not giving up on liberty, but I will be moving in August of 2025.

I’m not leaving my mission behind, though; I’m bringing it with me: I’m going to reinvigorate Students For Liberty’s South Korea organization. And when people in relatively wealthy, prosperous South Korea — where personal freedom is much more thoroughly respected — ask me, “Why do you fight for liberty?” I will say: because I’ve seen what happens when we don’t.