In 2017, I recognised that liberal democracy was under threat globally.

Human rights were violated, disinformation spread and trust in democratic institutions eroded.

Noam Vidan

Founder & Director

Noam Vidan

Founder & Managing Director, IDEA

Noam Vidan, Founder and Managing Director of IDEA, The Center for Liberal Democracy. Throughout the past decade, her professional focus has centered on democratic political education tailored for senior leadership, cultivating leadership, and establishing the infrastructure necessary to strengthen liberal-democratic political power.

Before founding IDEA, Noam engaged in democratic citizenship education through developing curriculum, teaching, and advising teams across both formal and informal educational sectors and academia, alongside advancing leadership development in various educational frameworks.

I founded IDEA in response to the recognition that populist movements were coordinating across borders to undermine liberal democracy

2014

Viktor Orbán articulates the idea of «illiberal democracy»

2015

Law and Justice party comes to power
in Poland

2016

The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union

2016

Donald Trump is elected as President of the United States

2017

IDEA, the Center for Liberal Democracy was founded

The main problem IDEA identified was that leaders were

Liberal democratic leaders influence key institutions and sectors, yet lacked a shared infrastructure to unite their strengths. Weak personal ties, competition and a lack of trust kept them working in isolation, limiting their ability to coordinate strategically and build collective political power.

The Response

A Structured
Political Network

IDEA unites former political opponents around the core liberal values of liberty and equality for all, laying the foundations for ideological partnership and building the human infrastructure and relationships that underpin liberal political power.

Over the past decade, IDEA has brought together hundreds of leaders across nine spheres of influence, forming a unified liberal-democratic ecosystem.

Political
Parties
Public
Service
Local
Government
Civil
Society
Journalists
& Media
Private
Sector
Culture
Education
Philanthropy

The Ecosystem

IDEA’s ecosystem turns ideas into effective joint action, pools resources around shared priorities and enables collaboration within and across sectors to multiply impact.

Together, we’ve built the
liberal model
of political power.

Core Proposition:

The Front

We unite leaders across the liberal spectrum, right and left, Jews and Arabs, secular and religious, building the capacity to act together across differences when democratic principles are at stake.

How We do It: We reshape leaders’ understanding of the crisis and unite them to build liberal-democratic political power.

Political Education

1

Our fellowships bring leaders into IDEA’s network, building a shared liberal-democratic language and understanding of the global democratic crisis. Ongoing learning equips our network members to address emerging political challenges.

Community Building

2

We build relationships and trust across identities and political traditions. Fellows join our network and its sectoral, professional and identity-based communities, creating a shared political home through conferences, delegations and informal gatherings

Joint Action

3

Like training a muscle, we strengthen strategic collaboration through practice, connecting people, knowledge and resources across spheres of influence. Members turn shared priorities into joint action, multiplying collective impact.

Institutional Power

4

Institutions shape national identity, culture and political life. We build collective political power by strengthening institutions, supporting members to lead them and establishing new ones where the liberal-democratic camp needs them.

IDEA Today

Israel is where IDEA has developed and tested this approach under conditions of intense democratic pressure.

16

Fellowship
programs
44

Cohorts
Completed
8

Annual
conferences
600+

Senior leaders
in our network

IDEA’s next challenge is to take our power building model global

IDEA Global aims to connect Liberal-Democratic leadership across the globe to learn from one another and strengthen their collective capacity.

IDEA’s next challenge is to take our power building model global

IDEA Global aims to connect Liberal-Democratic leadership across the globe
to learn from one another and strengthen their collective capacity.

Let’s build the next
chapter together!

For strategic partnerships, research collaborations, philanthropic conversations, international exchange, or an introduction to IDEA’s work, we invite you to get in touch.

Noam Vidan

A StructuredPolitical Network

Together, we’ve built the liberal model of political power.

How We do It: We reshape leaders’ understanding of the crisis and unite them to build liberal-democratic political power.

Political Education

Community Building

Joint Action

Institutional Power

IDEA Today

IDEA Global aims to connect Liberal-Democratic leadership across the globe to learn from one another and strengthen their collective capacity.

IDEA Global aims to connect Liberal-Democratic leadership across the globe to learn from one another and strengthen their collective capacity.

Let’s build the nextchapter together!

A Structured
Political Network

Together, we’ve built the
liberal model
of political power.

IDEA Global aims to connect Liberal-Democratic leadership across the globe
to learn from one another and strengthen their collective capacity.

Let’s build the next
chapter together!