The Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit research and education organization based in Arlington Heights, Illinois, is one of the world’s leading free-market think tanks. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. Heartland believes ideas matter, and the most important idea in human history is freedom. Heartland is proud of its long and distinguished history of defending freedom since its founding in 1984. The organization’s 40-person staff, 500-strong board of policy advisors, and more than 5,500 supporters form a pipeline between the freedom movement and the nation’s 8,400 national and state elected officials.