WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation today announced that it has selected the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) and Insitute for Family Studies (IFS) as recipients of the Heritage Innovation Prize.  

The groups will each receive a $50,000 award in support of their work to protect kids online. EPPC, in partnership with the Institute for Family Studies, recently launched its ‘Protect Kids Online’ initiative, which provides resources to parents, policymakers, and religious leaders to combat the ever-increasing challenges that come with such rapid technological developments. The initiative seeks to restrict the creation and distribution of online pornography, especially to children, combat Big Tech’s censorship, address social media’s role in promoting the sexual exploitation of children, and examine the positive and negative effects of social media on the common good. 

Dr. Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation commented on this award:  

“Protecting our nation’s children from the harmful effects of social media should be of the utmost importance. We commend our friends at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and Institute for Family Studies for taking this seriously and working tirelessly to ensure that the innocence of our children is protected. In an age where children are constantly exposed to dangerous content, it is critical that parents, lawmakers, and leaders are informed. EPPC and ISF have taken the lead on this, and Heritage could not be more pleased to present them with this year’s Innovation Prize.” 

Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center said: 

“The Ethics and Public Policy Center promotes a full account of human nature and human flourishing across critical areas of public policy—doing so with intellectual rigor and civility. Three years ago, Clare Morell launched our work on the Technology and Human Flourishing Project and is the embodiment of this mission. In partnership now with our friends at the Institute for Family Studies, Clare's work has led multiple states to pass legislation empowering parents to protect kids from the harms of social media and online obscenity. We are deeply grateful that this innovative work is being recognized for its excellence as this prize will enable us to help more states take action.” 

Michael Toscano, executive director of the Institute for Family Studies, commented on the award: 

"For more than a decade, Americans have watched helplessly as their kids were addicted to and transformed by Big Tech's products. In partnership with the Ethics and Public Policy Center, two years ago the Institute for Family Studies launched a campaign to inspire legislation to give parents more power over what their kids see and do online, resulting in more than a dozen laws nationwide. With the Heritage Foundation's Innovation Prize, we can advance further in the fight to liberate children from the clutches of Silicon Valley and restore them to a life anchored in genuine, embodied relationships." 

The Heritage Innovation Prize recognizes and provides substantive financial awards totaling up to $1 million annually to results-oriented nonprofits for projects involving research, litigation, education, outreach, or communications, particularly those focused on empowering parents in education, holding Big Tech accountable, countering the threat of the Chinese Communist Party, securing America’s borders and reducing crime, ensuring free and fair elections, reducing the growth of spending and inflation, and promoting life and family formation. 

This is the fourth round of Heritage Innovation Prizes to be awarded. In 2023, winners of the Prize included Communio, the National Association of Scholars, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Speech First, and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. These awards are sponsored by The Heritage Foundation’s robust endowment for innovative conservative projects. 

For more information on the most recent Innovation Prize awards, read here, or for information on the inaugural awards, read here. For more information about the prize itself, read here.