Posted 2025-12-16

ASDE’s 2025 Annual Report

Annual Report. 2025. Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Prepared by Bria Bloom.

Table Of Contents 1.About ASDE 2. Vision and Mission 3. Values 4. Welcome Message 5. Year in Review - Initiatives 6. Year in Review - Finances 7.A Message of Gratitude

About The Alliance for Self-Directed Education The Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE) started in 2016 as a way to bring the various groups advocating for and practicing Self-Directed Education together. ASDE supports, elevates, and collaborates with folks involved in SDE from all over the world, to spread awareness, support, and normalize the lived practice of SDE. We do this through our extensive resource directory, virtual communities and events, Substack newsletter and podcast, The ASDE Compendium, collaborative events, one-on-one email support, writing and publishing through Tipping Points Magazine and Tipping Points Press, and more.

Vision and Mission Vision • We envision a world where young people's human rights are respected and upheld, which includes the freedom to direct their lives and education; and where Self-Directed Education (SDE) is widely embraced, accepted, and available to all families regardless of their status, race, or income. Mission • The Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE) is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to increasing accessibility and awareness of Self-Directed Education as a way of living and learning, and connecting the communities and voices of the movement.

Values Values • Young People Are People. We believe in the rights of young people including, but not limited to, the right to choose their own education. We recognize adultism as a prevalent form of oppression, and that we must all actively work to dismantle it. • Collective Liberation & Anti-Oppression. We believe in collective liberation, and that the path towards that is through being actively against oppression. Our rights, liberation, and freedom are intertwined with one another, and we cannot be free while another is oppressed. • Community. We believe that learning, growth, and support happens in community, and that building community internally within the organization and throughout this movement is a key part of what is necessary for ASDE, and SDE as a way of life to thrive. /></p> <p><img decoding=

The ASDE Compendium In 2025 we introduced The ASDE Compendium, which is a rich collection featuring knowledge, wisdom, and lived experiences from practitioners of Self-Directed Education (SDE) around the world. We released it both as a guided cohort, in order to delve deeply into the material alongside supportive community, and as a four-part, self-guided, online course. The ASDE Compendium is a living resource that can continue to grow, shift, and be a resource for years to come. Looking ahead, we have more guided cohorts slated for 2026, as well as our first print version of this edition of The ASDE Compendium on the way.

ASDE Media We continued to create and share media, announcements, resources and news from around the SDE Community through our Substack, Newsletter, and Social Media Channels, and we launched our first ever ASDE Podcast: Saving the Seeds of SDE. Substack Our Substack is a place to find some of our most popular Tipping Points Magazine articles (complete with new audio for accessibility), community announcements, and the latest news about our initiatives and events. Saving the Seeds of SDE Podcast Our podcast is hosted on Substack, and features contributors to The ASDE Compendium as they expand on the knowledge, wisdom, and experiences shared in their Compendium contributions. These conversations are rich and honest, directly from folks living the movement in diverse ways. Newsletter Our monthly newsletter is the best place to learn all about ASDE's latest news, projects, efforts, and invitations. This year, we added the

Tipping Points Magazine This year, Tipping Points published 17 articles. There were 13 new contributors added and several returning authors as well. Through these articles, we addressed current events, government policies, and social norms affecting youth and families by covering topics like Transgender Youth Rights, School Voucher Programs, the BELA Bill in South Africa, and Equity and Access to SDE. We received feedback and high engagement on these articles, particularly: Stockholm Syndrome: The Left is Missing the Moment for Real Educational Equity by Parker; Wild and Poor by Walters; Dyslexic Kids Wrote This Article in a School that Forces No One to Read or Write by Alfano-Wittmeyer, DeSantis, Ewers, Manship, and Manship. Tipping Points Editor Annie Friday has started up a monthly Creative Flow Hour where writers and creators of all kinds can join an online work session for accountability, creativity, and collaboration. We'll continue this Creative Flow Hour practice into 2026 on the third Thursday of each month.

Resource Directory The Resource Directory expanded during 2025, adding many resources, including SDE communities in four different countries, traveling SDE communities and virtual SDE communities; advocacy organizations from around the world; webinars and events hosted by SDE-based organizations specializing in topics such as advocacy and creating centers; workshops and summits on unschooling, evolving education, and more; deschooling, conference, and retreat offerings from longtime SDE practitioners; new professional services and job openings; zines, research papers; and a new Neurodivergent and Disability Resource Library. We also updated the schools and centers section for much of the United States, reflecting still-operating spaces. The team had ongoing discussions about how to define SDE-aligned resources, and how to ensure the Resource Directory reflects inclusivity and mutual respect, while maintaining our commitment to SDE and respect for young people. This is a constant and ever-evolving discussion, and we take this balance of responsibility and inclusion seriously.

Events This year, ASDE hosted several events, including a documentary screening, several panels, and a Community Feedback Forum. These events bring folks together from all around the world to learn, connect, and reflect, and the audience ranges from people who are brand new to SDE, to folks who have been involved for decades. We also participated as partners in several other large scale events in order to broaden our community partnerships, support alliances, and spread the word about SDE. Partnerships Similarly we also partnered with several larger, SDE-aligned orgs and networks to mutually support one another's initiatives and missions. This work continues to build alliances and coalitions and expands our reach and voices which is important work to us in movement-building. The Alliance for Self-Directed Education.

2025 by the Numbers 600+ Virtual Community Members 100+ Event Attendees 17,000+ Resource Pageviews 108 New Resources Submitted 17 Articles Published 575 Books sold 22,000+ Article Pageviews 1200+ Substack Subscribers

Revenue The vast majority of our yearly revenue comes from monthly donors, including Substack subscribers. A growing percentage also comes from ASDE Compendium sales, the majority of which were from our guided cohort this year. Monthly donors are extremely important to our sustainability and predictability of finances. However, one-time donors are also important and have been dropping over the past five years, which could be for a variety of reasons. Book Sales 4.5% Compendium Sales 28% Monthly Donors 60% One-Time Donations 7.5% The Alliance for Self-Directed Education

Expenses Operations 4.5% Contractors 8.5% Staff 87% The vast majority of our budget goes to our part-time staff to run our organization and projects.

Thank You This movement is and always will be all of us. We are so grateful for the amazing, life-giving work of all of you. The quiet moments with children, the one-on-one support of a caring adult, the young person standing up for another young person, the little kid challenging adults' behavior because they are confident in themselves, the parents working on the laws of their country and state to make SD more accessible, the center founders working to bring SDE to their community, the co-ops and meetups to create community, the podcast hosts and writers and speakers who constantly spread the word and do tireless work to support those looking for alternative, more human-based, options for their kids - these are all the moments that make up this movement. To these many tiny things that are often unnoticed, going on in the background or in individual or community relationships: We witness you. We know the struggle and energy you are putting into this every day. And we know how much it matters. Thank you all for your unwavering commitment to this deeply caring and human-based practice. We are in this with you. www.self-directed.org info@self-directed.org @alliance4sde The Alliance for Self-Directed Education

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Tipping Points Magazine amplifies the diverse voices within the Self-Directed Education movement. The views expressed in our content belong solely to the author(s). The Alliance for Self-Directed Education disclaims responsibility for any interpretation or application of the information provided. Engage in dialogue by reaching out to the author(s) directly.

 
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