Maximilian Wirth
Germany
SFL SUCCESS STORY:
Maximilian Wirth
SFL Europe
Former student leader now working at the Bundestag as the policy advisor for a pro-liberty politician
Maximilian Wirth, formerly a student leader in Germany, is now the policy advisor for Frank Schäffler, a member of German parliament who has a strong passion for liberty.
Max’s path to advocating for liberty began years before this however. Before attending university, he took a gap year where he worked at a soup kitchen in Argentina. During his time there, he was taken aback by the poor living standards he witnessed, and so he started looking for ways to improve the world. This search led Max to an understanding of the extreme importance of economic and personal freedom.
Later, when he began his studies in Germany, a friend invited him to a Students For Liberty conference in Munich. This was the first Students For Liberty conference in Germany and one of the first in Europe. Reflecting on the event, Max recalls, “I was immediately thrilled by the mission of SFL and the energy of everyone involved, so I decided to start my own chapter at the University of Maastricht.”
By the time Max graduated three years later, Maastricht SFL had hosted multiple conferences and events with several hundred attendees.
In the working world, Max spent some time at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Following this, he became the policy advisor for Frank Schäffler. As Max describes his role, “I am responsible for everything with regards to policy in our team. This includes writing policy recommendations and briefings about topics such as FinTech regulation, European Monetary policies, or the impact of Brexit on the European banking sector.”
Max credits his success to his time spent with Students For Liberty:
On the one hand, I gained a very good network of policy experts from all around the world. Those experts, who I already knew from student activism, can be extremely helpful whenever I have to form an opinion about a new legislative proposal or research an issue I have never heard of before.
On the other hand, I developed a strong “intellectual compass”, which helps me approach new topics. I have to deal with proposals for new laws and regulations on a daily basis. The various discussions and lectures I organized and attended during my time with SFL – especially the ones not directly related to my field of study – prepared me well to approach those new topics.
Students For Liberty considers it a great honor to have people like Max as part of our network. He’s making a difference in the world and promoting freedom in Germany. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.
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