What We Believe
The ideal at the heart of the American Dream speaks to the aspirations of people everywhere: No matter who you are or where you come from, you should have equal opportunity to succeed.
The Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream’s purpose is to make the American Dream an attainable reality for people everywhere—across America and around the world. We focus on expanding access to four pillars of the American Dream: education, good health, economic freedom, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
We believe opportunity should be real for everyone. In reality, it’s not. Unequal access to the pillars of the American Dream deprives people of real opportunity.
We’re a nonpartisan place for people from different backgrounds and beliefs to explore possibilities, gain practical knowledge, and engage in productive dialogue that leads to meaningful action. Together, we’ll advance the American Dream by advancing real solutions to make opportunity real for everyone.
The Center is part of the Milken Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank focused on ways to help people build meaningful lives.
Click here to read the Milken Institute's message about the Coronavirus.
Opening in 2020, the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream is a virtual community for education, competitions, and inspiration, connecting you to your dreams. We're building platforms to reach millions of students, educators, innovators, and influencers worldwide.
The virtual becomes real in July 2023, when we open our American Dream Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.
The Pillars of the American Dream
You need good health.
You need the right education and skills.
You need economic opportunity.
And you need YOU -
a belief that you can achieve your goals if you set your mind to it.
These are tools that make opportunity real. Our responsibility as individuals is to make the best use of the tools we have. Our institutions of government—and the private sector—have a responsibility to ensure these tools are equally available to everyone, no matter who you are or where you live.
Read more about the
The Restoration of our Washington D.C. Home
Opening in 2023, The American Dream Visitor Center will be housed in several historic buildings along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., across from the White House and Treasury Building in the area once known as “President’s Park.” The American Dream Visitor Center will welcome students, educators, families and tourists from around the world to participate in state-of-the-art interactive, immersive learning experiences about the American Dream. Ultimately, we hope all visitors are inspired and empowered to make their own dreams a reality.
Contribute
Your gift to the Center will help to provide the crucial funding needed to complete our Visitor Center in Washington, D.C., and to build our virtual community and programming. Please click here to join us in our mission to make the American Dream an attainable reality for everyone around the world.
The Milken Institute
The Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream is the brainchild of philanthropist Michael Milken and the latest endeavor of The Milken Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that helps people build meaningful lives. The Milken Institute seeks to empower everyone to experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities.
