Agora was officially born on August 21, 2016, with a Facebook announcement by Alexander Hristov. Every year, we celebrate Agora's birthday at the Agora International Convention. Although the initial announcement spoke of an "income-sensitive low fee structure" (which was initially going to be based on the per-capita GDP of the country), fees were waived for 2016 and 2017. Finally, in 2018, it was officially announced that, in fact, Agora would be free for all public clubs. The economic model shifted to one based on donations, state grants, payments by corporate clubs, and professional courses. Agora has always had a very ambitious transformational vision - much beyond public speaking -, and the benefit of being able to reach out to all people, everywhere, regardless of their economic level or social status, and help them become the leaders of the future greatly outweighed the loss of economic income. Our beginnings were not easy - all the educational materials had to be written from scratch. A new educational system had to be developed, a completely new IT infrastructure, a new set of social media channels. In addition to the expected "birth pains", we had to face some unexpected difficulties - many competing organizations viewed Agora as an existential threat to their business model: we were offering for free something they had been charging for, for many decades, and members of those organizations were taking notice and switching to Agora. Both the founder and many of the initial supporters received all kinds of insults, hate mail, personal threats, and even official legal threats from top lawyers in the country to desist. People with leadership positions in other organizations were asked to step down or were directly expelled simply for expressing their support towards Agora. We even faced internal sabotage and backstabbing. Any mention of Agora was censored, and the person posting was admonished. People were explicitly instructed not to talk about Agora and not to post about us. The events during this period would warrant a thriller book all by themselves. At one point, we had to involve our own legal counsel to issue a clear warning that we would not tolerate such harassment of our members to continue. This whole saga motivated us to post the following: However, we persevered, kept pushing forward, kept growing, and as of the beginning of 2021, Agora numbered over 160 clubs in over 70 countries. We're now firmly established, and we're here to stay. And this is only the beginning... The fire has only started to spread now. Agora Milestones This is a work in progress. Click on any image to enlarge it. If you feel we missed an important milestone (especially the chartering of the first club in a country, please send us pictures of the meeting, and we will add them). 2021 2021 Aug (planned) Agora successfully completes the translation of the core materials to 20 languages. May 19 The first Agora Club in China opens - Agora China Connectors - with Aaron Leung at the helm Feb The first Agora Club in Canada Opens - Stand By Me Speakers - with Fred Jones and Wayne Stanton at the helm. Feb 14 Membership System launched Jan 30 Second Agora Marathon organized by Clara Manzo - 36 hours of back-to-back club meetings Jan 29 Reflective Journals added to the Educational Program 2020 2020 Oct 21 Fred Jones records the first Video Tutorial for the Agora meeting roles. Oct 15 The first club in Ireland opens - Public Speakers Sligo, with Kieran Timmons at the helm. Oct 15 The first club in Paraguay opens - Agora Speakers Ñañe'ē, with Susana Torres at the helm. Oct 15 The first club in Czechia opens - Amplion Speakers, with Radek Bartman at the helm. Oct 15 The first club in Austria opens - Agora Speakers Vienna, with Karin Silvina at the helm. Aug The First Agora Club in El Salvador opens - Agora Speakers San Salvador, with William Martínez at the helm. Aug The First Agora Club in Argentina opens - Agora Speakers Cordoba, with Fabiana Alicia Fa Luchini at the helm. Aug 21-22 First Agora Marathon, 24 hours of back-to-back online club meetings, organized by Clara Manzo, Ravi Bhattarai, Michael Nicholson, and Hélène Kemmere. Aug 21 The first version of the Agora Youth Program released - the culmination of a multi-month effort led by Fred Jones, Koka Prasad, Ravi Bhattarai July 25 Agora releases a completely new version of the wiki that includes automated creation of personalized club assets, multi-language support, and electronic evaluation forms. Jun 11 The first club in Guinea-Conakry opens - Agora Speakers Conakry, with Diané Bangaly at the helm. Apr 1 Given the continuing pandemic situation, Agora makes available paid Zoom accounts for free to all public clubs that want to continue meeting online. Jan 20 The first Agora Club in Germany opens - Redeclub Landshut, with Monika Gräter at the helm. Jan 20 The first Agora Club in Ukraine opens - Agora Speakers Kharkiv, with Mohammed Saif at the helm. Jan 13 The Contest Rulebook for our thematic contests is published. 2019 2019 Dec 19 Gea Ban Peng beats all attendance records with this mega-new-year party for Agora Speakers Singapore. Dec 14 In Ecuador, the First Agora Club is created - Agora Speakers Quito, with Tania Soledad Guerra at the helm. The club pulverizes all chartering records, with a whopping 33 founding members. Not too far behind is the Guayaquil club led by Hector Cedeño, with 23 founding members. Dec 13 The First Agora Club in South Korea opens - Seoul Agora Speakers, with Sara Walsh at the helm. Dec 12 The First Agora Club in Romania opens - Agoramania, with Gabriela Laslau at the helm. Dec 7 The First Agora Club in Ukraine opens - Agora Speakers Kharkiv, with Mohammed Saif at the helm. Dec 5 Mentorship Manual published Oct 23 The First Agora Club in The Philippines opens, with Celia Alamo Jacob and Fabio Aromatici at the helm. Oct 18 The First Agora Club in Turkey opens, with Ashney Nicolle (Ashinyi Ateghang Nicoline) at the helm. Oct 14 Thanks to the decisive help of Mitch Carson, Agora Speakers International features on CNN Philippines. Sep 30 The First Agora Club in Ghana Opens - Agora Speakers Accra, with Emmanuel Antwi at the helm Sep 29 The First Agora Club in Morocco Opens - Agora Speakers Rabat. Sep 21-22 First International Convention held in Lisbon, Portugal. Sep 19 The First Agora Club in Botswana Opens - Abigail's Window of Hope Club, with Moiteela Mo-Abi at the helm. Sep 19 Discussion Forums Opened. Sep 8 "Today we travel to" Educational Activity added. Sep 6 The First Agora Club in Cameroon opens, 2035 Speakers, with Mr. Diangha Clifford at the helm Jun The First Agora Club in Kenya opens - Sani Agora Kenya Chapter Apr 10 The First Corporate Agora Club opens - as part of RSI (Rural Servicios Informáticos), with Jose Manuel Ropero Tagua at the helm. Mar The First Agora Club in Malaysia opens - Agora Speakers Kota Kinabalu, with Johan Amilin at the helm. Mar The First Agora Club in Taiwan opens - On Fire English Speakers in Taipei - with Jackie Chen at the helm. Feb The First Agora Club in Mali opens - Agora Speakers Bamako 2018 2018 Nov 18 The First Agora Club in Thailand opens, with Danupol Siamwalla at the helm Nov 15 The Agora Youth Program sees its first implementation in Sierra Leone, led by Angel Zinsel. Jul 30 Agora Speakers International is officially registered within the European Union as a Foundation. Jul 8 The Agora Youth Program initiative is launched, spearheaded by Fred Jones and with the support of Jorge Dias, Ravi Bhattarai, and Koka Prasad. Jun The First Agora Club in Japan opens, with Drian Von Golden at the helm Mar 26 First multi-club regional Agora meeting - Barreiro, Portugal 2017 2017 Dec The First Agora Club in Indonesia opens - Jakarta Agora Speakers, with Attie Ringo at the helm. Oct The First Agora Club in Ethiopia opens - Addis Agora Speakers Club, with Rajendra Singh at the helm. Aug The First Agora Club in Singapore opens - Agora Singapore Speakers, with Gea Ban Peng at the helm. Aug The First Agora Club in Liberia opens - Agora Speakers Monrovia Aug The First Agora Club in Portugal opens - Agora Speakers Barreiro, with Jorge Dias at the helm. Jul The First Agora Club in Jordan opens - Amman Speakers, with Osama Al Mosa at the helm. May The First Agora Club in Mexico opens - Agora Speakers Guadalajara Apr The First Agora Club in Nigeria opens - Agora Speakers Kaduna Mar 26 The first Agora Club in Zimbabwe opens - "The Future Speakers", with Patience Dube at the helm. Mar The First Agora Club in Madagascar opens - Agora Speakers Tana - with Monique (Lene) Vieyra at the helm. Feb 19 The first Agora Club in Lithuania opens - "Agora Speakers Kaunas", with Pius Abeshi at the helm. Feb The First Agora Club in the US Opens - Agora Central Coast Speakers Jan 17 The first edition of the Agora Guide is published. Jan The First Agora Club in Malawi Opens - Agora Speakers Chisepo, with Gosten Chikasowa at the helm 2016 2016 Dec The First Agora Club in the UK opens, with Hélène Kemmere at the helm. Nov 15 The first Agora club in South Africa opens. "King's Speakers", with Chris Callaghan at the helm Oct The First Agora Club in Nepal opens - Agora Speakers Kathmandu. Oct 1 The first Agora club in India opens, and the fourth club worldwide. - "Visakha Orators", with Koka Prasad at the helm Sep 28 The first Agora club in Poland opens, and the second club worldwide - "Mówcy Gorzów", with Michal Papis and Wanda Łopuszańska at the helm. Sep 23 Successful Trademark Registration for "Agora Speakers International" Aug 21 Agora Speakers International officially launched