FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 22, 2005

Contact: Elena Ziebarth
Tel: 703-934-6969

Atlas Grants $150,000 to 15 Institutes through the 2005 Templeton Freedom Awards Program

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation named the 15 Winners of the 2005 Templeton Freedom Award Grants for Institute Excellence. The 2005 Templeton Freedom Award Winners come from every region of the world. They are:

· Access to Information Programme (Bulgaria)
· Asociacion Nacional de Consumidores Libres (Costa Rica)
· Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (Canada)
· Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (Montenegro)
· Center for Free Enterprise (Korea)
· Center for Social and Economic Progress (Israel)
· Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de America Latina (Argentina)
· Friedrich A. v. Hayek Institut (Austria)
· Free Market Center (Serbia and Montenegro)
· Fundacion Atlas para una Sociedad Libre (Argentina)
· Institute of Public Policy Analysis (Nigeria)
· Inter Region Economic Network (Kenya)
· Liberales Institut (Switzerland)
· Maxim Institute (New Zealand)
· New Economic School (Georgia)

The Templeton Freedom Awards Program celebrates the contributions of non-profit research institutes (or “think tanks”) to the public’s understanding of how to achieve a free society. The program specifically honors promising young organizations, especially in difficult parts of the world where there are few independent voices advocating economic freedom, individual liberty, and limited government under the rule of law. Each winning think tank receives a $10,000 general grant to help the institute carry on with its work.

Four of the Award Grant winners also distinguish themselves with Templeton Freedom Prizes for Excellence in Promoting Liberty in the categories of Ethics & Values, Free Market Solutions to Poverty, Social Entrepreneurship, and Student Outreach.

Bulgaria’s Access to Information Programme receives first place for the Templeton Freedom Prize for Ethics & Values for its efforts to make the Bulgarian government more transparent and accountable for their actions. The runner-up for the Templeton Freedom Prize for Free Market Solutions to Poverty is the Montenegrin Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, whose “Removing the Barriers to Doing Business in Montenegro” program works to create an attractive business environment for domestic and foreign investors and creates more private sector jobs. New Zealand’s Maxim Institute receives the second place Templeton Freedom Prize for Social Entrepreneurship for its advocacy campaign around a Civil Union Bill that threatened government intervention in the intimate relationships of private citizens. The New Economics School of Georgia receives the second place prize in the Student Outreach category for their “Free Market Economic Education for Everyone” program.

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (www.atlasUSA.org) launched the Templeton Freedom Awards Program in September 2003 with a four-year pledge from the John Templeton Foundation to reward scores of public policy institutes with more than $1,250,000 in prizes and grants.

Since 1981, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation has been the leading international organization for supporting independent think tanks advancing freedom. Atlas works with more than 200 think tanks from 67 countries. Over half of these organizations were assisted in their formative years by Atlas through financial support or advisory services.

For more information, please contact Elena Ziebarth at 703-934-6969.