News for Immediate Release
November 13, 2019
Contact: Rupert Munro, 406-587-9591, rupert@perc.org
(New York, New York)—On Friday, November 8, PERC won the top prize at the Atlas Network’s U.S. Investors Summit for Liberty. This competitive grant opportunity brought together ten public policy organizations, designated by the Atlas Network as “2020 Smart Bets,” to pitch their plans to a group of investors with an interest in advancing freedom and prosperity.
“Our partners in the United States act as models for what civil society organizations can achieve—in spite of having small teams and limited resources,” said Casey Pifer, Director of Institute Relations at Atlas Network. “For that reason, we are thrilled to put the spotlight on ten American organizations we believe are ‘punching above their weight,’ and, with the right amount of investment and recognition, are likely to make important strides for the future of freedom in the United States.”
PERC executive director Brian Yablonski and board member Chris Wright represented PERC at the summit. In his pitch, Yablonski highlighted the organization’s unique approach to environmental conservation. “We pioneered an approach to conservation—called free market environmentalism—that shuns regulation in favor of solutions focused on property rights, markets, and incentives,” he explained.
“From our offices at the gateway to Yellowstone, our team has recovered fisheries using property rights, implemented adoption incentives to tackle the wild horse crisis, and partnered with National Parks leaders to address the $12 billion maintenance backlog without raising taxes,” said Yablonski. “I have seen PERC grow from a voice in the wilderness to a leading voice in conservation.”
PERC was awarded a $75,000 grant as the grand prize for the pitch. We would like to thank the Atlas Network and the investors for supporting PERC’s mission of improving environmental quality through property rights and markets. We look forward to putting this award to good use advancing market approaches in environmental policy and practice!
