Atlas Year in Review 2008

Atlas

YEAR-IN-REVIEW

FALL 2008

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Atlas

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Year-in-Review 2008

The Atlas Network Touches 100 Countries

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he core of Atlas’s work involves assisting an ever-growing family of think tanks and intel-lectual entrepreneurs that share an appreciation for the principles of a free society. It isan incredibly diverse network of organizations – some are relied upon by government leadersfor advice, some endure government harassment as the price of acting on their own beliefs. In2008, Atlas reached a milestone of having think tank allies and promising intellectual entre-preneurs in 100 different countries around the globe.

Bill Sumner Closes 20 Years as AtlasChairman

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n November 2008, Bill Sumner stepped downfrom his post of Chairman of the Atlas Board of Directors. He became Chairman after the death of Atlas’s founding President and Chairman, Sir AntonyFisher, in 1988. In the intervening 20 years, the Atlasnetwork has expanded worldwide, and the breadthand depth of Atlas’s programs has increased with it.Linda Fisher Whetstone remarked, “Bill Sumner gave great support and encouragement to myfather as he founded and developed Atlas, and it is a tribute to Bill that, throughout his years aschairman, Atlas has grown and prospered. You only have to look at the number of think tanksthat were on the Atlas radar screen when Bill became chairman, and the number now, to seehow much has been achieved under his chairmanship. A charming and unequivocal propo-nent of freedom, Bill has missed no opportunity to make the case for Atlas and its mission inhis inimitable, thoughtful, and witty way.”She continued, “The point when a founder gives up leadership of an organization is a danger-ous moment, at which many fail to maintain their momentum, so all of us at Atlas owe Bill adebt of gratitude. During his watch, Atlas made that change and has continued to identify,encourage and develop brave and dedicated people across the world, who promote our visionof a free and responsible society.”Newly-elected chairman Dan Grossman also thanked Bill for his strong leadership over theyears: “Atlas has an incredibly important mission, and it certainly has been well-served duringthe chairmanship of Bill Sumner. I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue building on thisrecord of success, and look forward to Bill’s continued counsel as a member of our Boardgoing forward.”

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation workswith think tanks and individuals around the worldto advance a vision of a society of free and responsi-ble individuals, based upon private property rights,limited government under the rule of law and themarket order. Atlas is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organi-zation that is supported solely by donations fromindividuals, foundations and corporations.

Board of DirectorsJohn BlundellTim BrowneDan Grossman Abby MoffatGeorge Pearson Andrea Millen RichRené Scull William SumnerLinda WhetstoneHon. Curtin WinsorStaff

Alejandro A. Chafuen

President & CEO

Leonard P. Liggio

Executive Vice President of Academics

Bradley A. Lips

Executive Vice President & COO

Jo Kwong

Vice President of Institute Relations

Eva Andraskova

Office Manager

Cindy Cerquitella

Coalition Relations Associate

Colleen Dyble

Director of Coalition Relations

Whitney Garrison

Donor Relations Associate

William Arnold

Donor Relations Associate

Allegra Hewell

Events Assistant

Luke Seidl

Outreach Associate

Rómulo Lopez

Program Manager

Joseph Humire

Program Manager

Priscilla Tacujan

Program Manager

Ziba Ayeen

Program Manager

YiQiao Xu

Program Manager

Atlas Senior Fellows William DennisDeroy MurdockGabriel Zinny2000 N. 14th Street, Suite 550 Arlington, Virginia 22201703-934-6969 – Phone703-352-7530 – Fax

www.atlasUSA.org

A Year at Atlas

The Atlas Staff of 2008 (left to right): Rómulo Lopez, Whitney Garrison, Luke Seidl, Allegra Hewell, Joseph Humire, Jo Kwong, William Arnold, Yiqiao Xu, Alex Chafuen, Eva Andraskova, Brad Lips, Cindy Cerquitella, Leonard Liggio, Pricilla Tacujan, Bill Dennis, Colleen Dyble, Ziba Ayeen.Bill Sumner (right) with Atlas PresidentAlex Chafuen.

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n July, one of our key benefactors, Sir John Templeton,passed away at the age of 94. You probably are aware of SirJohn’s remarkable careers as an investor and philanthro-pist, but it is most important to know the spirit with whichhe engaged each day of his life. When we asked a fewyears ago for his assistancein a fundraising campaign,he generously wrote a mes-sage on our behalf,concluding:

“If you permit Atlas to enlist you as a spon-sor, this can be a blessing for all humanity for future cen-turies!”

In this effusive declaration,you can get a sense of SirJohn’s love of freedom andhis ceaseless optimism. And indeed – even during a year when advocates of lim-ited government, individual liberty, and free enterprisehave seemed on the defensive, here in the U.S. andin too many countries around the world – there

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very good reasons for optimism. They radi-ate from the pages of this Year-in-Reviewreport.

You see optimism in the eyes of the young “intellectual entrepreneurs”that derive so much value from Atlas’s networking and trainingprograms.

At our Liberty Forum,they discover a worldwide net-work of people who are devotingtheir lives to spreading freedom. At our Think Tank MBA pro-gram, they hone the skills thatwill move their ideas to imple-mentation.

You see it in the pride of thinktank leaders that have had animpact in the lives of citizens.

Because of the National Center forPolicy Analysis, 12 million familiesin the U.S. are managing personal health savingsaccounts. Because of the work of Instituto de Libertad yDemocracia, countries all over the world are focusingon simplifying regulations for “doing business.” In India,the Centre for Civil Society has campaigned to createschool voucher programs atthe state government levelthat are helping 40,000 chil-dren attend better schools.

You see it in the defiance of many Atlas partners that takerisks each day to advance theideas of liberty

. Atilla Yayla,from Turkey, confronted thethreat of jail time for exercis-ing his right of freeexpression: “No matter howmuch they try to suppress

A Message to

Supporters of Atlas

Atlas

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Year-in-Review 2008

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From Alejandro A. Chafuen and Bradley A. Lips