News from the Acton Institute:

Grand Rapids, Mich. (October 22, 2010) – The Acton Institute won first place in the Ethics and Values category in the 2010 Templeton Freedom Awards for Excellence in Promoting petition. The award, managed by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, recognized Acton for its production of film documentaries that municate the principles and values of individual liberty and a free society.”

Atlas cited Acton for “first-rate documentaries designed municate the importance of virtue, limited government, and free enterprise to general audiences. They have impressed the judges through two of their very successful documentaries, The Call of the Entrepreneur and The Birth of Freedom,” which have “attracted attention from U.S. media, public policy institutes around the world, and even education ministers in Eastern Europe.”

This is the fourth Templeton Freedom award for Acton. The Institute also won an award in 2007 in the Free Market Solutions to Poverty category for its “Don’t Just Care, Think!” campaign; in 2005 in the Excellence in Promoting Liberty category for its Toward a Free and Virtuous Society conferences; and in 2004 in the Ethics and Values category for “its extensive body of work on the moral defense of the free market.”

Acton shared the 2010 Ethics & Values award with the Centro de Divulgación del Conocimiento Económico para la Libertad (CEDICE) in Venezuela which won for its initiative, “A Country of Owners.” The project promotes awareness in Venezuelans of one of the most basic human rights, which is the right to own property. The purpose of “A Country of Owners” is to encourage ideas and actions in favor of individual private property through educational activities. The initiative has been called “a courageous and timely response to the events in Venezuela” as well as a “beacon in the growing darkness of Venezuela.”

Exceptional think tanks from 10 countries have been recognized by the 2010 Templeton Freedom Awards for Excellence in Promoting Liberty for their plishments in advancing freedom. Representing three continents, the 16 recipients were chosen from over 132 applications from 48 countries by an independent panel of expert judges.

Named after the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton, the Templeton Freedom Award was established in 2003 and is the largest international prize program that celebrates think tank contributions to the understanding of freedom. The Templeton Freedom Awards program has awarded more than $1.5 million in prizes and grants in the past 7 years. This year’s awards program grants a $10,000 prize to each winner.

The Awards include eight different categories including Free Market Solutions to Poverty, Social Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Values, Student Outreach, Initiative in Public Relations, Innovative Media, and Awards for Special Achievement by a University-based Center and by a Young Institute.

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation has supported a worldwide network of independent think tanks that promote a society of free and responsible individuals for nearly three decades. Atlas, based in Washington, currently works with more than 400 partners in 84 countries. More than half of these organizations were assisted in their formative years by Atlas through financial support or advisory services.