About
The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) is a right-wing, Reagan-era 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation that sees itself as “supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today’s public policy problems.” The organization’s areas of interest include U.S. domestic and foreign policy, social security and Medicare, government reform, environmental regulations, healthcare, and taxes. NCPPR is in favor of privatization and against government regulations, LGBTQ rights, and ESG investing, claiming that human activity plays no role in climate change.
NCPPR’s Free Enterprise Project was established in 2007 to counter “liberal shareholder activism” by filing shareholder resolutions, confronting executives at shareholder meetings, and sponsoring media campaigns. The project is directed by Scott Shepard, who spoke on a panel titled “Shareholder Proposals and Voting Your Proxies” at the SFOF 2022 Fall National Meeting. He also travels to state capitals to promote anti-ESG actions, as when he met with the Idaho legislature’s Joint Interim Committee on Federalism in 2022 to “discuss” ways to push back on companies committed to working toward environmental and social justice.
Alongside 2ndVote Advisors and Job Creators Network Foundation, Free Enterprise launched the Boardroom Initiative in April 2022 to “defend shareholders, employees, and communities from “woke” policies at corporations.”
In February 2023, NCPPR President David Ridenour signed an Advancing American Freedom coalition letter to Congress asking it to “overturn the Biden administration’s dangerous ESG rule through the Congressional Review Act.”
In March 2024, NCPPR’s Free Enterprise Project launched a mobile application called, Proxy Navigator, “a new tool in the fight to hold woke corporations accountable to their shareholders.”
Lisa Nelson, CEO of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), serves on the NCPPR board of directors and Justin Danhof, a former NCPPR vice president, is now the head of corporate governance at the anti-ESG crusader Strive Asset Management.
Operatives
- Vice President David W. Almasi
- Board member Lisa Nelson
- President David Ridenour
- Free Enterprise Project Director Scott Shepard
Top Funders
- Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation: $2,220,000 (2019–23)
- DonorsTrust: $704,221 (2010–22)
- Sarah Scaife Foundation: $550,000 (2012–22)
- Donors Capital Fund: $417,000 (2010-20)
Note: NCPPR is not required by law to disclose its donors. The Center for Media and Democracy identified its top funders through an examination of IRS filings.
Core Financials
- Total revenue: $12,253,949
- Total expenses: $11,317,127
- Net assets: $3,092,796
Source: 2022 IRS 990 filing