Perry spent 22 years with the FBI and ran the Raleigh Bureau office in the years after the September 11 attacks. Most recently, he worked for the State Ethics Commission and the State Auditor's Office.
Now, he's joining forces with former State Auditor Les Merritt in creating the foundation.
"We see this as timely. To our knowledge, it's unique with respect to its scope and intake capability," said Perry.
They're taking anonymous complaints at reportpubliccorruption.org.
Investigators will look into the allegations - then pass along the information to investigative reporters - and possibly on to prosecutors.
"Agencies, to include the media, need some intake mechanism, to vet, unpack, scrub, the good credible allegations from those that lack substance," offered Perry.
He said the foundation is getting its funding from bi-partisan sources from across the country.
"We have to be careful. We have to be fair. We have to be absolutely non-partisan," he said.
Perry said the foundation also plans to educate elected leaders and the public about ethical pitfalls - and ways to prevent public corruption.
