The following press release was issued by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Washington, DC

Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall announced the appointment of 20 individuals to the National Archives and Records Administration’s 2022–2024 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee. The individuals named will serve a two-year term and begin meeting in September 2022. 

The FOIA Advisory Committee consists of no more than 20 individuals who are all FOIA experts from both inside and outside of government. Members of the FOIA Advisory Committee foster dialogue between the administration and the requester community and develop recommendations for improving FOIA administration and proactive disclosures. Ms. Wall has appointed the following individuals: 

Government Members 

Paul Chalmers – Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

Carmen A. Collins – U.S. Department of Defense 

Allyson Deitrick – U.S. Department of Commerce 

Gorka Garcia-Malene – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

Michael Heise – U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

Stefanie Jewett – U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General 

Catrina Pavlik-Keenan – U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

Alina M. Semo – Chair, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Government Information Services 

Bobak Talebian – U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy 

Patricia Weth – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Non-Government Members 

Jason R. Baron – University of Maryland 

David Cuillier – University of Arizona 

Alexander Howard – Digital Democracy Project 

Gbemende Johnson – University of Georgia 

Adam Marshall – Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press 

Luke Nichter – Chapman University 

Ginger Quintero-McCall – Demand Progress 

Thomas Susman – American Bar Association 

Eira Tansey – University of Cincinnati 

Benjamin Tingo – AINS 

Background
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) established the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee (Committee) in accordance with the United States Second Open Government National Action Plan, released on December 5, 2013. The Committee operates under the directive in FOIA, 5 U.S.C. §552(h)(2)(C), that the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) within NARA “identify procedures and methods for improving compliance” with FOIA. The Committee is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. NARA initially chartered the Committee on May 20, 2014. The Archivist of the United States renewed the Committee’s charter for a fifth term on April 28, 2022, and certified that renewing the Committee is in the public interest. OGIS provides administrative support along with chairing the Committee in accordance with the charter.