Sixteen champions of government transparency will be inducted this March into the National FOIA Hall of Fame for their outstanding contributions to advancing the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Honorees include Richard L. Huff, founding director of what is now called the Office of Information Policy, Michael Morisy, co-founder of MuckRock, Kirsten Mitchell and Alina Semo of the Office of Government Information Services, and David McCraw, general counsel for The New York Times.

“These champions of transparency have dedicated themselves to improving U.S. FOIA, which is more important than ever,” said David Cuillier, director of the University of Florida Brechner Freedom of Information Project. “They are an inspiration to us all in advocating for more accountable government.”

The FOIA Hall of Fame was launched in 1996 by the Freedom Forum and Society of Professional Journalists, honoring a total of 70 individuals who have gone above and beyond in advancing federal FOIA. Inductees have been honored every five years, with the exception of 2021. The University of Florida Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project started coordinating the award in 2025 as part of Sunshine Week.

The selection committee was comprised of Miriam Nisbet, former director of the Office of Government information Services, Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, Brechner FOI Project Director David Cuillier, and Kevin Goldberg and Gene Policinski of the Freedom Forum. Nisbet, Jaffer and Goldberg are current members of the Hall of Fame. Selection was based on long-time involvement in federal FOIA, impact on federal transparency, and personal commitment.

Winners will be honored March 16 at Sunshine Fest, held at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (former Newseum building). This year the nation will celebrate the 60^th anniversary of U.S. FOIA. Individuals who champion transparency at the state level are honored by the State Open Government Hall of Fame, given by the National Freedom of Information and Society of Professional Journalists.

More than 40 individuals were nominated for the National FOIA Hall of Fame through an open nomination process. Here are the selected inductees for the 2026 class (in alphabetical order):

• Jason R. Baron, University of Maryland professor of practice, former counsel for the Department of Justice and National Archives and Records Administration, and advocate for improving FOIA through advanced technologies.
• Lauren Harper, Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation and formerly at the National Security Archive.
• Liz Hempowicz, deputy executive director at American Oversight and former vice president of policy and government affairs at the Project on Government Oversight.
• Bill Holzerland, deputy chief FOIA officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with an extensive career across agencies advocating for FOIA and the American Society of Access Professionals.
• Alexander Howard, director of the Digital Democracy Project, co-director of the Advisory Committee on Transparency, and former deputy director of the Sunlight Foundation.
• Richard L. Huff,founder and former director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Information and Privacy (now Office of Information Policy).
• Nate Jones, FOIA director for The Washington Post and formerly of the National Security Archive, and author of the “Revealing Records” column.
• Margaret Kwoka, Frank R. Strong Chair in Law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and author of “Saving the Freedom of Information Act.”
• Adam Marshall, director of national litigation at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
• David McCraw, senior vice president and deputy general counsel at The New York Times, where he has litigated significant FOIA cases for nearly two dozen years and trained the future generation of media law attorneys.
• Kirsten B. Mitchell, compliance team leader for the Office of Government Information Services, and formerly of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
• Michael Morisy, co-founder and chief executive officer of MuckRock, a nonprofit that has aided people in submitting tens of thousands of FOIA requests since 2010.
• Ginger Quintero-McCall, co-founder of Free Information Group and former records officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Communications Commission and Department of Labor. Also advocated for transparency at the Electronic Privacy Information Center and served as Oregon’s first public records advocate (until resigning because of interference from the governor).
• Carol Rosenberg, senior journalist at The New York Times and former long-time military-affairs reporter at the Miami Herald, illuminating government actions at Guantanamo Bay detention camps.
• Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute, convener of the OpenGov Roundtable and advocate for congressional transparency.
• Alina M. Semo, director of the Office of Government Information Services, former director of litigation for the National Archives and Records Administration, and former counsel at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Posted: January 13, 2026
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Awards, Brechner Freedom of Information Project, FOIA, Government Transparency