D.C. Open Government Coalition

01/11/2026

Save the Date for “Whose Information Is It, Anyway?”: Thursday March 19, 2026

Mark your calendars for D.C. Open Government Coalition’s annual celebration of Sunshine Week from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday March 19, 2026 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street NW.

Programming for our annual open government celebration is still in the works, but comes on the cusp of the biggest political shift since D.C. won home rule. (The D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973 gave District residents the power to elect a mayor, D.C. Councilmembers and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners.) We also promise an evening of fun!

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dc.ogc/; Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dcogc/; X ; and Bluesky .bluesky.social for details and updates.

https://www.dcogc.org/events

DCOGC Events The D.C. Open Government Coalition holds several events each year to promote openness in the District government.  Mark your calendars for D.C. Open Government Coalition’s annual celebration of Sunshine Week from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday March 19, 2026 at the Martin Luther King J...

12/31/2025

As 2025 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on a year of education, advocacy, and community engagement at the D.C. Open Government Coalition.

This year, we supported journalists, fought efforts to weaken open meetings laws, defended access to public records, helped restore funding for the D.C. Archives, and succeeded in our court battle for FOIA transparency — all while providing free trainings and direct support to District residents.

Thank you for standing with us in the fight for transparency and accountability. We look forward to continuing this important work together in 2026.

12/29/2025

✨ Meet Miranda ✨

We’re proud to introduce Miranda Spivack, DCOGC’s Vice President and Chair of Community Outreach.

An award-winning investigative journalist and author of Backroom Deals in Our Backyards, Miranda has spent her career shining a light on how government works—and how the public can hold it accountable. Her State Secrets reporting earned the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sunshine Award, and her work continues to advance transparency and access to information.
Today, Miranda leads DCOGC’s open government training initiatives, helping residents learn how to access public records and engage with the D.C. government.

We’re grateful for her leadership and commitment to an informed, empowered public. 💙

🔗 Learn more at dcogc.org

12/25/2025

For the questions asked, the records requested, the accountability demanded — and the community that makes it all possible.

Here’s to open government, informed communities, and continued progress ahead. 🥂

12/25/2025

12/24/2025

New board member Kevin Bell talked transparency on Reddit, and encountered deep skepticism about how transparent the government actuallly is.

By Kevin Bell, Board Bember, DCOGC Hey Transparency Tribe, I’m one of the two newest board members for the DC Open Government Coalition, and a founding partner of the Free Information Group, PLLC. Last Monday, December 15, one of our clients, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, invited me to join

12/17/2025

A partial victory in D.C. Open Government Coalition's efforts to get the District government to provide info about its compliance with its own open records law. More on this soon from D.C. Open Government Coalition Read the blog post here

By Fritz Mulhauser, Secretary, D.C. Open Government Coalition   A D.C. Superior Court judge has ruled that the District government must produce comprehensive records from its decade-old Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) tracking system—a partial victory in the D.C. Open Government Coalit

12/11/2025

FOIA is basically Kermit with the tea — quiet, unbothered, and ready to spill the real story as soon as you ask. 👀☕

Because transparency isn’t drama…
it’s accountability.

And the receipts? FOIA’s got them. Every. Single. Time.

Want to know what your government is actually up to?
Just ask. File a FOIA. Shine some sunshine. 🌤️✨

12/08/2025

It’s wild how something as “small” as FOIA ends up propping up all of democratic government and society.

Pull out transparency, and the whole structure wobbles.
Keep it strong, and everything else stands taller.

FOIA isn’t just a law — it’s the pillar that allows communities to hold power accountable, participate fully, and trust the systems meant to serve them.

Take action: File a FOIA request. Support open-government organizations. Speak up when transparency is threatened. Our democracy depends on an engaged public that insists on its right to know. 💡

12/04/2025

What does open government really mean?

It’s transparency, accountability, and public participation — a government that shares information and listens to the people it serves.

With today’s technology, openness isn’t only about access. It’s about two-way communication: sharing data, inviting public input, and ensuring decisions happen where the community can see them.

At the D.C. Open Government Coalition, we push for easy access to public records and open meetings so that residents can understand decisions, monitor actions, and hold leaders accountable.

Learn more at www.dcogc.org.

12/01/2025

Meet Tom Susman — a trailblazer in open government. As the ABA’s Strategic Advisor for Governmental Affairs and Global Programs, Tom brings decades of leadership in FOIA, transparency, and public access. He’s litigated major FOIA cases, helped write the 1974 FOIA Amendments, supported open-government reforms worldwide, and founded the D.C. Open Government Coalition. We’re grateful for his lifelong commitment to strengthening transparency and accountability.

11/27/2025

This Thanksgiving, we’re reflecting on the values that make our democracy stronger. 🦃🍂

Transparency, open meetings, public records, and accountability aren’t just policy terms — they’re the ingredients that help residents understand decisions, participate in local government, and trust the institutions that serve them.

As families gather around their tables, we’re grateful for the ongoing work to ensure D.C. remains open, accessible, and committed to the public’s right to know.

Happy Thanksgiving from the D.C. Open Government Coalition!