Acting AOTUS Appoints 2022–2024 FOIA Advisory Committee Members 
Press Release · 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.