Board of Directors

Anne Weismann, President

President Anne Weismann serves as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Chief Counsel. Prior to joining CREW, Ms. Weismann served as Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, where she had responsibility for all of the Bureau's telecommunications matters. Before that, she worked in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, where she served as an Assistant Branch Director with supervisory responsibility over banking litigation, housing litigation and, from 1995 until 2002, all government information litigation. This included litigation under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act and statutes governing federal and presidential records. Prior to that, she worked in the Solicitor's Office at the Department of Labor.

Will Kammer, Vice President

Vice President Will Kammer is the Chief, FOIA Division, Department of Defense. Mr. Kammer has been working with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Declassification fields since 1991. He has served with the Department of Defense Directorate for Freedom of Information and Security Review (DFOISR) since October 1998, and was named Chief, FOIA Division in February 2000. While at DFOISR, he has developed and implemented FOIA policy, and managed the OSD/JCS FOIA program. Prior to joining DFOISR, Mr. Kammer served as a FOIA action officer in the Joint Staff from 1991-1995, and was responsible for developing and implementing the Joint Staff Automatic Declassification plan in 1996. He was the principal declassifying official for the Joint Staff Automatic Declassification program from 1996-1998. Mr. Kammer has been with the Department of Defense since 1984, serving as an Ammunition Surveillance Specialist with the Department of the Army, and as an Investigator with the Defense Investigative Service prior to joining the Joint Staff in 1991. Mr. Kammer served for two years as Director for the American Society of Access Professionals from 2003-04. He also serves as an Instructor for ASAP, Department of Defense, Department of Justice and other federal agencies. He is the recipient of the 2006 DOJ FOIA Officer of the Year Award.

Karen Finnegan, Treasurer

Treasurer Karen Finnegan is the Deputy Director of the newly created Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration. Currently, Ms. Finnegan, along with the entire OGIS staff, is working to set up the office as a professional and functional work environment. The mission of OGIS is to serve as the government-wide FOIA Ombudsman, to review agency compliance with the FOIA, to recommend policy changes to Congress and the President, and to provide mediation services. Prior to serving in this position, Ms. Finnegan served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) assigned to the FOIA Staff of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA)defending EOUSA and any co-defendants against FOIA lawsuits filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Ms. Finnegan also served as a Senior Attorney on the FOIA Staff of the EOUSA and its Privacy Act Officer. Prior to serving in this capacity, Ms. Finnegan was the Chief, FOIA/PA Branch, Office of Freedom of Information, in the Department of Defense. In this capacity, Ms. Finnegan supervised the processing of FOIA and Privacy Act requests seeking access to records maintained by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff. Ms. Finnegan also provided FOIA training within the DoD. Ms. Finnegan has also served as an Assistant General Counsel in the FOIA Litigation Unit, the Office of the General Counsel, Federal Bureau of Investigation where she defended against FOIA lawsuits in which the FBI was named as a defendant that were filed in United States District Courts nationwide. Ms. Finnegan also provided internal FOIA training and advised the FBI's Records/Information Dissemination Section with regard to administrative FOIA issues. Ms. Finnegan also served as an Attorney Advisor with the Office of Information Policy ("OIP") in the Department of Justice. Her primary responsibility in that Office was adjudicating Freedom of Information Act appeals from actions by components of the Department of Justice. Ms. Finnegan also defended the government in lawsuits brought under the Freedom of Information Act in the United States District Court. While at OIP, Ms. Finnegan's areas of expertise were Exemptions 7(C) and 7(F), which address personal privacy issues and threats to physical safety issues that arise in the context of law enforcement records. Ms. Finnegan is currently serving as the Treasurer of the American Society of Access Professionals ("ASAP"), and has served as President in 2007 and Treasurer for the ASAP in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Ms. Finnegan also serves as an instructor in various OGIS, ASAP, and Department of Justice training programs.

Carmen L. Mallon, Secretary

Secretary Carmen L. Mallon became the Chief of Staff of the Office of Information Policy of the United States Department of Justice in 2007. The Office of Information Policy (OIP) is responsible for developing guidance for Executive Branch agencies on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), for ensuring that the President's FOIA Memorandum and the Attorney General's FOIA Guidelines are fully implemented across the government and for overseeing agency compliance with the law. OIP is also responsible for processing initial FOIA requests for the Senior Leadership Offices of the Department of Justice and for adjudicating all administrative FOIA appeals from denials for all forty components of the Department. Before becoming Chief of Staff, Ms. Mallon served for eight years as the Chief of the Initial Request Staff of OIP, where she was responsible for managing the processing of initial requests made to the Department's Senior Leadership Offices, including the Offices of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, Legal Policy, Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs and Intergovernmental and Public Liaison. As Chief of Staff of OIP, Ms. Mallon oversees the day-to-day operations of the Office and holds primary responsibility for the work performed by the IR Staff which includes serving as the denial authority for all IR Staff actions. Ms. Mallon has over twenty years of experience working with the Freedom of Information Act. She joined the Department of Justice's Civil Division in 1987 working in its FOIA office and then joined OIP in 1989 where she has held various positions. Ms. Mallon has taught courses on the FOIA for numerous federal agencies and the American Society of Access Professionals.

Stephen McConnell, Immediate Past President

Immediate Past President Stephen McConnell is currently the Public Affairs Officer for the Naval Ordnance Test Unit, Department of the Navy. Until early this year, he was the Principal Agency FOIA Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As NASA's FOIA Officer, Mr. McConnell is responsible for the agency's responses to access requests and establishing policy and procedures for a decentralized FOIA program. He has extensive FOIA experience; serving in past positions with US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), US Secret Service (USSS), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Mr. McConnell has served previously as a Director on ASAP's Board since 2007. As president, he focused on increasing communications, membership, and attendance at both the National Conference and the Training Workshop. He has been part of the planning groups for the past three (3) ASAP National Training Conferences.

Cindy Allard, Director

Director Cindy Allard is the Chief of the Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff Privacy Office and a member of the Defense Privacy Board. She has been an employee of the Department of Defense for 23 years and has worked for the Army, Navy and Air Force in both field activities and higher headquarters. Most recently, Cindy managed the FOIA and PA programs for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. She served as secretary in 2009.

Scott Hodes, Director

Director Scott Hodes entered private practice in 2003. Prior to that, he spent over a decade working as an attorney for the federal government. Mr. Hodes worked for the Department of Labor, Department of Justice (Office of Information and Privacy) and the FBI. From 1998 to 2002 at the FBI, Mr. Hodes was the Acting Unit Chief of the Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Section's Litigation Unit and was a Top Secret Classification Authority. Mr. Hodes has been involved in thousands of FOIA and Privacy Act matters. Mr. Hodes is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He has also been admitted pro hac vice to practice before other federal district courts. Mr. Hodes is a member of the American Society of Access Professionals and a contributor to a number of publications on matters dealing with government information policies and practices. Mr. Hodes currently practices civil matters, focusing primarily on the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. Mr. Hodes received his J.D. from Arizona State University in 1989 and his B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University in 1986.

William H. Holzerland, Director

William H. Holzerland recently joined the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Until May, he served as Associate Director, Disclosure Policy & FOIA Program Development for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He originally joined DHS in November 2003 with his first assignment in the Transportation Security Administration's Office of Security, Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Division. Holzerland currently focuses on DHS Freedom of Information Act policy, conducts FOIA training and works with DHS components to improve FOIA-related processes and procedures. He also serves as the DHS FOIA Public Liaison, pursuant to Executive Order 13,392 and the OPEN Government Act of 2007. Holzerland's last appointment prior to joining the DHS Privacy Office in November 2006 was with the DHS Office of Inspector General, Office of Counsel. Among his many duties with OIG was to serve as Office of Inspector General's FOIA Requester Service Center Liaison. Mr. Holzerland, a Buffalo, New York native, earned a dual Bachelor of Arts in Journalism/Mass Communications and History from St. Bonaventure University.

Richard L. Huff, Director

Director Richard L. Huff, as a member of the Senior Executive Service, served as one of two co-directors of the Office of Information and Privacy since the Office's creation in 1982 until his retirement in 2005. He was the official designated by the Attorney General to act on all administrative appeals from denials under the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act of 1974 by Department of Justice components. (The Department averaged over 3000 such administrative appeals each year.) He litigated and supervised FOIA cases at the district and appellate level and has testified before Con¬gress on the implementation of the 1996 Electronic FOIA Amend¬ments and on the interface between the FOIA and the Privacy Act. For twenty-three years he oversaw the development of the "Freedom of Information Act Guide & Privacy Act Overview," the Department of Justice's 1100-page treatise that was updated and distributed every other year to more than 22,000 recipients. He has also published several legal articles, including "A Preliminary Analysis of the Implementation of the Freedom of Information Reform Act." Mr. Huff came to the Department of Justice in 1976 after serving seven years on active duty in the Army; during his last reserve assignment he was assigned to the Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School where he taught FOIA and Privacy Act subjects to military gradu¬ate students. He is now a retired colonel in the Army Reserve. Since retiring Mr. Huff has made one-, two-, and three-day training presentations for the Departments of Justice, Army, Commerce, and Homeland Security, as well as for the American Society of Access Professionals and the Graduate School, United States Department of Agriculture. Mr. Huff received a B.A. from Stanford, an M.A. from St. Mary's University, a Juris Doctor from Hastings College of the Law, and a Master of Laws from George¬town University.

Joel D. Miller, Director

Director Joel D. Miller is an Assistant General Counsel in the FOIA Litigation Unit of the Office of the General Counsel of the FBI where he has been since July of 2004. He came to the Bureau after a 30-year career as an Army Judge Advocate.

Caroline Smith, Director

Caroline Smith is currently an attorney at the Office of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice. In this position, she adjudicates administrative appeals from responses by any Department of Justice agency regarding access to records under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974. She also provides guidance to agencies on questions pertaining to the application of the FOIA and she is involved in reviewing the DOJ's FOIA regulations for the purposes of revision. Previously, she worked at the Department of Energy's Office of Hearings and Appeals.