Sunshine Fest 2025

March 19-20, 2025 • Washington, D.C.

Register • Schedule • Speakers • FAQ

What

REGISTER HERE: Eventbrite
As we recognize the 20th anniversary of national Sunshine Week, we’re organizing an in-person conference to find solutions to pressing problems in freedom of information across all disciplinary and geographic boundaries.

We are bringing together journalists, record custodians, policy makers, historians, state FOI coalitions, librarians, academics, civil society nonprofit groups, commercial data providers, and all other constituencies who care about transparency at the local, state, federal and global levels of government.

Attendees will produce an action plan to be implemented post-conference and beyond. See a detailed schedule, with topics (to be updated as more speakers are confirmed).

Why

We want to bring requesters and the government to the same table and identify solutions for improving the public’s ability to acquire information they need to self-govern. The goal: Strengthen democracy, communities, and individuals’ lives.

When

March 19-20, 2025.
Conference early bird rate (ends March 10): $50 ($25 for students)
After March 10, increases to $75 ($30 for students)
REGISTRATION: Eventbrite.

Limited to 160 registrants (140 registered so far – 20 seats left, as of Feb. 20!). If the registration fee is a hardship or you might have difficulty being reimbursed by your employer, send an email to David Cuillier (cuillierd@ufl.edu) to obtain a waiver code to use when you register on our EventBrite page.

We are offering a limited number of travel fellowships of up to $1,000 each to help offset travel/hotel costs, not including meals or incidentals. One person per organization, first come, first served. A reimbursement will be made after receipts are submitted after the conference. Apply for a travel fellowship by Feb. 21 here.

Where

Reception, March 19
Clyde’s of Gallery Place
707 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Sunshine Fest, March 20
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center
555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

Who

Coordinated by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, the National Freedom of Information Coalition, and the Johns Hopkins University Communication Graduate Program. Support for Sunshine Fest and Sunshine Week comes from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

How

Sessions will meet the following criteria:

Of interest and importance to both requesters and government agencies.
Foster understanding, empathy and constructive common-sense solutions.
Cross geographic boundaries – local, state, federal and global.
Cross disciplines – journalism, nonprofit, history, archives, public administration, academia, commercial sector, etc.
Break conventional boundaries – bring new ideas and new perspectives to inspire positive change through legislation, processes, research, and innovative initiatives.

Topics include the latest technologies to improve searches/redactions, how to handle voluminous requests, effective dispute resolution outside of litigation, the state of transparency under Trump and beyond, the use of FOIA for political advocacy, balancing privacy and access, and more. See schedule. Got a suggestion for future Sunshine Fests? Submit here.

Travel Tips

Airports:

You can take Metro rail from either Washington Dulles (about an hour on Metro) or Reagan National (about 20 minutes on Metro) into Washington, D.C.
A taxi/Lyft/Uber from Dulles to D.C. runs in the $75 range and from National to D.C. around $20.

Metro:

The stop closest to the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center (555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW) is the Archives-Naval Memorial-Penn Quarter station (Green or Yellow lines), a four-minute walk.

Other Metro choices:

Gallery Place-Chinatown Station (Green, Yellow and Red Lines). A 12-minute walk.
Federal Triangle Station (Blue, Orange and Silver Lines). A 13-minute walk.
L’Enfant Plaza Station (Orange, Blue, Silver, Green and Yellow Lines). A 13-minute walk.
Judiciary Square Station (Red Line). A 14-minute walk.

Driving:

The nearest parking garages are:

601 North Building Garage: 601 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Liberty Place Garage: 325 7th Street NW

Train:

Amtrak, Maryland Area Rail Commuter (MARC), and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) all go to Union Station. From there, it’s a 20 minute walk to the building. You can also transfer to a bus, Metro or take a taxi.

Lodging:

D.C. hotels are expensive in the spring, especially as the cherry blossoms bloom.

We do not have a hotel group rate, so it’s up to you to make lodging arrangements.

Hotels within a half-mile walk to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center are all pricey: Waldorf Astoria, Kimpton Hotel Monaco and Riggs Washington. Many attendees are staying at the relatively affordable boutique Motto by Hilton in China Town, which isn’t a bad walk and about $250 a night (small rooms, but hip).

If you’re a budget traveler like us, search elsewhere in the city or take Metro to Virginia. For slightly less sticker shock, search for hotels within walking distance to the following Virginia stations: Rosslyn (Blue, Orange, Silver lines), Court House (Orange, Silver), Clarendon (Orange, Silver), Pentagon City (Blue, Yellow).

Know Before You Go

Recording notice

All events are subject to being photographed, video/audio-recorded, screen captured and/or live-streamed via social media channels. Attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors may be captured via these formats. All conference sessions, materials and activities are subject to recording and may be reproduced in part or whole, and distributed or used in any way consistent with Sunshine Week’s mission.

Do you have accessibility needs or dietary restrictions?

Please send a note to Diana Mitsu Klos.

Code of conduct

Sunshine Fest is committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of race, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical ability, age, appearance or religion. We welcome debate and disagreement while maintaining a civil and respectful community. In general, we subscribe to Chatham House rules in that we recommend not repeating information attributed to a specific person without their permission. However, we understand the need for free speech and transparency, and that anything said at the summit could be disseminated by anyone on social media or elsewhere. Discriminatory or harassing behavior is not acceptable. During Sunshine Fest, any concerns can be brought to the attention of David Cuillier or Diana Mitsu Klos, who will be present throughout the event.

The Sunshine United Network

It is our goal to extend Sunshine Week beyond March to create a year-around collaboration in promoting government transparency and finding common-ground solutions to pressing issues in freedom of information. This stems from a 2020 study by Brechner FOI Project Director David Cuillier, supported by the Knight Foundation, that mapped the FOI universe and provided 10 recommendations to improve government transparency, including creation of “SunCon – National FOI Convention,” and greater collaboration of organizations.

Following up on that research, we will launch the Sunshine United Network to continue the discussions online through the year, building on the partnership with nearly 100 organizations supporting the effort, with the hope of meeting annually in March during Sunshine Week to convene in public. There is nothing like meeting face-to-face once in a while. More information will be forthcoming on the online platform to facilitate such collaborations.

Conference merchandise

Check out the Sunshine Week store to buy T-shirts, pillows, hats, hoodies, pet bowls, water bottles, teddy bears, and other merchandise with the Sunshine Fest 2025 logo (above). We also will have merchandise with Sunshine Week logos. We won’t sell merchandise at the conference, but we will hand out stickers for your laptops and water bottles!

Spread the word and tag us!

We encourage you to share Sunshine Fest with friends and colleagues through social media, and follow Sunshine Week and Brechner FOI Project on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and Blue Sky! We have provided Sunshine Week graphics online, and a social media toolkit, and will post news and photos throughout the conference. Also, check out our Sunshine Week Zoom backgrounds, including in Spanish.

Funding sources

Journalists know to follow the money to figure out who is really driving an initiative. Sunshine Fest is funded primarily by the Brechner FOI Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications through its endowments it has built during its 48 years of providing research and education in government transparency. Those endowments were driven in the 1980s and 1990s by media supporters, including Joseph and Marion Brechner, who owned television stations and other media properties and championed freedom of information.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation provided us a $575,000 endowment in 2024 to continue the work of Sunshine Week, after shifting it from News Leaders Association (formerly the American Society of Newspaper Editors), which disbanded in June 2024. Sunshine Fest also will be supported by others who champion transparency, including the District of Columbia Open Government Coalition (thank you, President Kirsten Mitchell). When sponsorships are finalized we will make those public.

Support the cause

We welcome contributions for this Sunshine Fest and beyond. A small portion of this year’s event is supported by sponsorships. We welcome foundations, philanthropists, civil society organizations and others to support the cause. We do not endorse any product or service. Sponsors will be noted on the website, in acknowledgements, and signage. They will have the opportunity to set up exhibitor tables in the fourth-floor Link room, where attendees can visit if they wish. All sponsor revenue goes toward defraying costs of the event. Our policy is that programming is independent of funders – our sessions and topics are driven purely at our discretion, with input from the community (we hosted three Zoom brainstorming sessions in January 2025, and welcome further feedback via our online form). To sponsor Sunshine Fest for this year or the future, contact David Cuillier at cuillierd@ufl.edu.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the following for their hard work putting this together:

Diana Mitsu Klos, Brechner senior adviser
Sydney Sims, Brechner outreach coordinator
Abby Rillo, recent UF graduate and Brechner research aide
Shelley Kimball, Johns Hopkins host and researcher
Billy O’Keefe, web designer
Kathleen Minor, Johns Hopkins student helper
Gillian Henneberry, Johns Hopkins student helper
Chris Vachon, volunteer helper from the Radio Television and Digital News Association
Tara Puckey, volunteer helper from the Radio Television and Digital News Association
Kate Helster, volunteer helper from the National Press Club
MuckRock for assisting with the Sunshine Week store, and all their amazing work
National Freedom of Information Coalition for assisting with reimbursement processing

And all of the amazing people who provided ideas for how to make this a success – from all across the FOI universe. You know who you are!

Learn more about the Brechner FOI Project

Check out our team members, our monthly email FOI newsletter (Brechner Report – subscribe!), our social media channels, our peer-reviewed Journal of Civic Information, cash FOI awards for journalists, students, and scholars, and the newly launched Secrecy Tracker.

For more information

Contact Diana Mitsu Klos, Brechner FOI Project, consultdmk@gmail.com

See the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Schedule
at a glance

Wednesday, March 19

4:30-6:15 p.m.
Reception for Sunshine Fest registrants and D.C. Open Government Coalition Open Government Summit attendees.

Clyde’s of Gallery Place
707 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

6:15 -7:30 p.m.
D.C. Open Government Coalition Sunshine Week summit to discuss transparency in the District of Columbia (reception attendees are invited if they would like to attend).

These two events, to be held in the same venue, are free of charge. Pre-registration is required so both groups can get an accurate head count.