Let’s Keep the Sun Shining All Year Long

OGIS thanks everyone for a great Sunshine Week and applauds all efforts to keep the focus on openness all year long. (NARA Identifier 194183
OGIS thanks everyone for a great Sunshine Week and applauds all efforts to keep the focus on openness all year long. (NARA Identifier 194183

Another Sunshine Week is in the history books. As always, the celebrations served as a powerful reminder about the importance of open government laws like the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and what we can all do to open the government more to the public. Just because Sunshine Week is over, though, doesn’t mean that it’s too late for an agency to join in the celebration.

As we mentioned in our pre-Sunshine Week blog, a number of federal agencies joined the celebration by hosting trainings, events, and conducting other awareness-raising activities. Here are a couple of examples of great steps agencies can take to spotlight government transparency.

Recognizing FOIA Professionals

Here at OGIS, we love the idea of recognizing FOIA professionals. Saying thank you is a great way to keep your staff motivated, and remind them of the importance of their work to the operations of the agency and the government as a whole.

The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy (OIP) kicked off Sunshine Week with an event recognizing FOIA professionals across the government. OIP handed out awards for Exceptional Service by a FOIA Professional, Exceptional FOIA Service by a Team of Agency Professionals, Lifetime Service Award, Excellence in Management, Outstanding Contributions by a New Employee, and Outstanding Customer Service. Read more about the event, and see a full list of winners on OIP’s blog.

The Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Treasury also hosted celebrations for FOIA personnel. During DHS’ event, referred to as the “Oscars of the FOIA,” Delores  Barber, Deputy Chief FOIA Officer,  treated FOIA professionals to a buffet lunch, recognized a number of staff from DHS components for their hard work and contributions, and awarded a  “FOIA Processor of the Year.” Saying “thank you” to your staff does not have to be complicated affair; DHS’ event began as a small pizza party a few years back.

Leading by Example

Several times  over the past few years, we’ve discussed the importance of executive support for FOIA offices. Archivist of the United States of America David Ferriero once again showed great leadership by issuing a message to all employees reminding them that FOIA is everyone’s responsibility. Treasury’s Chief FOIA Officer also sent a similar message to all of the agency’s employees and contractors.

We hope you all enjoyed the Sunshine Week celebration, and are ready to work with us to keep the focus on the importance of open government all year long! Does your agency do anything special to recognize its FOIA staff or remind all employees that FOIA is their responsibility? Let us know about it in the comments!