NFOIC Board elects Jeff Roberts of Colorado to presidency

Feb. 27, 2023 

NFOIC Board elects Jeff Roberts of Colorado to presidency

The National Freedom of Information Coalition Board elected Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, to the office of president today.

Roberts, who has led the Colorado coalition since 2013, was previously vice president, and has served on the NFOIC board since 2015.

Roberts succeeds David Cuillier, an associate professor at the University of Arizona School of Journalism, who has served as NFOIC president since 2019. Cuillier stepped down from the presidency this week after accepting the job as director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida, starting July 3. He will remain on the board as a director.

“In all transparency, it would be a conflict of interest to lead both organizations, particularly in fundraising,” Cuillier said. “Jeff has been a national leader in FOI for years, and the organization is in great hands with him at the helm.”

Roberts was at The Denver Post from 1984-2007 as a reporter, assistant city editor and data journalism specialist on The Post’s projects team and later worked at the University of Denver’s Center for Colorado’s Economic Future. Early in his career, Roberts was a reporter at the News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University.

“Dave Cuillier has been a terrific leader of NFOIC, guiding it through a time of restructuring while making sure it stayed true to its core mission of supporting the state organizations that advocate for government transparency and provide essential resources on freedom-of-information matters for journalists and the public,” Roberts said. “I’m looking forward to continuing that mission along with the rest of NFOIC’s great board of directors and administrator, Megan Rhyne.”   

With Roberts stepping up from vice president to president, the board elected Terry Mutchler to serve as vice president. Mutchler joined the board in 2019. As a journalist, she won several awards for her reporting and was Associated Press’ Bureau Chief in New Jersey and Alaska. She later became an attorney, and was appointed the first executive director of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.

NFOIC is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of state and regional affiliates representing 39 states, commonwealths, territories and districts including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Through our programs and services and national member network, NFOIC promotes press freedom, legislative and administrative reforms, dispute resolutions and litigation (when needed) to ensure open, transparent and accessible state and local governments and public institutions.\

Contact: Jeff Roberts, jroberts@coloradofoic.org