Allan L. Blutstein is an attorney with 20 years of FOIA experience.  After working for the Social Security Administration and the New York City Department of Health, Allan began a full-time FOIA career in 2004 with the Department of Justice’s Office of Information and Privacy. In 2009, shortly after the financial crisis began, Allan became the principal legal counsel for the FOIA staff of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Financial Stability.  Allan left the government in 2013 to join Cause of Action Institute, a public interest law firm.  In 2015, he became the Director of FOIA Operations at America Rising Corp., a pro-Republican research firm in Arlington, Virginia.

Allan served as Secretary of the American Society of Access Professionals from 2022 to 2024, and he was a member of federal Freedom of Information Advisory Committee for the 2020-2022 term.

Allan received his law degree in 1997 from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude and was elected to the Order of the Coif.  Allan is admitted to the New York and the District of Columbia bars.

You can follow Allan on Twitter here. 

Ryan P.  Mulvey is policy counsel at Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization committed to educating Americans to be advocates for freedom and real change. In that role, Ryan works on various legal policy issues, especially government transparency at the federal and state levels. He also volunteers as counsel at Cause of Action Institute, where he has specialized in FOIA practice since 2013.  Ryan's practice encompasses legal investigation and public oversight, as well as advocacy in the areas of administrative law and public access law. Ryan has extensive experience with FOIA litigation and amicus work at the district court, appellate, and Supreme Court levels; as a policy expert, he has advised congressional staff about FOIA reform and cutting-edge FOI issues.

Ryan received his law degree from Boston University in 2013, and he is admitted to the bars of New York, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.  While a law student, Ryan completed internships at the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies and the Office of the General Counsel of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.  He served as a research assistant for the Heritage Foundation, where he helped publish the second revised edition of the Heritage Guide to the Constitution. He was Executive Editor for Notes and Comments at the Review of Banking & Financial Law.  

Ryan also holds a MA in philosophy from Boston University (2013) and a BA in history and political science from the University of San Diego (2010).  

Ryan currently serves as President of the American Society of Access Professionals. He is a member of the current 2024-2026 term of the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee.

You can follow Ryan on Twitter here.

Kevin Schmidt is a research and communications professional working in Arlington, Virginia. Currently, he is the Director of Investigations for Americans for Prosperity Foundation. He previously served as Director of Investigations for the government accountability organization Cause of Action Institute and Director of Research for boutique public relations firm CounterPoint Strategies. Kevin is a frequent FOIA requester with a decade of experience requesting public records from federal, state, and local governments. 

Kevin holds a BS in political science from Kennesaw State University and an MA in political science from the University of Georgia.

You can follow Kevin on Twitter here.