SUNLIGHT FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 3 NEW GRANTS TO INCREASE TRANSPARENCY OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

June 21, 2007

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202-742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON, DC - The Sunlight Foundation is announcing its third round of grants for 2007 for projects that further the organization's mission of using the Internet to connect the public to information about the workings of Congress to better inform their civic engagement and increase transparency in Congress. The grants, totaling $350,000, are being awarded to MAPLight.org, the Center for Independent Media and The Focus Project's OMB Watch.

"Sunlight is proud to support our grantees' innovative use of 'Web 2.0' technology to equip citizens with the tools and knowledge necessary to effectively participate in democracy," said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. "The groups we are helping to fund are leading the way in making Congress more transparent, and therefore, more accountable to the public."

The Sunlight Foundation will award more grants throughout the year. Last year, the organization gave more than $1.6 million in grants. The grants being announced today, are:

$200,000 to MAPLight.org. This grant adds to Sunlight's initial seed funding to provide core support for MAPLight.org's newly launched Web 2.0 federal search engine that reveals the connections between money and votes within Congress. MAPLight.org provides an unparalleled level of government transparency by creatively and interactively exposing the links between dollars spent and votes cast never before seen by ordinary citizens

$100,000 to the Center for Independent Media. This grant will support the Center's efforts to strengthen its New Journalist Program by establishing a national branch in Washington, DC. The fellowship program, with operations currently in Colorado, Minnesota and Iowa, mentors and trains state-based political news bloggers in investigative reporting with the aim of creating a robust corps of citizen journalists to add diversity and local expertise to media coverage of important issues. Fellows serving in the New Journalist Washington DC Program will focus their coverage on Congress, federal agencies, the presidency, Supreme Court and the influence of lobbying, the national press corps and campaign finance.

$50,000 to The Focus Project's OMB Watch. This grant will support OMB Watch's two-year "Fueling Democracy with Information in the 21st Century" project to define a proactive agenda to modernize and increase public disclosure of government information to give citizens a comprehensive view of the workings of Congress. This will spur greater congressional oversight in the same way the Freedom of Information Act provides the means to make the executive branch more transparent.

Founded in January, 2006, the mission of the Sunlight Foundation is to strengthen the relationship between lawmakers and their constituents. Sunlight puts information and tools in citizens' hands so they can learn more about what Congress and their elected representatives are doing. Its ultimate goal is full transparency by Congress, its Members and staff will help reduce corruption, ensure greater accountability, and foster public trust in this vital institution of democracy.

Since its founding, the Sunlight Foundation has issued nearly $2 million to groups to digitize existing information about Congress and those that use Internet technology to further Sunlight's goals. Additionally, the Sunlight Foundation has fostered its own projects such as Congresspedia, OpenCongress.org and Congress' Family Business.
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