Mark Tapscott

Mr. Tapscott is editorial page editor of the Washington Examiner and tracks the Internet revolution in media and government. He is a member of the National Freedom of Information Hall of Fame and a member of the Media Bloggers Association board of directors. He is also a founding member and host of NewsTrust.net, as well as a visiting journalism fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

Bill Beach

Mr. Beach is Heritage's chief "number cruncher." As director of the Heritage's Center for Data Analysis, he oversees original statistical research on taxes, Social Security, crime, education, trade and a host of other issues, ensuring it's both rigorous in its technical scholarship and produced in time to help inform the public debate over the issue. Under Beach's leadership, Heritage has acquired one of the largest privately held public-policy databases in the United States, as well as a variety of peer-reviewed analytical models. Together, these acquisitions allow the Center to produce some of the most sophisticated calculations done anywhere in the world.

Greg Elin

Mr. Elin is the chief data architect at the Sunlight Foundation and responsible for creating the Sunlight Mashup Labs. He is best described as a web-oriented data application developer working at the intersection of massively distributed data and user experience. He has helped large and small organizations articulate and prototype new technologies since the early 1990s with a focus on databases. His Fotonotes image annotation concept has been adopted for use by Flickr.com and others. He holds a master's degree from the Tisch School of Arts' Interactive Telecommunications Program and a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sheila Krumholz

Mrs. Krumholz is executive director of the the Center for Responsive Politics, serving as the organization's chief administrator, the liaison to its board and major funders and its primary spokesperson. She became executive director in December 2006, having served for eight years as CRP's research director, supervising data analysis for OpenSecrets.org and CRP's clients. She first joined the CRP staff in 1989 and was assistant editor of the very first edition of Open Secrets, the Center's flagship publication. She has a degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of Minnesota.

Massie Ritsch

Mr. Ritsch is communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. A former reporter for the Los Angeles Times, he oversees the Center’s original journalism and its frequent contact with the news media and others who rely on CRP’s computer-based research, nonpartisan analysis and its award-winning website, OpenSecrets.org. Before joining the organization in 2006, he was a communications strategist for a public affairs firm in Los Angeles, following nearly five years covering politics, education and other news for the Times. A native of Richmond, Va., he received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University.