Access ’25
Court Square Theater, Harrisonburg
April 3, 2025
10:00 – 11:00 Animal testing transparency
11:00 – 11:20 Need to Know: Minium v. Hines
11:30 – 12:00 Buried treasures at the courthouse
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch program
awards
keynote speaker
VCOG annual meeting
1:30 – 2:00 Access and Gen Z
2:00 – 2:20 Need to Know: Courthouse News Service v. Smith
2:20 – 2:50 AI, Open Data and Civic Innovation
3:00 – 3:20 Need to Know: NPR v. Department of Corrections
3:20 – 4:20 The Transparency Gap in Local Solar and Data Projects
invited speakers
- Eric Bonds, Mary Washington University
- Chaz Evans Haywood, Rockingham County Clerk of Court
- Joshua Heslinga
- Marcos Huerta, Data scientist
- Brad Jenkins, The Breeze, and three JMU journalism students
- Ian Kalish, UVA First Amendment Clinic
- Greg LeRoy
- Will Lowrey, Animal Partisan
- Elizabeth Marshall, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service
- Chaz Nuttycombe, State Navigate
- Megan Pullen, Rockingham County Deputy Clerk of Court
- Amy Trotto, Citizens for Fauquier County
- Lin Weeks, UVA First Amendment Clinic
our sponsors/donors
- Lee Albright
- Bonnie Alexander
- Tom Blackstock
- Boone Newsmedia
- Cardinal News
- Paul Casalaspi
- Christian & Barton, LLP
- Roger Christman
- The Daily Progress
- Maria Everett
- Mark Gruenwald
- The Harrisonburg Citizen
- Joshua Heslinga
- Megan Rhyne
- Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Sage Information Services
- Society of Professional Journalists – Virginia Pro Chapter
- Jeff South
- Thomas H. Roberts & Associates, PC
- Virginia Association of Broadcasters
- Virginia Poverty Law Center
- WHRO, Norfolk
- Willcox & Savage
- WTVR, Richmond