About

Kansas Coalition for Open Government

Who we are and what we do

The Kansas Coalition for Open Government’s website is the go-to free resource in the state for members of the public and the media who have questions about the government’s denial of access to records, meetings, and the courts.

For more than 20 years, KCOG (originally founded as the Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government) has published brochures, produced public service announcements, and presented seminars throughout the state for local and state officials promoting government transparency.

Board

Max Kautsch

President

Attorney at Law

Phone: 785-840-0077

Email: [email protected]

Emily Bradbury

Secretary

Executive Director, Kansas Press Association

Email: [email protected]

Allison Mazzei

Treasurer

Doug Anstaett

Board

Former Executive Director, Kansas Press Association

Email: [email protected]

 

Kent Cornish

Board

Jill Quigley

Board

Kim Wilhelm

Board

Senior Executive News Trainer, Gray Television

Davis Hammet

Board

President, Loud Light

Mackenzie Clark

Board

Reporter/founder, The Lawrence Times

Email: [email protected]

Amy DeVault

Board

 
Senior Educator, Journalism & Media Production
Faculty Advisor, The Sunflower
Wichita State University
 

HISTORY

The Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government was incorporated as a nonprofit entity in 1999 by the director of the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State University.  Its original sponsors were the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, the Kansas Press Association, and the Kansas Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

The organization’s secretariat services were performed by the Kansas Press Association from 2000 until 2005, when Wichita State University’s Elliott School of Communication assumed those services. In 2014 its operations, affairs, and finances were undertaken by a board of directors with representatives from industries with interest in open government, primarily media, law, and journalism.

In 2022, the organization changed its name to the Kansas Coalition for Open Government (KCOG).