I’m not on a government transparency kick or anything, although I’m not one to to put much trust in those who govern. It just happens that both non-profits that I’m looking at this weekend are focused on helping the public be better informed about what their leaders are actually doing. Today we’re going to look at the Washington, DC based Sunlight Foundation, which is an organization that “uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable.” It used to be that the major media outlets controlled most of the information that flowed out of our government. Sometimes they’d do a good job of reporting, but they need to maintain relationships with government officials if they want the stories to keep coming. Now we live with technology that allows anyone to reach a massive audience. It’s slowly changing the way that government works, and the Sunlight Foundation is pushing to make that happen more quickly.

Where the Sun Does Shine

The Sunlight Foundation is based upon “a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public’s confidence in government.” Considering the level of confidence that most of us have in our government these days, there really isn’t anywhere to go but up. Just like Project Vote Smart, Sunlight Foundation is completely non-partisan. Their goal is transparency, and no other agenda. Here’s what they consider themselves:

• A think-tank that develops and encourages new policies inside the government to make it more open and transparent.
• A campaign to engage citizens in demanding the policies that will open government and hold their elected officials accountable for being transparent.
• An investigative organization that uses the data we uncover to demonstrate why we need new policies that free government data.
• A grant-giving institution that provides resources to organizations using technology to further our mission and create community
• An open source technology community that revolves around the Sunlight Foundation’s core mission

They clearly do a lot, which means that the Sunlight Foundation could be a really exciting place to work. They don’t seem to have a Jobs page, but they do list some jobs on Idealist. Right now they have postings for a Web Developer / Data Scientist and a Media Partnerships Manager. Check them out and see if they might be a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• SunlightFoundation.com
• Jobs at the Sunlight Foundation (Idealist)
• About the Sunlight Foundation
• Sunlight Foundation’s Team
• Sunlight Foundation’s History
• Sunlight Foundation News
• Sunlight Foundation’s Blog

What do you know about the Sunlight Foundation?

We've identified Sunlight Foundation as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• advocacy
• all employers
• data
• media
• non-profit
• public policy
• public relations
• research
• Washington DC
• web development

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