WashCOG staff
The Washington Coalition for Open Government is a nonprofit 501(c) organization that relies heavily on volunteers, notably our officers and Board. However, we are also led by an executive director and staff.
Executive Director Juli Bunting
Author, activist and former journalist Juli Bunting is Executive Director of the Washington Coalition for Open Government.
Bunting was initially hired as Communications Director in 2014 and has been involved with the Coalition ever since.
Bunting is the author of two e-book novellas and working on a third. She is a former journalist, working most recently as a Capitol Correspondent for Texas State Network, a regional radio network based in Dallas. She previously owned and operated Whistling Rabbits Events, an event management company in Seattle.
Deputy Director Colette Weeks
Colette Weeks
Longtime journalist and access advocate Colette Weeks has joined the Washington Coalition for Open Government as an interim deputy director.
Weeks was director of content for Skagit Publishing publications, which includes the Skagit Valley Herald and Daily Record of Ellensburg and two weeklies. She also served on the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association board of directors.
Weeks is a native of South Carolina, where she worked for The Post and Courier, and also for the Associated Press.
Legal Intern Eli Sanders
Eli Sanders
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and law student Eli Sanders is currently a legal intern for the Washington Coalition for Open Government.
Sanders returned to school to pursue a law degree at the University of Washington after many years as a journalist. He was the associate editor of Seattle’s weekly newspaper The Stranger and won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2012 for his reporting on the murder of Teresa Butz. WashCOG awarded him the 2019 Bunting Award for his reporting on online campaign ads violating state regulations and disclosure laws, resulting in state lawsuits against Facebook and Google.