Photo: Dale Robbins

Sheila Krumholz

Government Watchdog

Sheila Krumholz is the Executive Director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, independent organization that tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy. The Center’s award-winning website, OpenSecrets.org is the nation’s most comprehensive resource for campaign finance and lobbying data, providing an invaluable platform for journalists, academics and involved citizens to stay actively engaged and informed about political spending in Washington.

Krumholz began her career at the Center for Responsive Politics as an assistant editor of the first edition of the Open Secrets publication in 1989, and became the organization’s executive director in 2006. Under her leadership, the Center brought the 200 million records collected over the years online and open to the public, creating one of the country’s premiere watchdog web outlets. In 2010, Fast Company magazine named Krumholz to its “Most Influential Women in Technology” list for her contribution to government transparency through technology. Krumholz has a degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of Minnesota.