Experts

Robert Weissman (he/him) is a staunch public interest advocate and activist, as well as an expert on corporate and government accountability. He is available to discuss the effect of money on politics, economic and regulatory policy, corporate crime and wrongdoing, trade and globalization, financial reform, prescription drug pricing and access to the courts.

Lisa Gilbert (she/her) is Public Citizen's co-president. Previously, Lisa served as Public Citizen's vice president of legislative affairs, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division and deputy director of that division. She advocates for government transparency and integrity, financial reform, civil justice and consumer protection.

Rick Claypool (he/him) is a research director for Public Citizen’s president’s office, where he focuses on corporate crime and wrongdoing and the ways corporate power distorts democracy. Rick produces reports on a range of topics including federal enforcement against corporations, deregulation, and conflicts of interest. Rick has dug into records at the federal, state, county and city levels, and has presented research findings to national and international audiences.

Susan (she/her) is the Managing Director for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, where she helps coordinate all aspects of the division’s advocacy across multiple issue campaigns – specializing in financial reform, tax issues, and open government initiatives.

Jonah Minkoff-Zern (he/him) is the co-director of Public Citizen’s Democracy Campaign. He has organized nationwide mobilizations to challenge ongoing threats to democracy from former President Donald Trump and his allies; coordinated grassroots activities to pass federal voting rights and democracy reforms; mobilized national action for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United; led and supported state-based efforts to win voting rights, public financing, to protect election officials and prevent artificial intelligence deepfakes in elections; and coordinated national support for the Second Chances Florida ballot initiative, which restored the eligibility to vote to Floridians with felony convictions.

Martha Perez-Pedemonti (she/her/ella) is a Civil Justice & Consumer Rights Counsel with Public Citizen. Prior to joining Public Citizen, she litigated in both the public and private sectors, in addition to developing city government and policy experience.

Mike Tanglis (he/him) is the research director in Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. Mike has authored and co-authored numerous reports on corruption, money and politics, worker safety, consumer protection and more. His work has exposed conflicts of interest, shined a light on efforts by those who put profits over safety and spurred legislation to combat pay-to-play politics. Mike was featured in CNN’s documentary, The Trump Family Business, discussing his report mapping the complex business empire of President Trump.

Alan Zibel (he/him), research director of Public Citizen’s Corporate Presidency Project, focuses on corporate influence and conflicts of interest in the Trump administration. He is a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, where he covered housing and financial regulation. He  also worked for the Baltimore Business Journal, Oakland Tribune, the Fremont (Calif.) Argus and the Concord (NH) Monitor. He lives in Takoma Park, Md., with his family.

Freechild (she/her) co-leads Public Citizen’s work building a broad movement to get money out of politics and ensure that everyone’s vote counts. She also leads Public Citizen’s advocacy work on election security and holding voting system vendors accountable for ensuring machines are safe from hackers. She co-founded the Secure Our Vote coalition, which works on the state and local level to encourage election officials to secure the vote and allow for recovery should a computer error or hack occur. She’s led successful campaigns to fight big money in politics in the District of Columbia as well as in Illinois, New Jersey, Vermont and Washington state.

Craig Holman, Ph.D., serves as Public Citizen's Capitol Hill lobbyist on ethics, lobbying and campaign finance rules. Craig is an expert on campaign finance reform, governmental ethics, lobbying practices and the impact of money in politics.

Bartlett Naylor (he/him) is an expert on corporate governance, financial markets and shareholder rights.

Elizabeth “Bitsy” Skerry (she/her) is a regulatory policy associate for Public Citizen, where she focuses on making the regulatory process work for the people, not corporations.

As Public Citizen’s People Over Pentagon Advocate, Savannah Wooten (she/her) leads advocacy efforts to reduce military spending and reinvest in domestic and human needs priorities.

Dr. Robert Steinbrook (he/him) joined Public Citizen as the Health Research Group Director in May 2023. He is available to discuss drug and medical device safety, conflict of interest in medicine and health care, medical journals, health care policy, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other federal health agencies, and the protection of human research subjects.

Azza has been researching drug safety since she joined Public Citizen’s Health Research Group in December 2013. She is an expert in analyzing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System.

Eagan Kemp (he/him) is an expert in health care policy, including single-payer systems, private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Veterans Health Administration, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, social determinants of health, mental health and drug shortages.

Michael (he/him) is a senior researcher in Public Citizen’s Health Research Group focusing on behavioral health, drug and device safety and efficacy, occupational safety and health, and broader health policy issues.

Peter Maybarduk directs Public Citizen’s access to medicines group, which helps partners worldwide make medicine available and affordable for all. Maybarduk is an intellectual property expert and is available to speak about drug pricing, innovation policy, pandemic readiness and global health. Since 2010 the access group’s work has helped shape major medicine pricing legislation and executive action in the United States and abroad, reduce the price of key medicines, conserve health budgets, change the course of international trade negotiations, facilitate technology licensing, empower public agencies, discipline prescription drug corporations, and support a more robust and equitable global response to Covid-19.

Liza Barrie (she/her) is a strategist and campaigner. Before joining Public Citizen in late 2020, she spent more than two decades leading communications, advocacy, and partnerships at UNICEF.

Steve Knievel is an advocate for Public Citizen's Access to Medicines program, focusing on expanding affordable access to medicines. Steve is an expert in policy matters affecting drug pricing and access to medicines in the United States. He brings to Public Citizen his knowledge and experience in domestic and international campaign work, including thorough policy analysis, lobbying, communications and coalition building.

Tyson Slocum is director of Public Citizen's Energy Program, covering the regulation of petroleum, natural gas and power markets. Tyson promotes an equitable energy transition that provides distributed renewable energy generation and sustainable transportation solutions for working families. Tyson Slocum is an expert in issues dealing with regulation and deregulation of energy markets, the impact of mergers and lax regulations over electricity, petroleum and natural gas and federal energy legislation.

Ernesto (he/him) is the climate and financial regulation policy director at Public Citizen.

Abhilasha Bhola (she/they) is the auto supply chain campaign director with Public Citizen’s Climate Program.

Chelsea Hodgkins (she/her) is the senior EV advocate with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. She advocates for the US government and car companies to uptake strong ZEV regulations and improve their environmental, labor, and human rights practices in supply chains.

Rick Morris (he/him) is an insurance campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program.

Carly (she/her) is a senior supply chain campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, focusing on urging Ford and other automakers to commit to procuring responsibly-sourced steel processed using 100% clean energy.

Aaron Regunberg (he/him) is senior policy counsel with Public Citizen's Climate Program.

At Public Citizen, Clara (she/her) works at the intersection of climate and financial policy in the United States, as market regulators advance rules that will either align Wall Street and corporate polluters with climate goals, or give them another pass.

Adam Zuckerman (he/him) is the senior clean vehicles campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program.

David Arkush (he/him) is the director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program. He is an expert on the climate crisis, financial regulation, regulatory law and policy, and consumer and worker protection. He has broad experience building coalitions and advocating for the public interest, having lobbied extensively before the U.S. Congress and federal regulatory agencies and litigated complex cases in the federal courts.

Mekedas Belayneh (she/her) is a policy advocate for Public Citizen’s Climate Program, where she advocates for equitable financial solutions to address the climate crisis. Prior to joining Public Citizen, she worked on scrutinizing executive branch personnel and regulatory corporate capture. Mekedas is also a member of Women for Weapons Trade Transparency where she researches knowledge gaps in foreign military sales and police militarization. She recently completed a BA in Economics from Columbia University.

Carly Fabian (she/her) specializes in insurance policy, advocating for equitable solutions on insurance access and for insurance regulators to act on the financial risks from climate change.

Tracey Lewis (she/her) is a policy counsel for Public Citizen’s Climate Program, where she advocates for financial regulators to direct companies, banks, money managers, and other private actors to better identify and address the risks related to the climate crisis. Tracey has broad experience advising organizations on equity and environmental law and policy.

Deanna Noël (she/her) is campaigns director for Public Citizen’s Climate Program. She advocates for financial institutions and regulators to act on climate change and for automakers to transition to zero emission vehicles. Prior to joining Public Citizen, Deanna worked on campaigns to protect public lands and safeguard federal environmental laws including the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act.

Anne Perrault is senior finance policy counsel with Public Citizen's Climate Program. Prior to joining Public Citizen, Anne (she/her) was a senior fellow at the Georgetown Climate Center, advancing research on issues at the intersection of climate change and finance.

Elyse Schupak (she/her) is a policy advocate with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, working at the intersection of financial regulation and climate change.

Dan Wagner is a research director with Public Citizen's Climate Program

Melinda St. Louis (she/her) is the Global Trade Watch director. She provides expert analysis of technical trade agreement provisions and implications for domestic policymaking to Congress and high-level government officials, the press, and civil society partners in the U.S.

Rishab Bailey (he/him) is Research Director for the Digital Trade Alliance (DTA), a global collaborative of digital rights and consumer organizations that provide expertise and analysis to guide the transnational debate on digital trade and its impacts on privacy, responsible use of AI, and Big Tech accountability.

As Deputy Director, Melanie Foley (she/her) leads outreach and coalition building strategies to bolster Global Trade Watch's campaigns on global trade negotiations.

Iza Camarillo (she/her) is the Research Director for Global Trade Watch, providing in-depth information on an array of trade and globalization issues.

Allison Zieve (she/her) is an expert in administrative law, public health law, open government law, federal preemption, and class action standards, as well as Supreme Court practice.

Michael T. Kirkpatrick's (he/him) practice areas include constitutional law, civil rights, class actions, administrative law, and open government.

Wendy Liu (she/her) is an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group, where her practice areas include open government, consumer law, and access to courts. 

Adina Rosenbaum (she/her) is an expert in issues of administrative law, federal preemption, open government, and appellate litigation.

Nandan Joshi's (he/him) practice areas include consumer law; access to justice; administrative law; and communications, Internet and technology law.

Paul Alan Levy is an expert in issues of Internet free speech and labor law.

Adam Pulver (he/him) litigates a range of cases involving administrative law, consumer rights, civil rights, labor and employment law, and constitutional law.

Nicolas “Nick” Sansone (he/him) is an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group, which he joined in November 2022. Nick previously served as Public Citizen’s Supreme Court Assistance Fellow during the 2016-2017 Term.

Adrian Shelley (he/him) is a native Texan from the city of Houston. As Public Citizen’s Texas Director, he works on issues including clean energy, environmental justice, and ethics reform.

DeeDee Belmares is a Clean Energy Advocate

Kaiba White (she/her) earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from Rice University in 2006 and her master's degree in urban and environmental policy and planning from Tufts University in 2009. She worked for Public Citizen in 2006 and 2007 and rejoined the Texas office in 2012.