CREW’s Crew

Melanie Sloan, Executive Director

Melanie Sloan serves as CREW's Executive Director and is a nationally recognized expert on congressional ethics. Prior to starting CREW, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia where, from 1998-2003, she successfully tried cases before dozens of judges and juries. Learn more about Melanie Sloan.

Anne L. Weismann, Chief Counsel
Anne Weismann serves as CREW’s Chief Counsel. Prior to joining CREW, Ms. Weismann served as Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, where she had responsibility for all of the Bureau's telecommunications matters. Before that, she worked in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, where she served as an Assistant Branch Director with supervisory responsibility over banking litigation, housing litigation, and from 1995 until 2002, all government information litigation. This included litigation under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act and statutes governing federal and presidential records. Prior to that she worked in the Solicitor's Office of the Department of Labor. Ms. Weismann received her B.A. magna cum laude from Brown University and her J.D. from George Washington University’s National Law Center.

Matt Corley, Research Associate
Matt Corley is a Research Associate at CREW. Before joining the CREW team, Matt worked as an Assistant Editor at the Center for American Progress, where he wrote for ThinkProgress and The Progress Report. Originally from Newton, MA, Matt received his B.A. from Ithaca College and earned a M.A. in Political Science from George Washington University.

David Crockett, Research Associate
David Crockett is a Research Associate. Prior to joining CREW, David worked as a Research Associate for Governor Roy Barnes. A native of Atlanta, David graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Economics and Russian and Eastern European Studies.

Lauren Farber, Staff Assistant
Lauren Farber is the Staff Assistant at CREW. Prior to joining CREW, Lauren worked as an assistant on the finance staff for Senator Richard Blumenthal’s 2010 campaign. She also previously interned at the American Security Project in Washington, D.C., and worked as an archives technician at the National Archives. Lauren received her B.A. in International Relations from The Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and has also studied at Royal Holloway, University College of London.

Ben Fortney, New Media Director
Ben Fortney serves as the New Media Director for CREW. Before joining the organization Mr. Fortney worked at the United Nations Association of the USA, and in various positions across the education and non-profit industries. He holds a MA in Globalization, Development and Transition from London’s University of Westminster and a Liberal Arts BA from Seton Hall University. A Long Island, NY native Ben has spent the past decade working on the web, continually fascinated by the intersection of technology, sociology, information and design found there.

Carrie Levine, Research Director
Carrie Levine is CREW’s Research Director. Before joining CREW, Ms. Levine was an associate editor for The National Law Journal, where she covered lobbying. She has also reported for The Charlotte Observer, The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, Mass., and The Lowell Sun (Lowell, Mass.). She is a graduate of Boston University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Jessie Markley, Development Associate
Jessie Markley serves as the Development Associate for CREW. Before joining the organization, she worked in customer relations and operations at POLITICO Pro. Jessie also spent time at The Advisory Board Company as a marketing associate on the higher education team. A Cleveland native, Jessie graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., with a B.A. in political science.

David Merchant, Communications Associate
David Merchant serves as CREW’s Communications Associate.  Prior to joining CREW, David interned with Dykema Gossett, PLLC and with the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also previously worked as Staff Assistant and later as a Research Fellow with CREW.  A native of Metro Detroit, David received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and has also studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. 

John Morgan, Research Associate
John Morgan is a research associate at CREW. Prior to joining CREW, John was a member of the due diligence research team at Morgan Stanley in New York. A native of Long Island, NY, John graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English and received a Masters in Diplomacy through Norwich University.

Robin Powers, Deputy Director
Robin Powers serves as Deputy Director of CREW. Previously, Ms. Powers served as Director of Research and Special Projects and as a Research Associate. Prior to joining the organization, Ms. Powers served as a Program Associate for Alliance for Justice, a nonprofit, national association of public interest groups that work to advance the cause of justice for all citizens. As Program Associate, she coordinated workshops and tracked legislation affecting the ability of the nonprofit community to engage in the public policy process. Ms. Powers also has interned with Vital Voices Global Partnership, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and various political campaigns. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa and the Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France. Robin is a native of Chicago.

Adam Rappaport, Senior Counsel
Adam Rappaport serves as CREW’s Senior Counsel. Prior to joining CREW, Mr. Rappaport practiced law at Levine, Sullivan, Koch & Schulz, L.L.P., where he represented members of the news media in seeking access to government records and proceedings and defended them in defamation cases. Before that, Mr. Rappaport served as a law clerk to Judge David G. Trager of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Rappaport covered Congress for National Journal’s CongressDaily and the States News Service before attending law school. Mr. Rappaport received his J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago and his B.A. from Wesleyan University.

Stephen Santulli, Digital Content and Media Coordinator
Stephen Santulli is the Digital Content and Media Coordinator for CREW. Before joining the organization, he worked in communications for Homes for the Homeless, a leading social service provider in New York. He has also worked as a copywriter for a political advertising agency and a research associate at National Journal. A New York native, he holds a B.A. from Georgetown University.

Daniel Schuman, Policy Director
Daniel Schuman serves as Policy Director for CREW. He previously worked as Policy Counsel and Director of the Advisory Committee on Transparency for the Sunlight Foundation, where he testified before Congress and was a nationally recognized expert on federal transparency. He also served as Counsel and Communications Director for the Constitution Project and as a Legislative Attorney with the Congressional Research Service. A native of Connecticut, Daniel graduated cum laude from Emory University School of Law.

Lucy Stein, Research Associate
Lucy Stein is a Research Associate at CREW. Prior to joining CREW, Lucy worked on a congressional campaign in central Illinois and for the majority oversight and investigations office of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Lucy received her B.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - Board of Directors