Jason Eliaser, Chair

Jason Eliaser is a mediator and training program manager for the federal government. Prior to his federal service, Jason operated his own law firm focusing on civil rights, wrongful foreclosure, housing, and consumer finance abuse litigation. Jason has also provided extensive advice and counsel for nonprofit organizations on formation, regulatory compliance, risk and liability avoidance, contract negotiation, transactions, and intellectual property concerns. Jason served for three years on the board of a literary arts nonprofit, volunteered for two years at a legal clinic providing assistance to people experiencing homelessness, and is currently an active volunteer for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington. Jason lives in Alexandria with his significant other, Monica, and their cat, The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginspurr.

Blythe Bowman Balestrieri, Vice Chair

Blythe A. B. Balestrieri, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Assistant Chair of Criminal Justice in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government & Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. As a correctional law librarian, she has also spent over a decade providing legal research and reference services to jail and prison inmates across the Commonwealth of Virginia. As a Translational Research Fellow at VCU, Balestrieri also works with state and local policymakers in translating high-quality research into data-driven public policy. Her research interests focus on access to justice for the incarcerated and inmate litigation.

Kori Williams, Secretary

Kori Williams is the Event Coordinator for Radiant Digital, where she organizes fun, team building experiences and assists the marketing department in building the Radiant Digital brand. She also assists the Indian American International Chamber of Commerce as an event organizer. She assists the executive team with community outreach, program and event planning, and writing proposals. Kori also volunteers with PPMW and currently sits on their Developing Leaders Program’s core team as the Fundraising Chair.

Prior to this, Kori volunteered as the Managing Editor of Prose for 1932 Quarterly and survived working over a decade in the hospitality industry.

Kori holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and German language and communication from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Washington, DC with her son.

Michelle Gallinger, Past Chair

Michelle Gallinger is the principal of Gallinger Consulting where she provides technological insight into decision-making processes for libraries, museums, archives, and businesses. She gives strategic planning guidance; develops policies, guidelines, and action plans for her clients; offers stakeholder facilitation services; and coordinates collaborative technological initiatives. Gallinger’s clients include Harvard Library, Institute of Museums and Library Services, Metropolitan New York Library Council, Ithaka S+R, and the Council of State Archivists (CoSA). Prior to consulting, Gallinger worked at the Library of Congress developing the initial strategy for and led the creation, definition, and launch of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance in 2010. Gallinger performed policy development, strategic planning, program planning, and research and analysis at the Library of Congress. She has also designed and managed digitization services, overseen the formation of and policy development for the Colonial Williamsburg Rockefeller Library’s Digital Library, and worked for Gartner Dataquest. Gallinger graduated with a BA from Reed College and an MA from The University of Virginia. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, three children, two fish, and a dog.

X. Blake Sparrow

Blake Sparrow is the Assistant General Counsel for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In this capacity, he provides confidential legal, policy, and business advice in a myriad of areas, including contracts; information law; security; international, federal, state, and local statutory interpretation; and serves as agency defense counsel.

Prior to joining the Museum, Blake held a variety of positions: he served as Senior Counsel for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency dedicated to the protection of consumers from banks, lenders, and other financial institutions; he was an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where he specialized in antitrust and internal investigations matters; he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gerald Bruce Lee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; and he taught third grade and coordinated the community service program at the Collegiate School in New York.

Blake holds an A.B. cum laude from Amherst College and a J.D. cum laude from the Howard University School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Howard Law Journal. Blake lives in Washington with his wife, Lisa, and three children, Hank, Sam, and Cleoria.