Monday, April 29, 2013, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Location: CTG, 187 Wolf Road, Suite 301, Albany, NY 12205

Abstract

As part of the PAD650 Guest Speakers Series, which is open to the UAlbany community, Joel Gurin has been invited to share his experiences as Chair of the White House Smart Disclosure Task Force and Executive Director of OrgPedia. Smart disclosure refers to the timely release of complex information and data in standardized, machine readable formats in ways that enable consumers to make informed decisions. OrgPedia is working to provide an independent source for authenticated data with features to correct data quality problems and fill in gaps, in ways that have the potential to bring down the costs of compliance for both companies and regulators by giving them a reliable source of corporate information in a single place. The hope is also to empower consumers and businesses seeking better data about the corporations with whom they do business and in whom they invest.

PAD650, is a course offered as part of Rockefeller College's 3rd ranked government information strategy and management program.

Joel Gurin is Executive Director of the OrgPedia Project at New York Law School, a project designed to increase organizational transparency for both for-profit and nonprofit corporations. He joined NYLS from the Federal Communications Commission, where he served as Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau for two years and then as Senior Consumer Advisor through September 2012. Under his leadership, the FCC’s consumer bureau developed policies to protect consumers against bill shock, cramming, and robocalls; promoted access to communications technology for people with disabilities and people living on Tribal lands; and upgraded its work in communicating to consumers and handling consumer complaints. As Senior Consumer Advisor at the FCC, Mr. Gurin served as Chair of the White House Task Force on Smart Disclosure, which was chartered to study how the government can provide data to help consumers make choices in complex markets including health care, financial services, education, and energy.

Mr. Gurin is a nationally known leader in consumer issues and consumer information. He was the Executive Vice President of Consumers Union (CU), the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, for nine years, after serving for three years as Editorial Director for Consumer Reports and related publications. Under his leadership, CU launched and grew Consumer Reports’ web site, the world’s largest information-based paid-subscription site, which now has more than three million subscribers. After leaving CU and before joining the FCC, he served as Senior Vice President for Rodale Interactive; Editor-in-Chief of State of the USA, a nonprofit developing key indicators of national progress; and Acting President of NARSAD, the country’s largest donor-supported funder of mental health research.

Mr. Gurin began his career as a science and medical journalist. He was the editor of American Health magazine, the first health magazine to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, and co-author of four books on health, nutrition, and medicine. His work as a magazine writer and editor has been recognized by awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Science Writers, and several medical associations, as well as the Gerald Loeb Award for business journalism and the Sidney Hillman Foundation Prize for journalism “in service of the common good.” Mr. Gurin received his B.A. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa.