Summit panels

The host committee and event sponsors provide the official opening and welcome for the 11th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival. Special Invited Guests: U.S. House Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds and The Signals Network, a 501(c)3 dedicated to supporting whistleblowers. We were founded in 2017 by journalists, whistleblowers and lawyers, and we operate internationally to provide customized support to a selected group of whistleblowers who have contributed to published reports of significant wrongdoing. This support may include legal, psychological, physical safety, temporary safe-housing, online safety, career support and communication support.

This workshop aims to help whistleblowers learn the realistic expectations when seeking help from the Office of Special Counsel and how most effectively to obtain it. By better understanding the OSC's procedures, limitations, and the full range of ways it can help, whistleblowers can reduce frustration and increase the support they receive. The panel also will highlight the OSC's dedicated unit for COVID-19 whistleblowers.

This panel discusses the history of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the C4C's interface with the late Representative Elijah Cummings, which led to Congress passing the Elijah Cummings Federal Employee Anti-discrimination Act. In addition to discussing the C4C recommended equal employment opportunity reform measures adopted into law, panel members also discuss their 2023 report to President Biden titled: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Unmet Mission Challenges Impacting Prompt, Fair, and Impartial Processing of Federal Employees’ Equal Employment Opportunity Complaints.

This panel discusses abuse among dialysis patients.

Law Enforcement Officers take an oath to uphold the laws of the land by any means necessary at any given time. Thus, law officers may have to report colleagues who break the law. But the ever-present internal culture, also known as the 'blue wall of silence', dictates that law officers who report wrongdoing by other law officers will face career destruction and/or have their lives jeopardized by the same colleagues who will protect the internal culture of indifference. Therefore, the question becomes should law enforcement officers remain silent amid wrongdoing or blow the whistle knowing the severe internal consequences they may face.

Movie night with the whistleblowers is the social event that started it all… What makes the summit different is that it is the largest event for whistleblowers that is organized by whistleblowers. The social events at Busboys & Poets are the signature or defining events at the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival. Shaping public policy is an important goal for the summit—but more importantly, the summit seeks to change the culture to be more appreciative and supportive of the sacrifices and contributions that whistleblowers make to society. Therefore, we host a series of entertainment industry-related and/or community-focused advocacy panels each year at Busboys & Poets. Through the arts, entertainment, and community activism--this is how we impact the culture.

Movie night with the whistleblowers is the social event that started it all… What makes the summit different is that it is the largest event for whistleblowers that is organized by whistleblowers. The social events at Busboys & Poets are the signature or defining events at the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival. Shaping public policy is an important goal for the summit—but more importantly, the summit seeks to change the culture to be more appreciative and supportive of the sacrifices and contributions that whistleblowers make to society. Therefore, we host a series of entertainment industry-related and/or community-focused advocacy panels each year at Busboys & Poets. Through the arts, entertainment, and community activism--this is how we impact the culture.

Movie night with the whistleblowers is the social event that started it all… What makes the summit different is that it is the largest event for whistleblowers that is organized by whistleblowers. The social events at Busboys & Poets are the signature or defining events at the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival. Shaping public policy is an important goal for the summit—but more importantly, the summit seeks to change the culture to be more appreciative and supportive of the sacrifices and contributions that whistleblowers make to society. Therefore, we host a series of entertainment industry-related and/or community-focused advocacy panels each year at Busboys & Poets. Through the arts, entertainment, and community activism--this is how we impact the culture.

According to multiple sources, over 50% of U.S. homeowners live in HOAs. These are mandatory membership associations. Many are shocked when they discover that due to the horrible laws across the states, they are living under virtual dictatorships. This panel will discuss the HOA disaster and what can be done to fix it.

This panel will include an introduction to the impressive body of work to help whistleblowers most effectively navigate Congress from the House Office of Whistleblower Ombuds during its first year. It will review the most significant legislative Opportunities to strengthen whistleblower rights, such as legislation that passed one but not both houses last year to – 1) update the Whistleblower Protection Act, 2) reinforce intelligence community whistleblower rights and 3) overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. The Senate is working on the 2012 government contractor whistleblower law this year.

Members of this panel will address the continued racism and other abuses suffered by many Black farmers in rural America to this day. Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus of The Coalition and Representative of the Justice for Black Farmers Group, will present a dynamic discussion regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture, known to many in Washington and beyond as the "The Last Plantation." Major issues addressed with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack are: • The historical mistreatment of minority farmers and systemic factors that allow this to be an ongoing problem • The institutional, organizational structure that allows for a devolution of responsibility such that an absence of accountability exists • The failures of the County Committee system in that people vote their prejudices such that few, if any, minority farmers and ranchers are found on these committees, which wield such power at the local level

It is said when a person dies, a library was burnt to the ground. Our panel honors the memory of Marti Oakley of T.S. Radio Network. Marti was the pioneer who blazed the trail exposing corruption in probate courts across America and worldwide, such as predatory lawyers and court-appointed professional guardians feasting on the estates of our most vulnerable, the elderly and the disabled. They are tearing families apart by isolating our precious elderly from their families and drugging them to death. The new weapon of choice that these judges and lawyers use is called civil contempt. In Montgomery Co, Pennsylvania, a man was put in jail twice for taking a picture of his Mother—no jury of peers and no right for the public to witness these proceedings.

This is a virtual Q&A panel with Whistleblower Summit participating filmmakers featuring the Directors of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers our National Whistleblower Appreciation feature film presentation.