Ginny Monk, an investigative reporter at The Connecticut Mirror, has received a freedom of information award from the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government.
Monk was among five winners of the fifth annual Mitchell W. Pearlman Freedom of Information award, which honors people who have worked to foster government transparency and disclose vital public information.
She was honored for numerous stories she’s published since joining CT Mirror in 2022, including “On the Hook,” an investigation exposing how the state’s towing practices had come to favor tow companies at the expense of low-income residents. The story led to an overhaul of the state’s towing laws and won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting.
CFOG also cited “Notice to Quit,” Monk’s 2022 series examining the effects of eviction on children, and a story she wrote in 2023 about the death of 2-year-old Corneliuz Shand Williams, who fell from an apartment window, and the forces in his family that preceded the fall.
“Ginny’s work has led to changes in state policy. She shows us with clarity how government decisions change people’s lives. We’re better off as a state because of Ginny’s work,” said Arielle Levin Becker, CFOG first vice president and member of its board of directors, in introducing Monk’s award.
In her acceptance speech, Monk touched on the value of open government and the importance of recognizing that “people are at the center of these records.”
She pointed to using publicly available information to investigate what happens to children and families when they’re evicted, to examine Connecticut’s foster care system and to piece together the conditions surrounding the lives of Corneliuz and his mother, Tabitha Frank.
“That’s something public records can do very well,” Monk said. “They let us move beyond what happened and ask why it happened, what systems and institutions shaped the circumstances in which it happened.”
Among this year’s other winners was Ellington Town Administrator Matthew Reed. Reed won the Public Official category for his decades of advocacy for government transparency and accountability while serving in state and local government, including his tenure as South Windsor Police Chief.
Mark J. Sommaruga, a partner at law firm Pullman & Comley who authored the book, “Understanding Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act,” was also honored at the awards ceremony Wednesday.
Mitch Pearlman, the annual award’s namesake, was the first executive director of Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Commission. He has worked with the U.S. Department of State and national and international nongovernmental organizations, teaching best practices in democratic governance.
