# State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered at 13851 W. 63rd Street Suite 405, Shawnee, KS 66216. CEO is Dr. OJ Oleka. SFOF is described in its own newsletter as "the only organization solely focused on educating and building relationships with free-market, fiscally conservative statewide elected financial officials across the country." Its stated mission is "to drive fiscally sound public policy, by partnering with key stakeholders and educating Americans on the role of responsible financial management in a free market economy." In the materials produced from Dennis Milligan's mailbox in the ATRS R1 FOIA, SFOF appears once: a 11/4/2024 newsletter from CEO Oleka addressed to Milligan. The newsletter was sent the day before the 2024 general election. It identified four SFOF member candidates on the 2024 ballot: Vivek Malek (Missouri Treasurer), Thomas Beadle (North Dakota Treasurer), Stacy Garrity (Pennsylvania Treasurer), and Marlo Oaks (Utah Treasurer). The featured case study was Stacy Garrity's $20 million Israel Bonds investment of 10/12/2023. The newsletter framed state treasurer elections in terms of ESG and Israel Bonds policy: "State treasurers oversee state investments, such as public pension funds, making them responsible for deciding if their respective states will incorporate ESG strategies into their portfolios. Additionally, both treasurers and auditors commonly have roles implementing and enforcing pro- or anti-ESG laws and regulations and ensuring funds are invested in the best interests of beneficiaries." The newsletter contains a 501(c)(3) disclaimer at its conclusion: "All views, positions, opinions, statements, and recommendations expressed at any State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) event or provided in any SFOF print or digital publication or email should not be construed as an endorsement for, or opposition to, any candidate, potential candidate, political party, or PAC by SFOF." Despite this disclaimer, the substantive content of the newsletter promoted specific Republican candidates (Garrity, Briner) by featuring their pro-Israel-Bonds and anti-ESG positions favorably while characterizing their Democratic opponents critically. The "Dear Tina" salutation in the newsletter to Milligan indicates templated mailmerge distribution to a wider list of state financial officers, not personalized correspondence. Milligan as Arkansas Auditor of State is within SFOF's stated constituency. SFOF's role in this investigation is as documented infrastructure for the political-solidarity rationale for Israel Bonds adoption. The companion concept page [[sfof-state-financial-officer-network]] develops this further. The 6/25/25 Brady custodian FOIA production at [[auditor-foia-r2-jbrady]] substantially expands the documented SFOF organizational footprint. Three findings matter. First, **Dennis Milligan is a past chair of SFOF**. Per Brady's draft of Milligan's SFOF Spring National Meeting speech: "I also have the honor of being a past chair of SFOF." This positions Milligan in the SFOF organizational hierarchy as a past national leader, not merely a recipient of templated newsletters. Second, **the SFOF leadership team is documented**: CEO Dr. OJ Oleka, EVP Policy & Government Affairs Noah Wall ([[noah-wall]]), Director of Operations Adam Slayton ([[adam-slayton]]), Ryan Chavers (cc'd on letter circulations). SFOF maintains an affiliated 501(c)(4) advocacy entity (SFOF Action, [email protected]) and a Public Fiduciary Network program for non-elected fiduciary board members. The Smart Women Smart Money (SWSM) project is also affiliated. Third, **SFOF runs an industrial sign-on letter operation**. At least eight letters circulated October 2024 through May 2025 on Tesla, anti-ESG, anti-CCP, debanking, USTR/European, SEC/DOL, CCP delisting, and national debt. Each gathers approximately 22 state financial officer signatures on tight (24-72 hour) deadlines. The companion concept page [[sfof-policy-letter-operation]] develops this further. The 501(c)(3) endorsement disclaimer SFOF appends to its emails sits in textual tension with the explicitly partisan framing of the substantive activities (the Brady-drafted Milligan speech to SFOF: "if we 'Conservatives' in this room will lock arms and join forces, with Republicans in control of the White House, House and Senate"). Per Oleka's 4/30/2025 newsletter "100 Days In: How Trump Is Rewriting the Rules of Financial Freedom," SFOF positions itself explicitly as a Trump-administration partner. Per Oleka's 1/28/2025 email about the federal assistance freeze, SFOF maintains active congressional staff sources. SFOF holds regular national policy Zoom calls (at least nine such Zooms appear in Brady's calendar for the relevant period) and an annual Spring National Meeting (April 22-24, 2025 at Omni Orlando ChampionsGate, with a Public Fiduciary Network conference appended). ## R2 residual sub-batches: Communications-Specialist channel The Corrigan custodian production at [[auditor-foia-r2-residual]] adds a Communications-channel dimension to the documented SFOF outreach apparatus. On 12/20/2024 9:37 AM SFOF Communications Specialist Ryan Chavers ([email protected]) emailed CEO Dr. OJ Oleka the SFOF Communications Questionnaire ("the SFOF Communications Questionnaire is now open and will be available for the next two weeks"). The email subsequently reached Melissa Corrigan (Auditor's-office Chief of Staff) at her Auditor's-office address; Corrigan forwarded to Stacy Peterson asking "Did you get the email below?" The chain establishes Chavers as a fourth named SFOF operational staff member (alongside Oleka, Wall, Slayton) and documents the Communications-Specialist channel as a routine SFOF outreach line. The wiki's framing of Peterson's SFOF Communications-channel engagement is refined: Peterson's primary SFOF engagement was through Oleka, Slayton, Schwend, and Wall (the policy and operations principals) rather than through the Communications-Specialist routine distribution, which reached the office at the Corrigan Chief-of-Staff tier. ## Evidence > "We are the only organization solely focused on educating and building relationships with free-market, fiscally conservative statewide elected financial officials across the country. Mission Statement: SFOF's mission is to drive fiscally sound public policy, by partnering with key stakeholders and educating Americans on the role of responsible financial management in a free market economy." > SFOF newsletter, Pre-Election Update from the States - 4 nov 24.pdf p.6 > "State Financial Officers Foundation | 13851 W. 63rd Street Suite 405 | Shawnee, KS 66216 US" > SFOF newsletter footer, Pre-Election Update from the States - 4 nov 24.pdf p.6 > "First, we're pleased to share our members who are on the ballot this election. Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek / North Dakota Treasurer Thomas Beadle / Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity / Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks" > SFOF newsletter, Pre-Election Update from the States - 4 nov 24.pdf p.1-2 > "DISCLAIMER: SFOF is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All views, positions, opinions, statements, and recommendations expressed at any State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) event or provided in any SFOF print or digital publication or email should not be construed as an endorsement for, or opposition to, any candidate, potential candidate, political party, or PAC by SFOF." > SFOF newsletter disclaimer, Pre-Election Update from the States - 4 nov 24.pdf p.6 ## Cross-References [[oj-oleka]] CEO [[noah-wall]] EVP Policy & Government Affairs (also EVP at SFOF Action 501(c)(4) sister entity) [[adam-slayton]] Director of Operations [[stacy-garrity]] subject of featured Israel Bonds case study; also signs SFOF letters [[dennis-milligan]] Arkansas member, past SFOF chair, signer of multiple SFOF letters, speaker at the 4/24/2025 Spring National Meeting [[jason-brady]] Auditor's-office operational liaison to SFOF [[sfof-state-financial-officer-network]] concept page on SFOF's role in promoting Israel Bonds adoption [[sfof-policy-letter-operation]] companion concept page on the parallel sign-on letter machinery [[pecuniary-frame-act-498]] companion concept page on the framing of investment rationale [[melissa-corrigan]] Auditor's-office Chief of Staff who received the SFOF Communications Specialist survey at the office-receiving tier [[auditor-foia-r1-milligan]] [[auditor-foia-r2-jbrady]] [[auditor-foia-r2-residual]] [[treasury-foia-r3-2-19-26]] source pages ## Treasury R3 2-19-26 production: DCI is a confirmed institutional financial sponsor of SFOF The Treasury R3 (2-19-26) production includes the 12/17/2020 End of Year Letter from Dennis Milligan as incoming 2021 SFOF National Chair to "SFOF Family." The letter's second paragraph names "every sponsor" by enumerated list. The list names **Development Corporation for Israel** as an institutional financial sponsor of SFOF, alongside 20 other named sponsors (Public Trust Advisors, Federated Hermes, iTEDIUM, Mastercard, American Council of Life Insurers, Academy Securities, Ascensus, Clearwater Analytics, EVERFI, Fidelity, OpenGov, Pomerantz LLP, Singularis Group, Visa, EnTrust Global, Claimfound, Arabesque, KKR, J.P. Morgan, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP). This is the first wiki documentation that **the issuer of Israel Bonds (DCI) is institutionally a financial sponsor of the state-financial-officer organization that promotes Israel Bonds adoption to its member states.** The structural conflict-of-interest is documented at the SFOF organizational level: SFOF's Israel Bonds investment-promotion track (per the Garrity case study distribution, the Peterson 6/4/2025 Arkansas case study forward to Schwend, the Brady SFOF Spring 2025 speech, the post-vote Operation Rising Lion content) operates inside a documented sponsor-funded relationship with DCI itself. The 501(c)(3) endorsement disclaimer SFOF appends to its emails operates as a regulatory compliance shield around what is operationally a sponsor-funded investment-promotion campaign. The wiki [[sfof-state-financial-officer-network]] concept page is extended to incorporate this finding. The wiki [[development-corporation-for-israel]] entity context is also affected: DCI's institutional engagement with SFOF is documented at the financial-sponsorship level, not only at the individual-relationship level (Berman-Milligan). ### 2020-2021 SFOF org chart documented in the letter masthead National Leadership Team (2021): President Derek Kreifels (SFOF); National Chair Dennis Milligan (AR State Treasurer); National Vice Chair John Murante (NE State Treasurer); Past National Chair Kelly Mitchell (IN State Treasurer); Auditor At-Large John "JB" McCuskey (WV State Auditor); Staff Representative Lorran Ferguson (Kentucky Deputy Chief of Staff). Board of Directors: President John Hart; Vice President Bridgett Wagner; Secretary/Treasurer Seth Metcalf; Members at Large Jimmy Kemp, Lisa B. Nelson, Ron Crane, Derek Kreifels. The 2020 SFOF org chart predates the Oleka-as-CEO era (Kreifels was CEO through 2024). The 2020-era SFOF organizational structure is now documented at the org-chart level.