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Each challenge and opportunity is unique and requires its own thoughtful approach. We will craft your message with authenticity and integrity, protect your reputation and build relationships with reporters, policymakers and advocates who can make a difference.
With deep ties to local governments across the Bay Area, we know how to shape and advance your policy objectives. Whether that’s making connections with the right leaders, or helping to refine tactics behind the scenes, we understand what it takes to navigate the complexities of local government and get projects over the finish line.
Building credibility and openness with the community is an essential part of many major projects, but it doesn’t happen overnight. By crafting a thoughtful and intentional engagement program, we can connect directly with the community to build consensus, identify champions and mitigate opposition.
Co-Founder Will Reisman leads media through client Raytom Group’s mass casualty simulation event.
Our clients have been featured in these and other media outlets:
During their careers, the professionals at Progress Public Affairs have been entrusted with leading strategic communications efforts for a wide variety of clients, including:
Juliana Bunim is a trusted advisor to the Bay Area business community, working at the intersection of policy and communications to help tell their story and navigate potential reputational threats. With two decades of experience in political strategy, strategic communications and media relations, Juliana works closely with clients to understand their challenges, identify potential landmines and craft crisp strategic messaging that can be used across a wide variety of stakeholders including the media, elected officials, investors and the broader community.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Juliana was the senior vice president of strategic communications for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the city’s 2,500+ member business advocacy organization. Additionally she led strategic communications for the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, including the construction of its $1.5 billion UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay and the affiliation with Children’s Hospital Oakland. Juliana began her career as a reporter and editor in New York and San Francisco.
Juliana is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and holds a Master’s in Journalism from the City University New York.
Amongst other clients, Juliana has led strategy and communications for:
Sutter Health
Beneficial State Foundation
JCCSF
Safeway/Albertsons
Congregation Emanu-El
The Marin Housing Authority
The Mare Island Company
San Jose Unified School District
Catalyst Housing Group
San Francisco Parks Alliance
Accenture
Will Reisman is a veteran public affairs leader with a background in media relations and strategic communication campaigns.
Will has nearly two decades of experience working as both a journalist and public relations specialist, providing him with a unique insight into the interplay between the press and the public. He has developed close relationships with numerous Bay Area reporters and media outlets, and has established lasting connections with political officials, community advocates, stakeholder groups and other leaders who play a role in shaping the discourse on the region’s most pressing issues.
Prior to joining Progress Public Affairs, Will worked as the Press Secretary for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, acting as the chief spokesperson and primary media strategist for a City agency with 2,300 employees. Previously, Will worked as a Deputy Communications Director for the Office of the Mayor, serving under Mayors Ed Lee, London Breed and Mark Farrell as their primary speechwriter.
Amongst other clients, Will has led strategy and communications for:
Alameda County Health Care Services Agency
San Jose Unified School District
SF SPCA
Richardson Bay Regional Agency
Safeway
San Mateo County Transit District
Black Leadership Council
California Rowing Club
DivcoWest
Freedom West 2.0
Kilroy Realty
Marin Housing Authority
Tracy Renewable Energy
Raytom Group, LLC
The Felton Institute
The Miller Law Firm
San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority
Jason Overman is a veteran California political consultant specializing in lobbying, advocacy campaigns, and strategic communications. During his 20 years of experience in professional politics, Jason has served as a local elected official, worked at three elite public affairs firms as a registered lobbyist and communications strategist, and supported prominent elected officials on Capitol Hill, in the California Legislature, and in Oakland City Hall.
After leaving government service in 2014, Jason was tapped to establish an Oakland office for the public affairs firm Barbary Coast Consulting, which later merged to become Lighthouse Public Affairs, where Jason was a partner. In 2022, Jason co-founded Progress Public Affairs and leads the firm’s advocacy practice group.
Drawing upon deep relationships with an array of elected officials, civic leaders, and journalists across the Bay Area, Jason is sought-after as a foremost expert in San Francisco and East Bay politics. He has helped more than 150 blue-chip clients navigate regulatory issues and earn complex, high-stakes, mission-critical governmental approvals–including real estate developers, government contractors, independent schools, micro-mobility/transportation companies, airport retail operators, and many others. In addition to political strategy, Jason has extensive media relations experience and has been interviewed in outlets such as the Sunday Business section of The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, local TV news affiliates, and NPR.
Jason was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and attended the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in the Oakland Hills with his wife, Jean, and their daughter, Madeline.
Amongst other clients, Jason has led strategy, communications, and advocacy efforts for:
Grosvenor
Lane Partners
Mill Creek Residential
Landmark Properties
Prudential Global Investment Management
The Michaels Organization
Strada Investment Group
UDR
Suffolk Construction Company
Panoramic Interests
Prometheus
Lyft
Link Scooters
One Medical
Paradies Lagardère
The Home Depot
Axon, formerly TASER
The Head-Royce School
Renne Public Law Group
The San Francisco Foundation
March Capital Management
Sutter Health
Alexis Travis is an experienced management and research professional who has been navigating the world of for-profit and non-profit ventures for over the last decade. Prior to becoming a consultant, Alexis spent four years with the Water Funder Initiative working with some of the best and brightest minds in water conservation and environmental philanthropy.
Additionally, Alexis has worked as a project manager/research associate on projects for the Stiefel Family Foundation, The Story of Stuff, Silver Springs Network, Triple Pundit, and Centro Community Partners. Alexis also understands the complex and intricate world of running a small business as she co-founded and launched a consumer product goods company in late 2018.
Alexis holds her MBA from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco, CA, and her B.A. as a Dean’s Scholar from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH. Furthermore, Alexis was a student at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland where she studied the lingering effects of the Cold War in modern-day Poland and their transition to being a member of the European Union; and studied at the University of Pittsburg’s Slavic Department where she spent a summer in Moscow, Russia learning Russian. (She is disappointed to report that the Russian didn’t stick particularly well.)
Alexis grew up in Wyoming and Utah but considers the Bay Area home as she has spent her adult life here and loves the fog.
Amongst other clients, Alexis has led strategy and communications for:
Southern Land Company
Mare Island Co
Barulich, Dugoni & Suttmann
Peninsula Bay Trust Company
Freedom West 2.0
Prometheus
Anne is a skilled community outreach, strategic communications, and research professional. She has led large-scale advocacy campaigns that have contributed heavily to key project approvals, developed both short-term and long-term strategic communications and marketing plans, and engaged in in-depth research on behalf of numerous clients. Anne understands that Progress Public Affairs clients have a lot at stake, and she is always eager to do the legwork needed for a win.
Anne has worked on a variety of complex projects, leading advocacy campaigns for clients such as the California Film Institute, CorePower Yoga, Ford GoBike, Grosvenor, IKEA, Lane Partners, Marin Housing Authority, the Michaels Organization, Mill Creek Residential, Rubicon Point Partners, Seven Hills School, and Whole Foods. She has routinely monitored legislative initiatives in the Bay Area and across California to ensure our clients are well-informed of potential hurdles and impacts, providing crucial and time-sensitive information to clients such as AT&T, Cisco, Eaze, Salesforce, Stripe, and Veritas Investments. She has also prepared strategic communications and marketing plans, press releases, media advisories, newsletters, client communications, and advertisements, providing comms support to clients such as Barulich Dugoni & Suttmann, Build Group, Francisco Park, Golden Gate University, San Francisco Parks Alliance, and San Jose Unified School District.
Prior to co-founding Progress Public Affairs, Anne worked for four years at Lighthouse Public Affairs, a statewide public affairs consultancy. She holds a B.A. in Media Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Anne grew up in Southwest Missouri, moving to San Francisco following her time at Cal. She lives in Pacific Heights with her husband, George, and their cat, Roland.
Amongst other clients, Anne has led strategy, communications, and advocacy efforts for:
Barulich Dugoni & Suttmann Law Group, Inc.
California Film Institute
Grosvenor
Lane Partners
Marin Housing Authority
The Michaels Organization
Mill Creek Residential
Rubicon Point Partners
Alex is a Bay Area political veteran, who has led high-stakes strategy and communications efforts since 1989. In addition to being an accomplished private-sector strategist, he has significant public sector experience, spending more than a decade serving four elected officials in the Bay Area and in Washington, DC.
After leaving government service, Alex founded the public affairs practice at the public relations firm Reputation, LLC in 2001, founded the full-service public affairs firm Barbary Coast Consulting in 2003, merged Barbary Coast in 2016 with a competing firm to form Lighthouse Public Affairs, and with his two co-founders, expanded it statewide. In 2022, Alex was one of six co-founders of Progress Public Affairs.
Alex has taught graduate students at University of San Francisco and Golden Gate University on ethical advocacy practices, regularly speaks to civic and community organizations to help them better understand political outcomes, and is a licensed private investigator. He and his wife Priya, an accomplished journalist, have two school-age kids.
To read more about Alex, click here.
Amongst other clients, Alex has led strategy, communications, and advocacy efforts for:
Visa
Dolby
Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger
The Mare Island Company
The San Francisco Giants
Congregation Emanu-Ell
Freedom West 2.0
Kilroy Realty
The SPCA of San Francisco
Sutro Tower
The San Francisco 49ers
The Jewish Home of San Francisco
California Pacific Medical Center
SF Travel
Safeway/Albertsons
Marjory brings a wealth of experience in community advocacy, complex research, and business development. She has led successful advocacy campaigns that reshaped higher education policies, employing an adept understanding of public policy and stakeholder engagement to enhance the student experience in the Bay Area.
Prior to her current role, Marjory worked in marketing and business development within the tech sector, employing a pragmatic research approach resulting in effective, client-focused solutions. Her background in academia, particularly in the field of politics and human rights, has also produced impactful results, with her research being used in international courts to prosecute serious human rights violations.
She is a San Francisco native and graduated from City College of San Francisco (Go Rams!), the University of California Santa Cruz, and Stanford University. She is always in search of quality lavender iced coffee.
Let us know how we can help, and someone from our team will get back to you right away.
