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Progress Public Affairs is a leading Bay Area strategic communications and advocacy consultancy. We support many of the region’s leading companies, nonprofits, and public agencies in forging relationships with elected leaders, civic influencers, and members of the news media to build partnerships, achieve business goals, and advance progress to make our communities stronger.
Progress was founded in 2022 by seven of the Bay Area’s leading public affairs professionals—including top lobbyists, media strategists, and subject-matter-experts in disciplines such as housing and land use, transportation and micro mobility, contracting and procurement, and other policy areas of interest to state and local decision-makers.
By providing best-in-class strategic counsel, our team endeavors to help our clients navigate the intricate web of politics, government, community, and media to help broker win-win outcomes that keep us all on the cutting edge.
During their careers, the professionals at Progress Public Affairs have been entrusted with leading strategic communications efforts for a wide variety of clients, including:
Visa
Dolby
California Pacific Medical Center
Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger
Clear Channel Outdoor
Home Depot
Kilroy Realty
The Mare Island Company
The San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco Giants
Safeway/Albertsons
Landmark Properties
Congregation Emanu’el
California Rowing Club
Sutro Tower
Contractors Water Authority
Lane Partners
The Michaels Organization
San Mateo County Transit District
Jacobs Engineering
Axon (formerly TASER)
East Bay Jewish Community Campus
Freedom West 2.0
San Jose Unified School District
Paradies Lagardere
San Francisco Parks Alliance
DivcoWest
Accenture
Black Leadership Council
Catalyst Housing Group
The Jewish Home of San Francisco
The SPCA of San Francisco
San Francisco Day School
Richardson Bay Regional Agency
Mill Creek Residential
Jefferson Union High School District
San Francisco Friends School
Marin Housing Authority
Grosvenor
© 2022 Progress Public Affairs, LLC
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, where she worked closely with San Francisco businesses to develop strategic policy plans and crisis communications around proposed legislation and electoral campaigns. 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. She lives in the Presidio with her husband, two daughters, giant black lab Frank and Penny the Cat, who is known to make cameos on zoom.
Amongst other clients, Juliana has led strategy and communications for:
Safeway/Albertsons
The Marin Housing Authority
San Jose Unified School District
Catalyst Housing Group
The California Film Institute
San Francisco Day School
San Francisco Friends School
San Francisco Parks Alliance
Accenture
Veritas Investments
Will Reisman is a veteran public affairs leader with a background in media relations and strategic communication campaigns.
Will has spent more than 16 years 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:
Black Leadership Council
California Rowing Club
DivcoWest
Freedom West 2.0
Jefferson Union High School District
Kilroy Realty
Marin Housing Authority
The Miller Law Firm
Richardson Bay Regional Agency
Safeway
San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority
San Mateo County Transit District
SF SPCA
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
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
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
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 fiancé, 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, working on strategy and communications since 1989. He has significant public sector experience, 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 in 2022, 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, host of KQED Newsroom, are raising their two children in Strawberry.
Amongst other clients, Alex has led strategy, communications, and advocacy efforts for: Visa The SPCA of San Francisco
Dolby
Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger
The Mare Island Company
The San Francisco Giants
Congregation Emanu’el
Freedom West 2.0
Kilroy Realty
Sutro Tower
The San Francisco 49ers
The Jewish Home of San Francisco
California Pacific Medical Center
SF Travel
Safeway/Albertsons
Warren Logan is a trusted government affairs expert and city planner by training who excels at creating collaborative relationships between government leaders, neighborhood stakeholders, and private actors. With over a decade of experience, Warren has worked in multiple levels of government including local and county Bay Area agencies and has actively contributed to regional, state, and federal policymaking efforts. Given his background in transportation and land use planning, Warren has developed deep connections with Bay Area agencies, politicians, and municipal directors. Warren is regularly interviewed in local media publications and is a leading speaker in national and international city and city planning conferences.
Warren holds a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy from Occidental College. In 2021 Warren received the Greenbelt Alliance Hidden Heroes of the Greenbelt award.
Amongst other clients, Warren has led strategy, communications, and advocacy efforts for:
DivcoWest
Paradies Lagardere
SamTrans
The Michaels Organization
East Bay Jewish Community Campus
Jacobs Engineering
San Francisco Parks Alliance
