The South is home to vibrant cultures, powerful movements and resilient communities. But entrenched policies and systemic injustice — ranging from economic disinvestment to environmental degradation to voter suppression — continue to limit opportunity and deepen inequities across the region.
At Fenton, we believe that building a more just nation requires deep, sustained investment in the South. We have partnered with change agents across the region to elevate community voice, drive policy change and spark movements.
Why Nonprofits, Foundations and Advocacy Organizations in the South Choose Fenton
We are not just a marketing and communications agency. We are strategists for social change.
- Equity focused: Our diverse team brings deep roots in the South, cultural fluency and lived experience to every campaign.
- Strategic and creative: From message development to digital mobilization, we blend insight with innovation to meet your goals.
- Impact driven: We don’t just raise awareness—we help move resources, shape policy and shift narratives that drive systemic change.
Some of our most inspiring clients in the South include:
- HOPE Credit Union: Fenton helped the nation’s leading Black and women-owned financial institution amplify a $92.6 million investment from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) to support more than 150,000 people across five Southern states — Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Fenton developed a media relations plan, messaging, communications trainings, an advertising campaign and a radio music tour to markedly increase awareness of HOPE among potential members and partners. As a result of our efforts, we garnered significant coverage in the Associated Press, Essence, American Banker, Arkansas Business, Birmingham Business Journal, Business Alabama, Memphis Business Journal, Mississippi Business Journal, Montgomery Business Journal and New Orleans CityBusiness.The ECIP radio media tour resulted in 1,534 broadcasts and 4,670,640 audience impressions. The White House also invited HOPE CEO Bill Bynum to participate in an event with Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Janet L. Yellen, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA).
- State Voices: Fenton worked with State Voices to amplify the urgent local issues of reproductive health, human rights and voter engagement across Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Florida. In partnership with State Voices’ national network of grassroots coalitions, we developed civic engagement campaigns rooted in joy, belonging and voter empowerment across the Deep South. We prepared tailored earned media plans for each state, media training and prep sessions ahead of every interview and tailored messages designed to resonate with voters. Through our earned media efforts, Fenton secured more than 50 stories in national and local press in outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press, NPR, MSNBC, WSVN Miami and WJCT. Fenton also spearheaded State Voices’ first-ever letter to the editor (LTE) strategy, spotlighting the voices of queer and trans individuals across Florida to defend trans rights from harmful legislation. We secured LTEs in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Tampa Bay Weekly and The Florida Times-Union.
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Fenton supported the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s bold vision for racial equity and community-led change in Louisiana and Mississippi. Fenton designed and implemented a comprehensive, nine-month training program for 70 Kellogg grantees. The organizations participated in a monthly training series focusing on strategy, message development, digital communications, rapid and crisis response, communicating with funders and other topics to enable them to be better communicators. Additionally, Fenton held weekly office hours to provide additional one-on-one support. Following each training, Fenton distributed a survey to solicit feedback on the training and understand how to enhance future trainings. In the surveys, grantees indicated that they implemented what they learned and made immediate changes to their communications strategies.
- “I am constantly thinking about how I can tell our organization’s story, or how I can better communicate what we do through stories to help connect the message of our organization with the public. I am more strategic with the ways I use different mediums.” – WKKF Grantee
- “The media training was invaluable to our organization in the middle of a national formula crisis. It is likely the single most important thing that happened to our org in 2022. It was wonderful to be prepared and for our members to be prepared.” – WKKF Grantee
- Pace Center for Girls: Fenton worked with Pace Center for Girls to rebrand and reposition the Florida-based organization to better reflect its transformational work of helping girls and young women thrive. Fenton increased awareness of the organization nationally, as well as strengthened the organization’s position as a thought leader in juvenile justice, mental health and education. Fenton also assisted Pace in the development of its digital and print Impact Reports and positioned Pace’s then CEO, Mary Marx, as a critical thought leader, landing coverage in national outlets such as Philanthropy News Digest, Ms. Magazine and a profile in Scripps Media’s The Race, which aired on 61 television stations in 41 markets. Fenton also took on a key role in Pace’s digital strategy work, advising on a website refresh, national and local social media channels and contributing to Pace’s Insights Blog.
- Latino Victory Fund: Fenton supported the Latino Victory Fund’s “Vote Like a Madre” campaign through an integrated voter mobilization effort and event in Miami, FL which was focused on Latina mothers ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Spearheaded by the most recognizable Latino moms from across music, television, film, and business — including Eva Longoria, Zoe Saldana, Jessica Alba, Jordana Brewster — #VoteLikeAMadre urged moms to fight for their kids’ futures by electing leaders with aggressive plans to fight climate change. Our work generated a robust slate of earned media coverage for the campaign, which resulted in increased visibility and awareness of Vote Like a Madre’s Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) efforts. We secured earned media hits in national outlets such as Telemundo, Univision, Vogue, People, People! En Español, La Oferta, PopSugar, and Yahoo! Entertainment — as well as local outlets such as Florida Politics and NBC 6 South Florida (broadcast). Voters elected climate-positive candidates to the Senate in all of the states where Vote Like a Madre led GOTV efforts, and the contributions of the Latinx electorate were widely recognized as contributing to these successes.
- Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice: Fenton developed a comprehensive earned media plan to showcase the opening of the Pauli Murray Center in Durham, NC and build understanding of Rev. Dr. Murray’s legacy. Through local, trade and national media engagement, The Pauli Murray Center grand opening broadened awareness of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray’s legacy and their work to advance contemporary social justice. Fenton successfully secured placements in 20 unique national and local broadcast and print outlets with 30+ pickups in total. Specifically, our efforts led to placements in national affiliated broadcast media and print outlets covering travel, religion and Black culture, such as Black Information Network, Discover Durham, WUNC, WGHP-TV (FOX), CBS 17, and ABC 11 Eyewitness News, which reached 1.86M viewers alone.
Let’s Work Together
If you’re a nonprofit communicator, foundation leader or advocate in the South looking for a partner who combines on-the-ground knowledge with national strategy, let’s connect. Whether you need help launching a campaign, refining your message or breaking through media noise — we are here to help you build power and tell your story.
Learn more about our social and economic justice work in the South here and send us a message to explore how Fenton can support your mission.