Racial Justice & DEI

Unwavering
commitment to  
racial justice
and DEI

With America’s promise still unfulfilled, Fenton is dedicated to breaking down the barriers to equity and justice.

As industry leaders in diversity and representation, we infuse our lived experience and cultural competency into everything we do–whether it’s advancing civil rights, driving advocacy, or shaping corporate social good initiatives and internal communications.

Our Impact

1.4M+

reached in a new organization launch via content creation and influencer work

4.9B+

impressions driving awareness
in the Freedom Ride Bus Tour

170K+

email subscriber growth,
generating $200K in donations

Our Clients

Case Studies

See our impact...

View All

Expanding Financial Tools And Building Racial Equity Across The Deep South

Project to Preserve and Uplift Historical Black, LGBTQ+ & Women Landmarks

Defending Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the American Dream

“We Won’t Black Down” Email Fundraising Campaign

Area Experts

With decades of combined experience, our diverse team is embedded across every practice and service area of our firm–because racial and social justice is at the heart of nearly every issue we champion. Our experts specialize in racial and economic justice, women, disability and LGBTQIA+ rights, as well as cultural and faith-based matters.

Valarie De La Garza Chief Executive Officer
Valarie De La Garza Chief Executive Officer

As Fenton’s CEO, Valarie brings energy, leadership and passion for social change to both her work in strategic marketing communications and her commitment to the community. Prior to joining Fenton, Valarie led the communications and marketing for the California Community Foundation (CCF), one of the largest and most prestigious community foundations in the country.

Valarie is a highly skilled strategist, writer and team builder. She has expertise in marketing, media relations, community outreach and public affairs. While her nonprofit and public sector experience run deep, including her representation of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s Latino marketing efforts, she has also had an extensive career with major consumer brands. Valarie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from UCLA, where she was honored to serve as the first Latina editor-in-chief of The Daily Bruin.
Daria Hall Executive Vice President
Daria Hall Executive Vice President

Daria L. Hall (she/her/hers) is an executive vice president in the D.C. hub of Fenton Communications, the first national agency founded to focus solely on social impact. She leads the firm’s Racial Justice & DEI Group, where she works with clients and consults with staff to incorporate authentic storytelling, compelling messaging, and effective communications strategies to advance racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion – across sectors and issues. She also launched and chairs the firm’s DEI Task Force, an internal team of staff at different levels, which supports practices and policies to sustain an equitable and inclusive culture at Fenton.

With over 20 years of communications experience, Daria has worked at agencies and in-house in the corporate, non-profit, and government sectors. An award-winning communications leader, she possesses skills in strategic communications, message and narrative development, coalition-building, and partnership engagement. Her portfolio of clients at Fenton has included: Black Voters Matter, Slave Rebellion Reenactment with Artist Dread Scott, The African American Alliance for CDFI CEOs, Stanford SPARQ, Hope Credit Union, The A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, among others. She was also an adjunct professor in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of the District of Columbia, the only public university in the nation’s capital and the only urban land-grant university in the United States.

Previously, Daria served as the vice president of communications and external relations at America’s Promise Alliance in D.C., the nation’s largest network dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth, where she was responsible for overseeing communications campaigns focused on raising awareness and driving action in support of young people.

Over the years, Daria has participated in several social impact programs including, Leadership Montgomery, American Express Leadership Academy 2.0 at the Aspen Institute, the Council of Urban Professionals, and Coro Leadership New York. Currently, she serves on the boards of multiple nonprofits: Mikva Challenge, Partnership for Extraordinary Minds (xMinds), Friends of White Oak, and the Education Writers Association.

Daria has an Executive Master of Public Administration degree from Baruch College, a City University of New York. She also has an M.A. in Communications and a B.A. in English from New York University and Spelman College, respectively. A native Washingtonian, Daria is a proud graduate of D.C. Public Schools.

Issue Advocacy

Philanthropy

Racial Justice & DEI
Erik Olvera Chief Of Issue Advocacy
Erik Olvera Chief Of Issue Advocacy

Erik Olvera is an accomplished communications strategist with more than 20 years of experience working with several of the nation’s leading environmental, LGBTQ, racial justice and voting rights organizations.

He currently serves as Fenton’s Chief of Issue Advocacy, providing organizations focused on advocacy, politics and social justice with communications strategy and support to achieve their goals through campaigns that increase awareness, shape public discourse and build loyalty with new audiences.

Prior to joining Fenton, he served as the Chief Communications Officer at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), where he oversaw all aspects of the racial justice organization’s legal and public policy communications. While there, he provided strategic guidance as the organization looked toward its future and led several projects to deepen the legacy organization’s work with the communities that it serves.

Before SPLC, he was the head of communications for environmentalist Tom Steyer’s GOTV and political organizations, where he helped develop the Need to Impeach movement. He previously served as the Senior Director of Communications for Earthjustice, where he was responsible for shaping discourse for the organization’s legal and public policy work.

The Regis University alumnus also spent several years leading communications for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), where he worked on a wide range of LGBTQ legislation and legal cases. Some of his work at NCLR includes designing the Born Perfect public education campaign to end conversion therapy on minors nationwide and developing the communications plan that helped lead to the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court marriage equality victory.

Issue Advocacy
Kamali-Ann Burke Senior Vice President
Kamali-Ann Burke Senior Vice President

Kamali Burke is a Senior Vice President at Fenton, specializing in media relations, branding, project management and strategic marketing communications.

She is part of the Racial Justice and DEI practice. Kamali has a desire to make advancements in social issues including education inequity, racial injustice and nutrition. She has worked with clients at Fenton including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, Cycle for Survival, Facing History and Ourselves, the National Women’s Law Center and Teachers Pay Teachers.

Issue Advocacy

Racial Justice & DEI
Donté Donald Vice President
Donté Donald Vice President

Donté Donald is a Vice President at Fenton, specializing in media relations, organizational branding and project management.

Donté has developed and implemented communications strategies for some of the most esteemed organizations in the progressive movement. Before joining Fenton, Donté supported New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray as the Director of Public Affairs for the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Partnerships and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.

Prior to this, he was a national spokesperson on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He began his career at two of the most well-regarded national economic policy think tanks in the country, Demos and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

Issue Advocacy

Racial Justice & DEI
Amanda Ebrahim Account Director
Amanda Ebrahim Account Director

Amanda Ebrahim is an account director at Fenton where she implements communication strategies to advance racial justice, equity and inclusion. She supports clients on issues ranging from child and family well-being, education equity, and economic policy. Amanda’s clients include leading foundations such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kresge Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation to advocacy organizations such as National League of Cities, Center for Popular Democracy and Color of Change to community-based organizations including Locus, Food Bank For New York City and Educational Alliance.

Amanda is a media expert with a successful track record of garnering national and local media attention on issues that deeply impact low-income communities and communities of color. She uses her expertise to support clients with media strategy, storytelling, messaging, narrative development, and thought leadership.

Amanda is a native New Yorker and a proud New York public school graduate. She holds a master’s degree in strategic communications and a bachelor's degree in broadcasting and mass communications from SUNY Oswego. Amanda is bilingual, speaking Arabic fluently, and has deep ties to New York City’s Arab community.

Corporate Social Good

Racial Justice & DEI
Sierra Salser Account Director
Sierra Salser Account Director

Sierra Salser is an Account Director at Fenton, where she utilizes her skills in communications to support organizations that amplify her passion for social justice and equitable impact.

Before joining Fenton, Sierra worked at Whiteboard Advisors, a mission-driven strategic consulting, research and communications firm. As a member of their communications team, she worked with nonprofits, foundations, skills training companies, think tanks and others driving radical change in the education space and workforce development. Sierra’s interest in social impact began as a Public Relations and Student Engagement Officer at Austin College in Sherman, Texas where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science.
Chris Compton Senior Writer
Chris Compton Senior Writer

Chris Compton serves as Senior Writer at Fenton, where he uses his experience with nonprofits and philanthropy to create stories that spark empathy, engagement and action on a wide range of progressive issues. He drives narrative strategies and crafts written content that helps clients effect lasting, positive change.

Chris strives to connect to the head and the heart, telling diverse stories that create common ground. He comes to Fenton from the California College Guidance Initiative, where he helped advocate for equity-focused education policies and provide data-driven college and career tools to students. Before that, he spent nearly a decade with the California Community Foundation, where he worked to engage donors and move the needle on affordable housing, immigration, healthcare and education in Los Angeles.

Client Service Operations

Corporate Social Good

Government

Philanthropy
Hillary Kessler-Godin Senior Writer
Hillary Kessler-Godin Senior Writer

As a Senior Writer, Hillary Kessler synthesizes complex and often sensitive topics into narratives that engage, inform and inspire. Hillary taps into her experience and talent as a wordsmith to draft copy that grabs the attention of the media, resonates with stakeholders, and captures clients’ voices. From urgent press releases that seize upon breaking news to annual reports that tell thoughtful and compelling stories, Hillary’s writing advances the priorities of Fenton’s clients and gets them noticed.

Hillary’s background in communications for social change and justice led to her position at Fenton. She was the longtime Director of Communications for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, where she directed campaigns and public information about negotiations for and distribution of payments for Holocaust survivors. Hillary has a B.A. in English from Brandeis University and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University.

Corporate Social Good
Marly Valiente Senior Account Executive
Marly Valiente Senior Account Executive

Marly Valiente is an Account Executive in Fenton’s New York office. Driven by a passion for social justice, Marly uses communication strategy, writing and storytelling to make lasting change with clients in education, transportation and healthcare equity. At Fenton, she supports clients such as the Center for Popular Democracy, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Facing History and Ourselves, and National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO).

Marly joined Fenton in 2020 as a Social Change Fellow, working with the earned media team to secure national and local stories. Prior to joining Fenton, Marly was a Brand Marketing Intern at M Booth Agency and a Public Relations Intern at Litzky Public Relations and Southard Communications. Marly graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University with a degree in strategic communications and a minor in psychology.

Marly is a New Jersey native and in her free time, she enjoys reading, meditating, painting, heading “down the shore” by day and exploring NYC at night with her friends.

Philanthropy

Racial Justice & DEI
Simran Kanojia Senior Account Executive
Simran Kanojia Senior Account Executive

Simran Kanojia is a Senior Account Executive at Fenton, where she utilizes her skills and experiences in effective organization and impactful communication to drive narrative on issues she is most passionate about. Simran started her journey at Fenton in January of 2022 as a Strategic Communication Fellow.

Simran is passionate about social change and has always sought out opportunities that allow her to use her skills and knowledge to help others and make the world a better and more just place for all. Her previous experience working with 100 Roses from Concrete’s G.R.O.W.T.H. Initiative inspired her to pursue meaningful and fulfilling work, which is what brought her to Fenton. She graduated from Fordham University in the Bronx with a degree in Communications and Culture and a minor in Digital Technologies and Emerging Media.

Corporate Social Good

Racial Justice & DEI