Awards

We have some big news to share: Fenton has been named one of the top PR firms in the nation on Observer’s 2026 PR Power List.

Out of hundreds of submissions from agencies across the country, Fenton earned a spot alongside the best in the business — and we got here by doing social impact work with many of the top organizations and brands changing the world.

What It Means to Be Among the Top PR Firms

Observer’s PR Power List is one of the most respected rankings in the communications industry, recognizing agencies that are not just winning awards but driving real, measurable impact. Being named to this list as a top PR firm in 2026 is a reflection of the campaigns our team has poured their hearts into, the clients who trust us to represent their missions, and the communities we’re proud to serve.

At Fenton, we’ve always believed that the most powerful PR doesn’t just shape narratives — it changes lives. This recognition affirms that belief.

The Work Behind the Recognition

Observer highlighted several of Fenton’s landmark campaigns when naming us among the top PR firms of 2026. Here’s a closer look at some of the work that got us here.

Record-Breaking Voter Turnout in New York City

Fenton helped New York City achieve its highest primary turnout in over a decade — 29.9% of registered voters — and its highest general election turnout since 1969, with more than 2 million voters casting ballots.

How? We built a first-of-its-kind audience modeling system that delivered multilingual content in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Bengali, and Russian. In-language content delivery increased by 300%, and a randomized controlled trial confirmed that culturally relevant messaging significantly increases both trust and turnout.

Our work for the NYC Campaign Finance Board went far beyond digital ads. We met voters where they actually are — subway placements, murals, mall kiosks, ice cream trucks at Yankees games, and multicultural festivals — using research-backed strategies that specifically targeted historically hard-to-reach audiences including youth and immigrant communities.

800,000 New Voters Registered for State Voices

For State Voices, Fenton developed the “Vote for Something” campaign — a vibrant, inclusive initiative designed to cut through cynicism and inspire optimism in an era of deep distrust in the electoral process.

The results speak for themselves: 800,000 new voters registered, more than 250 million voter contacts made, and 100,000 people encouraged to plan their votes.

Explosive Growth in Fenton’s Advertising Practice

Fenton’s Advertising practice grew 60% in gross revenue, evolving into a multi-million-dollar powerhouse delivering transformative campaigns in the nation’s two largest jurisdictions — New York City and Los Angeles County. The firm maintained near-record revenue despite an off-year election cycle.

Hyundai Hope on Wheels: Turning Impact Into Engagement

Over the past year, Fenton managed 75 Handprint Ceremonies across 33 states for Hyundai Hope on Wheels — one of the nation’s largest funders of pediatric cancer research. We produced a national gala and a congressional event, uniting researchers, survivors, policymakers, and Hyundai leaders around a shared mission: ending childhood cancer.

A Culture That Sets Us Apart

Being recognized as one of the top PR firms isn’t just about campaign outcomes. It’s about how we show up — for our clients and for each other.

In a recent survey, 98% of Fenton employees rated creativity and expertise among the firm’s greatest strengths. Employee feedback captured something deeper too: “Employee wellbeing is truly prioritized… everything is very humanized, and everyone has a shared passion for mission-driven work.” And: “Diversity and representation is far greater than any other agency in the space.”

Our clients feel it too. In a recent satisfaction survey, Fenton earned a 4.86 out of 5.0 average rating, with perfect scores in 5 of 7 categories. One client called us an “incredible resource… key partners in helping our agency take new steps forward in research and strategy.”

What’s Next: Purpose Footprint

Looking ahead, Fenton is launching Purpose Footprint in 2026 — a proprietary framework delivering comprehensive forensic analysis across profit, people, and public dimensions. This shifts corporate impact strategy from reactive communications to proactive architecture, helping organizations build the business case for purpose investment in today’s volatile climate.

On the democracy front, Fenton is fighting for change at the midterm crossroads. Our 2026 partners include the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Black Voters Matter, and the Election Protection Coalition. We’re mobilizing young voters, voters of color, and working-class communities through integrated campaigns — digital organizing, earned media, targeted advertising, coalition strategies, and rapid disinformation response.

Four Decades of Social Impact

Fenton was founded four decades ago as the nation’s first social impact agency. That legacy isn’t a footnote — it’s the foundation for everything we do. Every campaign, every breakthrough, every record broken is built on that original commitment: that communications done right can be a powerful force for justice.

Being named one of the top PR firms of 2026 by Observer is a recognition of that commitment. But more than anything, it’s a reminder that at Fenton, we don’t just talk about change. We make it happen.

Read the full Observer PR Power List 2026 and see why Fenton earned its spot among the top PR firms in the nation: Observer PR Power List 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022 

CONTACT: Kelsey Moore, kmoore@fenton.com 

FENTON COMMUNICATIONS WINS BEST IN NONPROFIT AT PRWEEK AWARDS

Social change agency nominated in three categories for industry’s highest accolades 

 

New York, NY — Fenton Communications, one of the country’s leading public interest communications firms, today announced it was named “best in nonprofit” at the 2022 PRWeek Awards for its ongoing work with Stop AAPI Hate. This award, announced on the anniversary of the devastating shooting in Atlanta, acknowledges the significance of this year for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and recognizes the firm’s work as being the most transformative in the industry. 

“The hate and harassment experienced by the AAPI community on a daily basis is a national crisis,” said Valarie De La Garza, CEO of Fenton. “On this difficult and painful anniversary, Fenton is honored to partner with Stop AAPI Hate to respond to xenophobia and bigotry. We thank Manjusha Kulkarni, Cynthia Choi, Russell Jeong, and the entire Stop AAPI Hate team for entrusting us with this crucial work — the fight will not end until discrimination against AAPIs ends.”  

“Asian Americans demand and deserve a national reckoning of the racism we face,” said Ujala Sehgal, vice president at Fenton who leads this account. “We’re proud to partner with Stop AAPI Hate in the fight to ensure AAPI experiences are recognized, solutions are realized, and all communities of color can thrive without fear of hate and discrimination.”

On the one-year anniversary of the shooting in Atlanta where eight people were killed — six of them Asian women — Fenton remembers the victims, their families and the broader AAPI community, and recommits to fighting racism. This includes pushing to bring visibility to AAPI experiences, increase investments in AAPI communities, and expand education. 

From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, AAPIs faced increased hate and discrimination, fueled in part by the Trump administration’s racist and xenophobic rhetoric and policies. The Stop AAPI Hate coalition was established in March 2020 to track and document hate incidents against the AAPI community. Shortly after its founding, Stop AAPI Hate came to Fenton to partner on strategic communications. The coalition needed to build public awareness of the anti-AAPI racism sparked by these circumstances — and then actively work to address it. 

Through strategic conversations, messaging and media analysis, Fenton built the communications infrastructure Stop AAPI Hate needed as a newly-formed coalition. As Stop AAPI Hate’s thought partner, the agency actively built up the coalition’s reputation within the national media and put them on the radar of key leaders and policymakers. This included positioning and framing Stop AAPI Hate’s data reports, which documented the number of reported incidents against AAPIs across the country, as well as continuously identifying opportunities to raise Stop AAPI Hate’s voice and monitor ways to combat racist narratives and rhetoric against the AAPI community.

Since the start of Stop AAPI Hate’s engagement with Fenton, Stop AAPI Hate has led the national conversation on anti-AAPI racism. The organization was able to successfully advocate for California Governor Gavin Newsom to adopt the API Equity Budget to address racial inequities and invest in AAPI communities. It forcefully responded to the spate of violent incidents targeting AAPIs, and advocated for victim and survivor support and measures to protect all communities of color.

Stop AAPI Hate co-founders, Cynthia Choi, Manjusha Kulkarni and Russell Jeung have been named to the 2021 TIME100 annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world as they continue to be the leading force in the AAPI movement for racial equity. 

In addition to winning “best in nonprofit” at the PRWeek Awards, Fenton was named a finalist for “best in public sector” for its work with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s get-out-the-vote campaign during the 2020 election and “best mid-sized agency of the year.” 

Over the past several years — through the ongoing pandemic, a pivotal election season, and challenges to democracy through voter and Census participation suppression — Fenton’s diverse clients looked to the firm for leadership and partnership in using communications to advance social change. The firm led multiple campaigns to increase voter turnout during one of the most consequential presidential elections in history, fought against voter suppression on the local, state and federal level, helped clients elevate their positioning as leaders in racial equity and social justice during the country’s ongoing racial reckoning, and centered nurses as the nation’s symbols of the most essential of workers in the urgent call for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic’s darkest days. 

Fenton is continuing to build on this momentum — the agency has over 80 staff members, is working on more than 120 active projects, and continues to rapidly grow.  Last year, the firm welcomed Valarie De La Garza as its new CEO — she is the first woman and person of color to hold this position in the firm’s 40-year history. 

 

ABOUT FENTON

At Fenton, we are communications strategists for social change. Our clients are the nonprofits, foundations, advocates and brands that tackle challenges in social, racial and economic justice, human rights, public health, voting rights, education, climate change and more. We create integrated communications and advocacy campaigns that raise awareness, spark movements, change behavior and generate support for those working to create a just, equitable and sustainable world.