crisis management

Protect.  
Navigate.  
Prevail.

As a leading crisis management firm, Fenton helps organizations protect their brand, reputation, and mission when it matters most. Our senior advisors bring decades of experience guiding nonprofits, foundations, corporations, and advocacy groups through high-stakes challenges.

From rapid response strategies to long-term reputation recovery, our crisis management experts deliver proven solutions tailored to your organization’s needs. We provide hands-on counsel, communications planning, and executive training—ensuring you are prepared before a crisis hits and positioned for the best possible outcome when it does.

Our Crisis Management Services

Organization-Wide  
Risk Assessment

We undertake organization-wide risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities, risk and threats to the brand’s reputation before they happen.

Comprehensive Scenario Matrix Development

Using research, we forecast how a threat could play out publicly and develop the strategies for the best possible outcome.

Stakeholder Engagement Guidance

We develop the strategic framework to engage key stakeholders to keep them informed, while controlling and shaping the conversation.

Strategic Messaging and Content Development

We craft compelling messaging that helps organizations lead with strength and integrity in moments of crisis, protecting your reputation while reinforcing trust with the audiences who matter most.

News and Social Monitoring with Real-Time Recommendations

We conduct news and social media scans throughout the day and provide real-time strategic and tactical recommendations.

Leadership Counsel  
and Guidance

Our senior-most staff, having earned the respect of leaders across social change organizations, personally guide clients through challenging moments.

testimonials

While we don’t share the identities of the clients we serve with crisis counsel, we’ll tell you what they say about our support:

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I’ve had a few experiences with crisis communications consultants over the years and you’ve been by far the best: speedy, thoughtful, comprehensive and reassuring.

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Hopefully I will never again in life need crisis communications support, but if I do,  I’ll think of you first.

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As someone who went through one of my most challenging communication years in my career, it was incredible to have Fenton on our team.

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Thank you Fenton and your amazing team who are friends, colleagues, advisors, and even provide much needed emotional support! The team is always visionary, and stands for truth.

Area Experts

Fenton’s most senior leaders oversee all aspects of crisis management for our clients. Our senior advisors have the proven experience to help organizations navigate some of the toughest issues they may face allowing us to guide our clients toward their best outcomes.

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.
Joe Wagner Chief Of Political Advocacy
Joe Wagner Chief Of Political Advocacy

As the Chief of Political Advocacy at Fenton, Joe brings more than 25 years of experience designing and managing campaigns for foundations, nonprofits and advocacy organizations. Joe brings tremendous expertise in strategic positioning, advertising, media relations, training and stakeholder outreach.

Prior to joining Fenton, Joe was a Vice President, Group Manager at Ketchum Public Relations. Joe was also a Vice President at GMMB for seven years, where he orchestrated many high-profile public affairs campaigns. Joe is a native of Los Angeles and worked on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign in California before starting his career in Washington in the press office at the Democratic National Committee.

Political Advocacy
Jennifer Hahn Chief Client Officer
Jennifer Hahn Chief Client Officer

Jennifer Hahn is the Chief Client Officer at Fenton. A field leader with more than 20 years of nonprofit experience, she designs and directs campaigns for critical social issues such as education, social and economic justice, gender equity and children, youth and families. With a strategic mind and an activist’s heart, she harnesses issue framing, messaging, media advocacy and public engagement to advance her client’s progressive goals. From strategic planning to CEO speechwriting, campaign management to opinion research, Jennifer is consigliere to nonprofits and foundations.

Client Service Operations

Corporate Social Good
Shakirah Hill Taylor Chief Digital Officer
Shakirah Hill Taylor Chief Digital Officer

Shakirah Hill Taylor is Chief Digital Officer. Serving as senior strategic counsel to internal stakeholders as well as clients, she provides leadership and strategy for the firm’s digital practice on a wide range of interactive strategies and execution to drive innovative and award-winning digital work. She brings extensive expertise in digital strategy, online advocacy building, social impact and client service to help organizations reach intended audiences to create positive, impactful and sustainable change.

She previously served as Vice President of Metropolitan Group, where she led their global digital and social marketing practice, providing strategic consultation for organizations such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, US Forest Service, World Resources Institute and the Ford Foundation. Before joining the Metropolitan group, she served in prior roles at Communities in Schools as their Director of Digital Strategy as well as at Blue State Digital as Account Director, where she led client engagements for the NAACP, the United States Olympic Committee and Nestlé.

Digital
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
Danielle Schlanger Senior Vice President
Danielle Schlanger Senior Vice President

Danielle Schlanger is a Senior Vice President at Fenton, specializing in political and executive communications and providing strategic counsel to CEOs, clients and campaigns. She works across Fenton’s political practice to help organizations on the left make headlines, change the discourse both inside the Beltway and out, and advance policies to make our country fairer.

Before joining Fenton, Danielle was the New York State deputy communications director on the Mike Bloomberg 2020 campaign. She was previously both a speechwriter and communications strategist at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she played a key role in advancing high-profile initiatives including women.nyc and the Amazon HQ2 bid. She began her career as a journalist and has bylines in a number of leading publications.

Danielle received her bachelor’s degree in urban and regional studies from Cornell University and a master’s in public administration from Columbia University.

Issue Advocacy