Five Years of Forward Shift. Thank you!
This year, we reached a humbling milestone: Forward Shift Strategies turned five years old.
We’re so grateful to our clients for their trust. By the time they come to us, they’ve already moved mountains. That means fundraising, staffing up, designing campaigns, and more, all in the name of making a tangible difference in people’s lives. That next step — strengthening their communications strategy — is crucial in powering forward. Being welcomed into their fights is everything to us. These efforts are the very reason we started doing this work.
The Forward Shift team, and our friends, during a recent gathering in Long Beach: Citlally Ruedas, far left; Jose Ayala, far right; Ricardo Ramírez, second from right.
There’s a need for top-tier communications strategies in the most urgent fights of our time. But too often, the organizations in greatest need of impactful, grounded communications support are among the last to receive it. So how do we meet that need, show up responsibly, and deliver impact?
After five years of policy wins, defending democracy, and strengthening key narratives, our team of communications experts has shown the way over and over again. It takes dynamism, and it requires valuing learning and taking action equally — which we’ve been able to bring to fight after fight.
The turmoil in our world and the complex communication ecosystems are a strain on every fight for justice. But in this environment, staying still — exercising too much caution — is rarely the right approach. The moment demands boldness and that we balance groundedness with motion.
It’s why, in the face of such challenges, we’ve instilled these concepts in our communications work. In doing so, we’ve secured some significant victories for our clients in the fight for democracy, immigrant rights, racial and economic justice, and other causes. With each new project, we’ve gained insights and grown our team into a strong, tight-knit unit.
Our efforts have helped organizations expand their impact in these difficult times—it’s a role and a responsibility we don’t take for granted.
Thanks again for your support and partnership.
Highlights: Five Years of Forward Shift
Amid ongoing right-wing attacks on our democracy and our communities, strengthening the storytelling and communications muscle of movements at the center of the work is vital. In partnership with clients like the Four Freedoms Fund, Advancement Project, the Climate and Community Initiative, the Brennan Center for Justice, Demos, UltraViolet, and many more, Forward Shift has advanced our clients’ ability to tell their stories and reach key audiences as they take on today’s most pressing national issues.
Showing Up for Our Neighbors
With most of our team based in Southern California, what happens here hits home. So when ICE started terrorizing Los Angeles neighborhoods, we were ready to join the fight.
We helped Community Coalition, a deeply-rooted multiracial grassroots organization in Los Angeles, design and implement a media strategy for their rally and vigil honoring those taken by ICE. Our team produced engaging social media content and secured compelling coverage live on Univision and KTLA.
Supporting Survivors Denouncing Trump
We were honored to support UltraViolet, a women-led gender justice organization, in their effort to hold the Trump administration accountable for downplaying and covering up the abuses of known sexual predators Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. When news broke that the Department of Justice would meet with Ghislaine Maxwell in Florida, we jumped into action.
Our client UltraViolet's plane banner denouncing Trump and Bondi's protection of Ghislaine Maxwell and other Epstein associates. Credit UltraViolet and Bob O'Lary
In less than 48 hours, we helped get a plane in the sky over Tallahassee with a banner that read: “Trump and Bondi are Protecting Predators.” The action made headlines across The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, Associated Press, and more, hitting dozens of media outlets and blanketing social media in viral posts that garnered thousands of views and shares.
In a moment when powerful people want to drown survivors’ stories, we are proud to support UltraViolet’s work to uplift voices that matter.
Ensuring Every Voter Has a Voice
It’s been an honor/a privilege to support the brave work by our partners to repel attacks on democracy and protect fundamental rights and freedoms.
When Demos and Organize Tennessee sought to raise awareness of an impactful and damning report revealing how Tennessee’s voting laws undermine voter turnout, we stepped in. Through rigorous strategic planning, we secured media coverage, including an op-ed in the state’s largest publication, a feature story in the Memphis newspaper, and a public radio story that highlighted the impact of the state’s policies and drew new attention to proposed solutions.
When Advancement Project challenged Florida’s attempts to make it harder to vote, the organization brought us on to spearhead the media relations for their lawsuit. Our efforts yielded 17 media hits, including major newspapers in Florida, local TV stations, and national and local Spanish-language media outlets. Our client won this lawsuit before moving on to the appeals process.
The severity of attacks on democracy is not lost on us. But we are honored to be in partnership with a dynamic community of grounded advocates. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us — we can’t wait to share more about our work.
