What We Are Riffing About!

Riff City Turns 8: Building Brands, Movements & Industry Leaders

In a time of extraordinary change and uncertainty, we launched Riff City with one goal: to help leaders, entrepreneurs, and organizations turn ideas into action at the intersection of the environment, technology, and our communities.

Eight years later, we have helped build brands and movements and taken on our toughest challenges when others have said no. Fearless advocacy and storytelling have helped shift industries, shape policies, and drive change that matters.

We fought for and won historic military justice reforms with Protect Our Defenders, mobilized over $140 million in climate funding for communities most affected with Donors of Color Network, and helped Urban Alchemy reimagine public safety through community-driven models. We also partnered with trailblazing companies like Bird, World Network, and Sceye to create new opportunities for humanity and our planet.

Along the way, our work has been recognized with top industry honors from PRWeek’s Purpose Award for Small Organization of the Year, Bulldog PR’s Best Boutique Agency, and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World for using media and advocacy to drive meaningful change.

But none of this would be possible without you – the visionaries, risk-takers, and changemakers who trust us to build their brands, movements, and tell their stories.

Thank you!

New Partner Spotlight: The Work Ahead

Portal A & Brick City

Housing Crisis Decades in the Making—And What We Can Do About It: Decades of restrictive housing policies have deepened inequality, pushing working families to the brink. Fault Lines, a powerful new documentary, reveals the human cost of the crisis— and what must be done to fix it.

🎬 Watch the trailer here and join us for an exclusive screening:

📍 San Francisco – March 20 (RSVP here)

📍 Washington, D.C. – April 9 (RSVP here)

Seats are limited—reserve yours today.

Sceye

Creating Opportunities and Addressing Challenges from the Stratosphere: Sceye’s High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) just made history—completing the first 24+ hour flight in the stratosphere. Operating up to 40 times closer to Earth than traditional satellites, Sceye is opening up new capabilities for global internet access, climate tracking, extreme weather prediction, and more scientific discoveries. NASA and USGS are already partnering with Sceye, proving that the stratosphere is the next frontier.

Why Riff?

Ensuring Humans Benefit in the Age of AI: We helped launch and are supporting the rapid growth of Sam Altman’s co-founded World Network, the world’s largest identity and financial network providing humans the tools and infrastructure to thrive in the age of AI.

“As a repeat (2x!) customer of Riff, I can attest to their hustle and creativity in bringing stories to life for organizations that live at the intersection of humanity and technology. Their tenacity and professionalism is contagious and was instrumental in the global launch of Worldcoin.” – Rebecca Hahn, Chief of Communications, Tools for Humanity & World

Driving $140M+ for Climate Justice: We led the launch of the Donors of Color Network’s Climate Funder Justice Pledge to secure millions for organizations led by and accountable to people and communities of color to launch Detroit solar and flood mitigation projects in the South.

“Riff City told us they thrive in David vs. Goliath battles, and their advocacy is helping us win on climate justice.” – Danielle Deane-Ryan, Former Senior Advisor, Donors of Color Network

Mercedes High-Powered Charging: We partnered with Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging to set a new standard in EV infrastructure—delivering fast, reliable, and open-to-all charging for the next generation of clean transportation.

“Riff City is more than a PR firm—they’re a mission-aligned partner advancing clean transportation and delivering tangible results.” – Andrew Cornelia, CEO, Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging

Check out our eight years of impact—see our year-by-year milestones below!

Looking Ahead: Turning Bold Ideas into Action

From the advancements of AI to climate change to world-changing innovations, our opportunities and challenges ahead demand bigger ideas, bolder action, and fearless advocacy.

If you’re taking on a David vs. Goliath fight, or are launching brands or products that will change the world, let’s build and win it—together.

Sincerely,

Brian Purchia and Jess Montejano

Year-by-Year Milestones

2017: The Beginning

Partnered with Protect Our Defenders to push groundbreaking military justice reforms.
- “Riff City has helped bring the most significant policy changes to the military justice system in history. Riff gives our troops and their families a voice, pressures elected leaders to support reform, and has brought the epidemic of sexual violence, victim retaliation and racism in the military out of the shadows and into the national spotlight.”– Col. Don Christensen (ret.)
In 2017, Riff City was born out of a belief in the power of hope, change, and technology to drive progress. As founding partner Liz Purchia Gannon wrote in Grist, “Be positive. Talking about doomsday scenarios won’t get you anywhere.”
I reflected on the early days of Riff City in HuffPost, highlighting how technology and activism can empower communities during challenging times.

2018:

Jess Montejano joins to help scale Riff City’s impact! The James Beard Award winner and former Senior Advisor to San Francisco Mayor and Supervisor Mark Farrell, Jess helped spearhead first-in-the-nation policies and led transformative initiatives to increase access to the internet in San Francisco.
Launched Way to Win to build winning multiracial, multigenerational coalitions.
- “Riff has landed impactful media and opportunities with the biggest outlets in politics for Way to Win and our grantees.” – Tory Gavito, President & Co-Founder, Way to Win

2019:

Partner with Bird to help scale its global micromobility scaling efforts with strategic media and advocacy campaigns.
Began work on the largest housing development ever approved on San Francisco’s northside (3333 CA) to add hundreds of new housing/affordable units, commercial and open space.

2020:

Created a presidential advocacy campaign to ensure no rape victim’s boss should decide whether they get justice or not with Protect Our Defenders.
Before the world locked down, we partnered with National Geographic to help organize the #NatGeoForum in Washington, D.C. to bring together international experts in science, academia, and business to chart a path toward “the end of trash.”
- From spotlighting circular economy innovations to a March National Geographic “End of Trash” cover story, we helped elevate a global conversation on building a more sustainable future.
Created a partnership with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and Cruise to reimagine how social services can be delivered, over 2.7 million meals to vulnerable residents in the wake of the pandemic!
Helped Way to Win to defeat President Trump and flip Arizona & Georgia!

2021:

Launched the Climate Funders Justice Pledge with the Donors of Color Network, Kresge Foundation and Pisces Foundation that has driven more than $160 million to underrepresented communities.
Took the pioneering shared electric scooter company, Bird public.
Scaled one of the world’s fastest growing tech companies to create safe and easy access to cannabis. Led Dutchie’s PR for their $350 million Series D.
- “Riff helps propel one of the fastest-growing industries in the world forward. They are always available, flexible, strategic, and take it as a personal challenge to exceed the ambitious media goals we set out to achieve together.” – Ross Lipson Co-founder, Dutchie

2022:

Won the Fast Company award as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.
- “Riff City Strategies helped launch Protect Our Defenders, a human-rights organization committed to curbing sexual violence in the military and reforming its justice system. In 2021, that advocacy came to fruition with new legislation with broad bipartisan support that overhauls the way the military prosecutes sexual assault.” – Fast Company
Partnered with Seurat Technologies to help drive the green manufacturing revolution, cutting emissions and reshoring production.
- - “Riff is more than a strategic communications firm—they’re innovative problem solvers who make us stand out while delivering measurable growth.” – Joyce Yeung, Former VP of Marketing, Seurat
Despite media and the pundits’ prediction for a “red wave” in the 2022 midterms, Way to Win moved tens of millions and helped them launch an anti-MAGA, pro-freedom messaging coalition to inspire and mobilize a winning multiracial coalition that defied historic midterm odds.
Our kids are suffering from a mental health crisis like never before. Began work with Effective Schools Solutions to help schools across the country provide much-needed mental health services.

2023:

Thanks to the tireless work of survivors and Protect Our Defenders, President Biden signed a landmark bipartisan law to empower independent military prosecutors to decide whether to prosecute those accused of sexual assault, murder, and domestic violence.
- “Riff City has helped bring the most significant policy changes to the military justice system in history.” – Col. Don Christensen (ret.)
Started work with Urban Alchemy to support transformative, new community-based safety models with the formerly incarcerated and unhoused to reduce crime and help our most vulnerable.
Win PRWeek’s Purpose Award for Small Organization of the Year.
- “Riff City Strategies was founded to tackle the toughest societal issues facing our planet using the power of media, advocacy, and storytelling.” Read more here.
Helped build Accela into the leading govtech company over 10 years, shaping its narrative, scaling its influence, and securing major media and industry recognition. In 2023, Accela secured a strategic investment from Francisco Partners, marking a major milestone in its growth.
- “Riff City excels in combining creative thinking, strategic communications, as well as deep media and domain expertise to help build government technology companies into industry leaders.”– Heidi Lorenzen, Chief Content Officer, e.Republic

2024:

Partnered with Flock Safety to amplify their innovative AI-driven tools and hardware, helping communities prevent crime and enhance public safety nationwide.
Collaborated with the State of New Jersey, US Digital Response, and Google.org on generative AI tools for government services.
Addressed threats to marine ecosystems and coral reefs from climate change and destructive fishing by promoting a new investment from Green Climate Fund-backed Global Fund for Coral Reefs’, with its Investment Fund managed by Pegasus Capital Advisors, in South Asia’s leading certified barramundi farm in Sri Lanka.
Launched Myriad Venture Partners to fuel the next wave of AI, cleantech, and enterprise software innovation. By connecting bold founders with Fortune 500s and major investors, Myriad is bridging the gap between breakthrough ideas and real-world impact—helping startups scale faster and bringing transformative technologies to industries that need them most.
- “Building enduring companies that redefine industries requires vision, hard work, and strategic partnership. Riff City brings new ideas and creative communications strategies to help the startups in our portfolio stand out.”– Chris Fisher, Managing Partner, Myriad Venture Partners

2025:

With efforts underway to dismantle the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response programs, Protect Our Defenders has led the charge in sounding the alarm and mobilizing key allies to prevent backsliding on historic military justice reforms.
- “We cannot maintain our status as an elite fighting force without fully embracing and supporting the contributions of all service members, including women. Protect Our Defenders, alongside survivors and advocates, is standing up against these reckless rollbacks.” – Josh Connolly, Senior VP, Protect Our Defenders
With Protect Our Defenders, we uncovered systemic failures and helped bring a criminal to justice. Read more in The New York Times.
Flock Safety and MS2soft are helping state Departments of Transportation reduce road fatalities with AI-powered traffic analytics. By identifying dangerous traffic patterns in real-time, this partnership is creating safer roads and protecting communities.
Sceye is redefining Earth observation with stratospheric balloons that outperform satellites for climate monitoring, methane detection, and disaster response. Backed by NASA, USGS, and global investors, Riff is helping shape the future of aerial intelligence.