Meet the Expert: Erik Olvera

Erik Olvera is a Chief of Issue Advocacy at Fenton Communications.

How did your career lead you to Fenton?

Every step I’ve taken over the last 30 years has led me to Fenton. I have spent my career focused on social change, leading communications for some of the nation’s most well-known changemakers, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, Earthjustice, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and several others before joining the agency nearly four years ago. At Fenton, I get to blend the communications work that I love doing with my issue area expertise honed over the last three decades, ranging from racial equity to economic justice, LGBTQ+ liberation to healthcare, immigrant rights to climate change.

What is it like leading the Issue Advocacy practice at Fenton?

Honestly, I can’t imagine myself working anywhere else. I get to work alongside some of the nation’s leading organizations to help them advocate on the issues that I care deeply about, whether it is criminal legal system reform, conservationism, environmental justice, housing access, racial equity, reproductive rights, substance use disorders, queer rights and so much more. To top it off, I get to work with some of the leading communicators in the industry at Fenton.

What’s an accomplishment – either personally or professionally – that you’re most proud of?

That’s a hard question for me to answer. I’ve had the privilege to work for some incredible organizations over the years, and have played a role in some amazing campaigns, such as helping develop the public education campaign that led to the U.S. Supreme Court Marriage Equality victory in 2015, helping pass the first series of bills that protected young LGBTQ+ people from conversion therapy and advocating for justice for underserved people in the Deep South. That said, when I was a journalist — a hundred million years ago — I was given a rare opportunity to go undercover as a farm laborer for six months in Central California. While I learned a lot about the people who are the backbone of the country’s multi-billion dollar agricultural industry, the experience was the most personally enriching of my life. It allowed me to draw connections to my grandparents’ journey as undocumented migrant farmworkers and helped me understand the sacrifices they made so future generations could escape poverty.

How has working with Fenton’s issue advocacy clients impacted you?

Working with the agency’s issue advocacy partners is one of the most rewarding parts of my role — I actually get to help them bring change to the lives of people who are often overlooked and underserved.

Knowing that my work is having an impact on someone’s life is the most rewarding part.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring public relations professional?

I live by the advice given to me by one of my first supervisors: “If you don’t want to be considered average, don’t produce work that others would consider to be ‘fine’ — always strive for ‘great.’ ”

What social issues are at the forefront of your mind right now?

One of the biggest elections of our lifetime is happening in November. I’m literally thinking of all the issues that could be impacted and the people who could be hurt.

What are you listening to/reading/watching right now and what does it mean to you?

I have AJR and Charlie XCX on repeat (who doesn’t this summer?)

What is something people don’t know about you?

The odds of getting hit by lightning in one’s lifetime — about 1 in 15,300 — are way too likely, and, each time there’s a storm, I have an irrational belief that I’m next on nature’s hit list.