Communications Strategist and Political Consultant Derek
Jansen Joins Mercury Public Affairs to Lead Sacramento
Expansion
SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 8, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Mercury Public Affairs today announced that
Derek Jansen has joined the global,
bipartisan public strategy firm to lead their expansion into the
Sacramento political, government
relations, and communications market. Derek is a political and
communications strategist with extensive experience working for
political, government, and nonprofit clients facing electoral and
advocacy challenges throughout California. He joins the California team led by Co-Chairs Herb Wesson,
former Speaker of the Assembly and President of the City Council,
and Partner Veronica Perez, as a Managing Director.
"As we continue to grow and expand Mercury's California business, we need a leader in the
Sacramento area with experience
and skill and Derek is the right addition to our team," said
Herb Wesson, Co-Chair of Mercury
California. "Advocacy, campaign work, and communications strategy
are key functions of what we do and finding a person with the right
combination of those skills is not easy. With Derek, we've
succeeded in finding all three and are looking forward to his
bright future with Mercury."
"Because of the size of the California economy and its impact on policy
discussions nationally and globally we have always thought that as
a leading high-stakes public strategy firm, we needed to bring our
expertise back to Sacramento,"
said Kieran Mahoney, CEO of Mercury
Public Affairs. "Having Derek join Veronica and Speaker Wesson to
build our presence here will provide California industry and organizations with
access to our exceptional national network of proven talent in
media, government, business, politics, and tech."
Prior to joining Mercury, Derek worked for a leading
California issue advocacy and
political communications firm for nearly a decade on a wide range
of issues including education policy, climate action, public
health, tobacco control, criminal justice, and affordable housing.
Additionally, Derek served in a senior political role for
Tom Steyer's NextGen Climate, cut
his teeth in crisis communications at Singer Associates Public
Relations, helped lead the Ed Lee for Mayor of San Francisco campaign (2011), and taught
elementary school for two years in New
York City as a Teach For America corps member.
Derek has served as an advisor and media consultant on political
campaigns at the local, regional, and statewide levels, and will
continue to serve as lead strategist, media consultant, and
spokesperson for Ahsha Safaí for Mayor of San Francisco.
Derek lives in Sacramento with
his wife, Victoria Hassid, and their daughter, Olivia.
About Mercury
Mercury is a high-stakes, bipartisan public strategy firm.
The firm provides a comprehensive suite of services that includes
federal government relations, international affairs, digital
influence, public opinion research, media strategy, and a
bipartisan grassroots mobilization network in all 50 states. Our
firm is not just led by top talent — we distinguish ourselves by
having senior talent deeply engaged in each project from start to
finish, a promise we keep to clients. In addition to New York, the firm has U.S. offices in
Washington, D.C., California, New
Jersey, Illinois,
Pennsylvania, Florida, and Texas. Mercury is a part of the Omnicom Public
Relations Group.
About Omnicom PR Group (OPRG)
Omnicom PR Group (OPRG) is the largest global network of
communications and consulting agencies in the world. It is home to
three of the top global PR agencies Fleishman Hillard, Ketchum, and Porter Novelli, and more than a dozen specialist
agencies in corporate and public affairs, political consulting and
advertising, language strategy, global health strategy, and
organizational transformation. OPRG is part of Omnicom (NYSE:
OMC).
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SOURCE Mercury Public Affairs