Dan Cohen founded Full Court Press in 2001 with a vision of providing public relations, public affairs and crisis counsel to companies, foundations and non-profits who wish to use strategic communications to make social change.

Dan is a veteran public relations, political communications and media strategist. He applied his belief in brand building public relations to all of the General Mills Brands including Wheaties, Cheerios, Box Tops for Education & Betty Crocker. His work at General Mills in the mid-1990's was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as being on the forefront of leveraging brands to greater PR success.

Dan was a political consultant for initiatives and Democratic candidates for offices from mayor to Congress. He was recently named by the East Bay Business Journal as one of its "40 under 40," and serves on the Board of Directors of Alameda County Meals on Wheels. Dan is also on the Board of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Dan is a licensed attorney but chooses to practice strategic communications … his passion.

Melissa Daar, Senior Vice President, has vast experience in media outreach, public affairs strategy, grassroots/community action programs, and online organizing and advocacy. 

She was most recently the California Policy and Field Director for People For the American Way where she directed the state’s political, legislative and advocacy agenda. Prior to that, she played a leading role on the political team for Working Assets. Her previous experience includes working on ACLU of Northern California’s communications team, serving as staff for a San Francisco Supervisor, leading on-line advocacy efforts against a ballot initiative, and managing a technology start-up's public relations. During her career she has helped launch the ACLU’s Driving While Black or Brown campaign on race-based police stops, spearheaded a corporate volunteerism program that won Company of the Year from the Entrepreneurs' Foundation, and organized a business, government and advocates’ collaboration to support federal immigration reform.

Melissa has also been a social entrepreneur. She founded and led an Oakland-based organization for a decade that organized cultural exchange travel to Cuba and Brazil.

Jessica Weddle brings government advocacy, policy research, community outreach, and event planning to her work at Full Court Press. She has broad experience in governmental and non-profit sectors at both the local and international levels.

A fluent speaker of French, Jessica spent time working for the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime in Brussels and spent a summer at the US Embassy in Paris doing research on international institutions and policy coordination. She has worked for the Jewish Community Federation as an event coordinator and for Jewish Vocational Service in San Francisco coordinating internship and employment training programs throughout the Bay Area. Jessica earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French from the University of California at Berkeley. A native of San Francisco, Jessica grew up in Sonoma County. Her interests include swimming and bicycling.

Jordan Pierce comes to Full Court with a broad range of experience well-suited to our mission; including work in local government, event production, and the non-profit sector. He recently served as co-chair of the Mayor Dellums Task Force on Transparency where he facilitated the research and drafting of policy recommendations related to the city’s contracting process.  Jordan’s international experience includes time working for the New Zealand Department of Labour and a semester studying Mexican literature and history at the Universidad Veracruzana, in Xalapa, Mexico. An Oakland native, he is a graduate of Haverford College where he earned a degree in English literature.

Aimee Fisher is a leader in strategic marketing initiatives, working with clients to think big about their futures and then build tactical plans to reach their goals.

Having worked in organizations ranging in size from four employees to several hundred thousand, including household names such as EarthLink, Kodak and Kaiser Permanente, Aimee understands the challenges clients face at all the steps of their lifecycles. She has successfully rolled out new products and services, tackled customer loyalty and retention and built strategic roadmaps to take companies ten years into the future.

Aimee enjoys working on projects at all levels - from managing and shepherding long term strategic planning processes involving a variety of stakeholders to editing website copy - to ensure a client project is well thought through, well articulated and well accepted within the larger organization.

Aimee has degrees from Smith College in Sociology and Women's Studies. When not helping clients change the world, Aimee runs around after her two daughters.