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.

Sarah Hersh brings extensive experience as a communications and political strategist to her work at Full Court Press. Sarah recently returned to the Bay Area from Washington, D.C. where she worked as Communications Director for Congressman Jerry McNerney. In this position, Sarah served as an on-the-record spokesperson and senior advisor to the Congressman. Sarah also managed communications for Congressman McNerney's reelection campaign in 2010, one of the most hotly contested races in California and the focus of significant national media attention.

Prior to her time in the nation's Capital, Sarah worked for local and federal elected officials here in the Bay Area including Congresswoman Barbara Lee. She is an alumnus of New Leaders Council, a national program that trains young political entrepreneurs. Sarah is a native of northern California and grew up in Nevada City, a small town in foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. She is a graduate of Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Sarah can be followed on Twitter at @hershsarah.

Edit Ruano is a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. Previously, Edit served as the Program Specialist for the Center for Youth Citizenship in Sacramento, where she developed the organization's communications and outreach strategy and worked with media, government and business leaders. Edit also coordinated the development of training and education programs involving over 1,000 participants.

Having grown up in a small town in the foothills of Northern California, Edit is intimately familiar with the many issues currently facing California's residents. Her experience as the daughter of Mexican immigrants inspired her to major in Political Science and History at UC Davis, where she later worked as a research assistant. Edit is constantly seeking to guide others as they seek avenues for community improvement in tackling such complex issues as education, immigrant rights, and economic disparity.

Zoe Woodcraft brings extensive experience in social media, writing, research, and editing to Full Court Press. Prior to joining the team she worked at PBS Frontline in documentary production, working on projects in international bribery and the history of the credit card, among others. She was also a news analyst at Qewz.com. After Qewz.com, she worked in development for East Oakland nonprofit Brighter Beginnings, where she managed social media accounts and promoted the Save First 5 campaign.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Zoe went to high school in Los Angeles, and studied history and literature at UC Berkeley. At UC Berkeley she was part of a research project on immigration and politics in the Netherlands. She has lived in the Bay Area for eight years, the last three spent happily in Oakland. She currently edits art and history books as well as enjoying her work at Full Court Press.

Juan Martinez is FCP's newest Communications Associate. Born and raised in Oakland, he studied Print and Online Journalism and graduated from SF State in May, 2011. He also earned two A.A. degrees in Liberal Arts and Language Arts from Laney College.

Juan previously interned for Newswire21.org and was part of the team that won the 2010 Award for Excellence in Community Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists in Northern California. He also wrote extensively for SF State's Golden Gate Xpress, which won the 2011 Associated Collegiate Press Newspaper Pacemaker Award.

When not at FCP, Juan writes for OaklandLocal.com, where he covers general assignment and feature stories. He also enjoys writing about sports and community events and spending time with his family. Juan is the first person in his family to graduate from college, and he speaks Spanish fluently.