The No. 29 team has been focused on sustainability and impact since the agency’s launch almost a decade ago, and today their offerings are more top-of-mind than ever for brands and organizations in nearly every industry. In the last year, No. 29 expanded to work in the sustainable beauty space through clients including Maison/Made, a mission-driven brand that is the first to champion certified biodynamic agriculture through high-performance luxury skincare, as well as TooD Beauty, a gender-fluid vegan makeup brand. To push its ability to drive more positive impact and help foster more sustainable and ethical brands, No. 29 has created an advisory board of experts to help vet new clients on their sustainability efforts and practices. In addition, the agency is set to launch consultancy services to help clients better assess and strengthen their current sustainability practices.
Leadership team:
Erin Allweiss, Co-Founder
Melody Serafino, Co-Founder
Notable long-term clients:
TED, Happiest Baby, VEJA, Happy Family Organics, Oliver Jeffers, Sophia Roe, ReFED, Aqua-Spark
New client wins:
Rothy’s, Leah Thomas, Future Card, Terra Kaffe
How are you innovating and moving the industry forward?
“Since being founded in 2013 by Erin Allweiss and Melody Serafino, No. 29 remains one of the only PR agencies focused solely on sustainability and impact. Today, the agency continues to focus its efforts on elevating the voices of those creating real change, maintaining a client roster of brands, organizations and individuals focused on sustainability and social impact. A novel idea at the time of the agency’s launch, these topics are now table stakes. No. 29 supports its clients’ values — rallying for equity, conservation and preservation of nature, physical and mental health and well-being, and circularity in design — in order to push their respective industries at large to make better choices. No. 29 is further able to leverage each client’s collective interest in ethical business to create synergies that are innovative, interesting and impactful. No. 29’s universal goal is to inspire or support action that creates momentum for positive change. In support of this mission, Melody and Erin expanded outside of their day-to-day PR work to launch Enough. (enough.media) in January 2021. The interview-based media platform highlights the people and brands who are solving environmental problems and providing alternative models to runaway capitalism. Described as a platform "for those who are fed up but aren't giving up," podcast guests have included artist and best-selling children’s book author Oliver Jeffers, activist Celine Semaan, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, co-founder of Noah clothing Estelle Bailey-Babenzien, sustainable fashion designer Maria Cornejo, chef Camilla Ruth Marcus, FEED founder Lauren Bush Lauren and filmmaker and photographer Chris Burkard.”
Nestled in their new Chelsea, NYC office, the LaForce team has been busy, as an influx of new business and internal growth led to an agency-record topline revenue growth of 54 percent in 2021. Dynamic leadership across all practices, plus expanded digital and social offerings, have led LaForce to opportunities and partnerships with some of the best brands in the world. Read: their longtime clients include Gap Inc., LinkedIn, Moet Hennessy USA and Target. Between the new client projects and the agency’s renewed focus on evolving its DEI programs, the LaForce staff grew 43 percent last year alone. The team is aiming to keep the momentum going strong throughout the rest of 2022, so keep an eye on their socials to see their client happenings over the next quarter.
Leadership team:
Olita Mills, President
James LaForce, Founder & CEO
Notable long-term clients:
Target, Moet Hennessy USA, Gap Inc., LinkedIn
New client wins:
Confidential
How is the agency advancing DEI in the industry?
“LaForce has made it a top priority to make our workplace a beacon of equity, diversity, and inclusion by prioritizing the hiring, promotion, and advancement of diverse talent. It starts from the top. Our agency is quite proud to be led by two diverse voices, our gay founder + CEO James LaForce and our African-American President Olita Mills. Under their leadership and guidance, LaForce has made a very intentional effort to transform how our agency identifies, recruits, develops, and promotes talent. As a recruiting tactic, we proactively connect with diverse community groups on social media that are comprised of underrepresented voices in public relations to share information around positions at LaForce. We've established a talent partnership with the T. Howard Foundation and have taken a multi-tiered approach in retooling our thought process and recruiting methods when it comes to reaching out to and bringing in young, diverse talent into our agency family. LaForce has also established the DEI Leadership Taskforce, with pillars that include education, resources and recruiting. This group spearheads a range of educational sessions, trainings, panels and discussions agency wide. We also implemented a system for survey feedback so that we can continuously evolve in terms of agency culture, advocacy, community support, and engagement. Our employee referral program also incentivizes staff members to bring in new diverse talent, ensuring that recruiting and opportunity is a communal and democratic effort.”
