Kristen Grimm, President

Kristen Grimm is the founder and president of Spitfire Strategies, one of the country’s leading public relations firms dedicated to working exclusively with nonprofits and foundations to create positive social change. Under her leadership, Spitfire has helped hundreds of nonprofits develop winning communications and campaign strategies to better educate their audiences, raise awareness and resources, and inspire people to get involved. Since starting Spitfire in 2002, Kristen has led the firm’s work with such clients as the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, AARP, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Brookings Institution, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the ONE campaign, among many others. During this time, Spitfire has grown to more than 40 staff with offices in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco and clients throughout the country.

Kristen has extensive experience conceiving, implementing and managing strategic communications efforts. Her accomplishments range from leading campaign planning for the Walton Family Foundation’s efforts to restore the ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico to helping the David and Lucile Packard Foundation increase the number of children with healthcare coverage to branding work for Greenpeace.

Kristen develops and leads strategic communications trainings for a variety of clients, working directly with grantees to strengthen their ability to make their voices heard. She also created the highly successful Executive Training Program to help nonprofit leaders become strong communicators. Most recently, Kristen has focused on helping foundations strengthen their own communications – including taking steps to improve communications with grantees and better integrate the work of their grantees into the foundation’s overall theory of change. In 2010, Kristen led Spitfire in developing From Big Ideas to Big Change – a step-by-step guide to help foundations successfully communicate what they hope to achieve with their funding, and develop strategic communications strategies to support that vision.

A frequent and highly-rated presenter, Kristen has addressed the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, the Aspen Institute, the Rockwood Leadership Institute, the National Audubon Society, the Communications Network, Environmental Grantmakers Association, The Colorado Trust, and The Philanthropy Workshop West, among others. She has developed numerous resources for the field including the Smart Chart™, Discovering the Activation Point™ and The Just Enough Planning Guide™.

Prior to launching Spitfire, Kristen worked as a fellow at the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation to ban landmines, reform the death penalty and criminal justice systems, and reduce the threat of nuclear war. Before her fellowship, she was the president and chief operating officer of Fenton Communications, where she wrote NOW HEAR THIS: The Nine Laws of Successful Advocacy Communications, which remains a mainstay of nonprofit communications today. She won the Silver Anvil for her work on SeaWeb’s Give Swordfish a Break campaign, which successfully mobilized hundreds of chefs across the country to stop serving swordfish until the U.S. government adopted a sustainable fisheries management plan.

Kristen has a B.A. from Smith College. She currently serves on the boards of Grist magazine, National Academy for State Health Policy, and Alaska Wilderness League.