Services
Communications
Builds narratives through marketing, messaging, and ghostwriting, including digital content & analytics
Campaign Strategy
Develops multi-prong strategies for impact and helps make them real, including through coalition building
Public Policy
Researches & drafts legislation & rules while reaching out to decision makers directly
CURRENT CLIENTS include a groundbreaking violence prevention group, a global renewable energy company, a nonprofit supporting families after suicide, and a socially conscious architecture firm
Cross-Functional Expertise
Communications + Coalitions
Jesse built an award-winning national media campaign at Brave New Films for criminal justice reform, expanding the capacity of partners ranging from LA progressives to TX conservatives to the ACLU. He also founded a media center featuring diverse faith voices against the Religious Right.
Communications++
Jesse has secured media placements in top outlets (e.g., New York Times), made ~100 videos (two national award winners), and ghostwritten over 100 published pieces, from press releases & op-eds to fundraising appeals and annual reports. He has also written data-heavy task force reports & white papers.
Communications + Policy
Jesse got ~40 health & environmental laws enacted for the city of Chicago, leading a team that made policies, created the messaging, and mobilized groups to deliver the messaging to legislators and the public. He has a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard.
Programs + Coalitions
Jesse ran a $150M/yr program for the state of Illinois to provide healthcare & social services to 80K residents annually. He managed 15 collaboratives comprised of over 175 organizations total, navigating partnership and funding challenges.
“Jesse is a talented leader, writer, and strategic thinker whose drive and unmatched tenacity make him highly effective.”
Julie Morita, CEO, Joyce Foundation; former Commissioner, Chicago Dept. of Public Health
"Jesse is one of the most talented individuals with whom I have ever worked. He is a strong writer, an excellent thinker, and a person of great integrity and sense of purpose.”
David Wilhelm, CEO, HGR Energy; former Chair, DNC
"Jesse is a passionate leader and strategist. He launched our criminal justice reform campaign and was instrumental to its impact and creativity."
Robert Greenwald, President, Brave New Films
About Jesse Lava
When Jesse was five, he wrote to Ronald Reagan asking him to stop harming kids in Nicaragua. He used crayon, hoping cuteness would be persuasive. It wasn’t. But Jesse stayed idealistic. He stayed strategic. And he stayed creative.
Today, Jesse is an advocacy architect for the public good. With roots in strategic communications, he integrates public policy, coalition building, and program experience, serving as a translator between worlds. Jesse has a habit of building projects from scratch.
His work — which has spanned more than two decades — has resulted in 40 health and environmental laws in Chicago, millions of dollars for healthcare & social service providers in Illinois, funding for alternatives to incarceration in multiple states, and national media for mission-driven nonprofits and businesses. His approach to change is data-driven, emphasizing results, not just activity. He was named one of 40 Under 40 in Public Health nationally.
Jesse allocates 20% of his consulting revenue to charities in Chicago and globally. He has a Master in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School and a BA in Government from Wesleyan University.
Jesse teaches Sunday school and plays music in the Lava Brothers. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two kids.
20% Charity Pledge
Jesse believes we are each part of a story far bigger than our own. At least 20% of Lava Public Impact's revenue supports mental wellbeing and migrant success in Chicago, as well as the needs of people facing severe deprivation around the world.