Mission North Wins Fast Company's "Most Innovative Company" Award

Ranked #3 in inaugural year for "Public Relations and Brand Strategies" category

NEW YORK, March 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mission North, a strategic communications agency for the companies shaping our future, was included on Fast Company's 2024 list of the Most Innovative Companies, published today. Ranked #3, the list recognizes only 10 agencies within this category that are fostering innovation and transforming society. A benefit corporation, Mission North was recognized for addressing economic, environmental and societal issues through its impactful work with clients, communities, and within the communications industry.

Fast Company's recognition of Public Relations and Brand Strategies on its annual list represents the critical role communications plays for the companies powering the innovation economy as they face increasingly complex issues shaping their growth and reputation. These include conflicting stakeholder expectations around polarizing social issues, the rise of AI, growing distrust in the technology ecosystem, and a rapidly evolving media landscape. Mission North continues to grow and expand as many of the world's most innovative companies turn to it for help navigating these historic levels of change.

"Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Mission North, from the stories we tell for our clients, to our work driving more diversity and inclusion within our industry, to furthering our social impact commitments," said Tyler Perry, Co-CEO of Mission North. "It is an honor to be recognized for the work that we do every day to drive positive change."

Storytelling That Turns Innovation into Impact

Mission North serves B2B technology and life sciences clients that are using software and AI to solve some of the world's biggest challenges related to the future of work, commerce and finance, climate change, cybersecurity and drug discovery. The firm's current clients include Brex, Canva, Ginkgo Bioworks, LanzaTech, Mozilla Foundation, Recursion, Toast and Zoom.

Moving audiences today requires a highly integrated and stage-centric approach to strategic communications that is rooted in great stories, insight-led content and differentiated thought leadership. This core belief drives Mission North's unique approach to strategic communications to help brands stand out and build trust as they navigate increasingly complex stakeholder issues and an ever-evolving media landscape:

• Mission North's Brand Navigator methodology maps communications programs to its clients' main inflection points across different stages of growth and evolution - from launch to IPO and from category leadership to brand renewal.
• Mission North's multidisciplinary team of communications strategists, content creators, data analysts, digital marketers, designers and media makers tell memorable stories, and ensure they reach the right audiences in the right format.
• As a benefit corporation, Mission North's culture of innovation and impact allows it to attract the best talent and deliver an award-winning employee experience: 95% of its employees report feeling connected to the company's mission, vision and values.

"Communication is the heart of every world changing idea. For nearly two decades, we've used communications to help turn big ideas into some of the world's most valuable and impactful brands, categories and movements," said Bill Bourdon, Co-CEO of Mission North. "Being recognized in the first year that Fast Company has featured a PR and brand strategy category in this prestigious list is a testament to our incredible team and clients, and the power of communications."

Advancing Diversity, Belonging and Equity

Mission North has continually worked to improve diversity, belonging and equity within the company and the broader public relations industry. Through its Foster the Future initiative, the agency mobilized nine public relations agencies and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) to create fellowships that provide scholarship funds and paid internships to BIPOC students interested in communications. The program also recently expanded to increase impact, and added a Sponsorship and Mentorship component to accelerate career paths for mid-level BIPOC leaders within agencies.

Steering the Industry Around Generative AI

Mission North published the "Generative AI Starter's Guide for Communicators and Content Creators" to share its deep research and practical findings on generative AI for the industry to best understand how to use AI to communicate more effectively. The guide distills key findings around which platforms are ideal for content creation, public relations and strategic communications and what the limitations and risks of each were in order to help the industry and clients apply these tools responsibly and effectively.

Fortifying Social Commitments

The agency took a significant step forward in its social impact journey in 2022 by becoming a benefit corporation, weaving corporate social responsibility into the fabric of the company and ensuring that the work done benefits its people, community and environment. Through its e3thos program, Mission North invests 2% of its profits and time annually to advance the work of nonprofits fighting for equity, education and the environment within local communities.

Mission North is now hiring for its team of innovative communications professionals. Open roles can be found here.

About Mission North

Mission North is a strategic communications agency for the companies shaping our future. Based in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon, we integrate PR, digital marketing, public affairs, and data-driven influencer and content strategies to help technology and life sciences companies accelerate their market impact at every stage of growth. For more information, visit www.missionnorth.com.

SOURCE Mission North