Calvin J. Fortenberry, Consultant:

Calvin spent two years in our Education and Youth practice at Douglas Gould and Company in New York and now is one of our senior consultants in California.

He provided strategic communications assistance and media relations support for the Ford Foundation's Integrating the Arts and Education initiative and the Community College Research Center (CCRC), among others. He has also conducted trainings for the grantees of the Community College Bridges to Opportunity Initiative and members of the California Alliance for Arts Education.

Since relocating, Calvin has also worked for O'Reilly Public Relations, the Inland Empire's largest public relations firm, where he specialized in media trainings and message development for public agency clients such as the Riverside County Department of Public Health, the Department of Public Social Services, and the Moreno Valley Unified School District.

Prior to joining Douglas Gould and Company Calvin handled media relations and special events programming for the Smithsonian Institution's Traveling Exhibition Service and the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, CA.  Calvin also worked as a policy analyst with EduCause, a Washington, DC non-profit association that encourages information technology use at post secondary institutions through responsible advocacy. 

Calvin is fluent in Spanish and has a deep passion for Afro-Latin music, collecting both music and books on the subject. He has been co-host of the "Que Viva La Musica" show on WFDU-FM 89.1.  Calvin holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Irvine and an M.A. in International Communication from the American University.