When I received word that I’d been named a 2026 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business honoree by the San Francisco Business Times, my first thought wasn’t about me. It was about every community member who finally felt heard, every client who trusted us with something that mattered, and every member of the D&A team who has shown up and done the work alongside me. This recognition belongs to all of us.
Still, I believe in taking a moment to pause and celebrate milestones. So today, I’m allowing myself that moment.
Was Born Into This Work
I didn’t stumble into communications. I was raised inside it.
My father was a news cameraman. My mother was a pioneering journalist. From a young age, I watched stories shape public opinion, shift power, and open doors. I learned early that words matter and that who gets to tell the story matters just as much. That understanding became the throughline of my career.
Before founding D&A, I served as press secretary to then-California State Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown, Jr. That chapter taught me how to lead through complexity, develop strategy under pressure, and navigate the intersection of politics, media, and community in real time. It was an extraordinary training ground, and I carry those lessons with me every day.
In 1996, I took everything I’d learned and founded Davis & Associates Communications. Thirty years later, I still wake up energized by this work.
Why Equity-First Has Always Been the Point
Long before “equity-first” became popular language, it was simply how I operated.
To me, equity-first means meeting people where they are. Listening before strategizing. Building campaigns that recognize communities not as an afterthought, but as the reason for the work. I’ve spent my career helping government agencies, civic leaders, corporations, and community organizations engage the public with cultural intelligence, authenticity, and care.
Under my leadership, D&A was among the first communications firms in the nation to explicitly integrate the core values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into every aspect of communications and community engagement. That wasn’t a trend or a rebrand. It was always our foundation.
Whether the work has involved land-use policy, environmental outreach, construction communications, or crisis management, my north star has remained the same: bridge the gap between institutions and the communities they serve. I believe communications grounded in integrity and cultural fluency doesn’t just move messages — it moves people. And people move the world.
What This Recognition Really Means to Me
I’ve had the privilege of being recognized over the years, and every time I feel two things: gratitude and responsibility.
Gratitude, because I know I didn’t build this alone. I am a Bay Area native shaped by this community, lifted by mentors, and trusted by clients and partners who believed in this firm’s vision from the beginning. I serve and have served on the boards of organizations like Girls Leadership, SF Local Business Enterprise Advisory Community, KQED, PRSA Counselors Academy, SF Public Relations Roundtable, and Jack & Jill of America, Oakland Bay Area Chapter, because I believe in giving back what was given to me — and because the next generation of communicators deserves advocates in their corner.
And responsibility, because recognition like this reminds me that the work is unfinished. There are communities still waiting to be heard. There are institutions still learning how to listen. There are still opportunities to build trust where trust has been broken. That is what keeps me going.
The Bay Area is my home. The people we serve are my neighbors. And after all these years, this work is still deeply personal.
With Gratitude,
Darolyn Davis,
Founder & CEO
D&A Communications
