# Bicker, Castillo, Fairbanks & Spitz Public Affairs

> Bicker, Castillo, Fairbanks & Spitz Public Affairs is a Sacramento strategy and communications firm built for consequential California policy fights. The privately held boutique combines research, messaging, coalition building, earned media, advertising, digital advocacy and direct voter contact, with public case studies spanning statewide ballot measures, legislative negotiations and crisis communications. Its signature move is to translate an institutional problem into a concrete public story, then give credible messengers the tools to repeat it everywhere that matters.

- **Founded:** 2001
- **Headquarters:** Sacramento, United States
- **Founders:** Brandon Castillo (Founder and President), Gwyn Bicker (Founder), Kathy Fairbanks (Founder)
- **Team size:** 11-50 employees on LinkedIn; the supplied company record lists 17 employees.
- **Products:** Public affairs and issue advocacy, Ballot measure campaigns, Coalition and grassroots advocacy, Media relations, Crisis communication and reputation management
- **Notable:** The firm says its ballot-measure win record over more than two decades exceeds 95%., Managed or contributed to dozens of winning California ballot campaigns; the firm's published list runs from 1990-era principal experience through Yes on Proposition 35 in 2024., Built a nearly 700-organization coalition and a mail program reaching 8.2 million targeted voters for the successful 2018 No on Proposition 6 campaign.

## Products & services

- **Public affairs and issue advocacy** — Strategy, public-opinion research, policy framing and communications designed to influence legislative, administrative, local-government and regulatory decisions.
- **Ballot measure campaigns** — End-to-end campaign management covering feasibility, initiative design, polling, analytics, paid media, earned media, coalition work, field organizing and direct voter contact.
- **Coalition and grassroots advocacy** — Recruitment, training and activation of third-party groups, local leaders and constituents around a shared policy objective.
- **Media relations** — Message and spokesperson development, media training, pitching, editorial-board outreach and response across traditional and digital outlets.
- **Crisis communication and reputation management** — Preparedness, rapid-response messaging and sustained reputation support for companies, associations and executives.
- **Digital advocacy and advertising** — Targeted websites, social campaigns, streaming and display media, search, television, radio, direct mail and outdoor advertising.

## Achievements

- The firm says its ballot-measure win record over more than two decades exceeds 95%.
- Managed or contributed to dozens of winning California ballot campaigns; the firm's published list runs from 1990-era principal experience through Yes on Proposition 35 in 2024.
- Built a nearly 700-organization coalition and a mail program reaching 8.2 million targeted voters for the successful 2018 No on Proposition 6 campaign.
- Helped organize a Proposition 22 support network of nearly 120,000 drivers, 140 organizations and 8,400 driver stories; the measure passed with 58.6% of the vote in 2020.
- The California Grocers Association crisis campaign generated 35 television stories, 40 print or online articles and 15 radio stories in 30 days during the early COVID-19 panic-buying period.
- Built a nearly 200-organization Fix PAGA coalition; the 2024 initiative was withdrawn after lawmakers unanimously approved a negotiated reform package.
- Reports managing three successive statewide defeats of dialysis-related ballot measures in 2018, 2020 and 2022.

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — BCFS announced Amandeep Kaur and Maximilian Nguyen as new fellows in its training program.
- **2024-11** — The firm's published record added the successful Yes on Proposition 35 campaign for permanent, protected Medi-Cal funding.
- **2024-07** — Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2288 and SB 92, the PAGA reform deal that led proponents to withdraw their qualified ballot initiative.
- **2025-08** — BCFS expanded its leadership team by bringing veteran California political operative Katie Vavao in as vice president.

## Links

- Website: https://bcfspublicaffairs.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bicker-castillo-fairbanks-spitz

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/bicker-castillo-fairbanks-and-spitz-public-affairs
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-16