Welcome to Civic Encounter, the podcast by JCI Worldwide that brings you expert insights from public affairs professionals. Join us as we dive into industry trends, uncover the art of lobbying and pitching, and share strategies for impactful community, media, and government engagement. Discover how to navigate the communications field and drive meaningful social change.
S3E7: Tim Turpin on Venture Capital Communications, Tech PR, and Storytelling in the Age of AI
On this episode of Civic Encounter, hosts Georgia Lewis and Natalia Nervi speak with Timothy Turpin, a veteran of the Bay Area PR landscape with a focus on technology and venture capital communications strategy. Tim traces his journey from an internship and first job at the University of the Pacific, through energy efficiency marketing at PG&E, into technology PR just as the internet was going mainstream in the late 1990s. From there, he built a specialty working with venture capital firms and startups through the dot-com era, the 2008 financial crisis, and now the AI boom, developing a deep expertise in helping investors, founders, and deep tech and climate companies tell their stories to the world.
Tim goes deep into what it really takes to build lasting relationships with journalists, why great storytelling still matters in an AI-saturated media landscape, and how he helps align the sometimes competing interests of reporters, investors, and founders around a single narrative. He also spotlights some of the boldest innovation happening below the headlines in venture and climate tech today, and offers advice for the next generation of communicators hoping to build a career at the intersection of journalism, technology, and impact. It's a conversation full of behind-the-scenes insight from two decades at the center of Silicon Valley's evolution — one you won't want to miss.
30 Jun 2026
S3 EP6: Nuin-Tara Key on Systems Thinking, Building a Sustainable California, and Redefining What Climate Work Really Means
On this episode of Civic Encounter, hosts Georgia Lewis and Natalia Nervi speak with Nuin-Tara Key, Chief Operating Officer of California Forward—a non-profit working to build a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economy. Nuin-Tara is a climate policy veteran, regional planning expert, and systems thinker whose career spans two decades across state and local government, international documentary filmmaking, and global financial services. Nuin-Tara connects the many throughlines of her career: from equity and regional planning work in Portland, to co-producing films about community-led climate solutions in the Caribbean and Nicaragua, to building California's Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program from scratch into something recognized around the world.
Now driving economic development strategy at California Forward, Nuin-Tara opens up about what it really takes to build something new inside government, and what crossing into the private sector taught her about how capital markets see—and sometimes misread—climate risk. She also reflects on the false divide between mitigation and adaptation, the civic infrastructure that makes regional collaboration actually work, and what keeps her going when the scale of the problem feels overwhelming. Her message for the next generation? Don't be restricted by someone else's definition of climate work: if you're building durable, resilient systems, you're already in it.
29 May 2026
S3 EP5 - Veda Banerjee on Human-Centered Storytelling & Leveraging Diverse Communication Channels to Build Political Will for Climate Action
On this episode of Civic Encounter, co-hosts Georgia Lewis and Simi Situ speak with Veda Banerjee, Senior Director of Communications at California Environmental Voters — a journalist, nonprofit leader, and climate advocate whose career stretches from breaking news in New Delhi to landmark cultural campaigns at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and sustainability storytelling at Goodwill of the San Francisco Bay. Veda reflects on the mentors and stepping stones that shaped her path, how nearly two decades in the Bay Area sharpened her environmental lens, and what projects like the Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz installation taught her about the power of art and public space to spark conversations around justice and civic memory.
Now leading messaging strategy for one of California's most influential environmental advocacy organizations, Veda gets candid about building political will around climate, aligning diverse stakeholders through organizing and storytelling, and what went into convening Our Climate Future: A Forum with California's Next Governor. She also spotlights how it is critical we all have affordable insurance in California and the ongoing reckoning with the 2025 Palisades and Eaton Fires, closing with a message of hope for the next generation of communicators ready to help shape a just, sustainable future.
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