For almost 20 years, Todd Flora has worked to shape public opinion and public policy, working among some of California’s most dynamic leaders in public affairs. Recently, Todd joined the family business, Nycote Laboratories, a protective coatings manufacturer, as Dir. of Public Affairs and Special Projects. There, he manages compliance with Cal-OSHA and Cal-EPA, and serves as Manager of Marketing and Quality Assurance. In 2013-14, he worked with EcoMotion, an energy and environmental consulting firm, helping them market to school districts and win Prop 39 energy efficiency consulting contracts.
Previously, Todd served for several years as Manager of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs for IBM. In this role, Todd promoted IBM’s Web-based grant offerings and innovative community and humanitarian programs, as well as helped develop and launch several national education initiatives, internal employee corporate responsibility programs, and worked to form public and private sector partnerships for the company throughout Southern California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Utah.
Todd also enjoyed three years in public affairs and technology consulting at Edelman Public Relations, rising to Vice President of Public Affairs. During his tenure at Edelman, Todd was part of corporate responsibility efforts on behalf of Scotts Miracle-Gro, the campaign to successfully save Ahmanson Ranch in Ventura County, CA, and an award winning effort to implement a strategic media campaign that highlighted the economic consequences that a 2001 screenwriters strike would have waged on Southern California’s economy.
In addition, Todd served as Senior Government Affairs Officer with First 5 LA, an organization funded by California’s Proposition 10 and charged with funding early childhood development programs for children prenatal to five. There, he worked to help steer the organization’s support and opposition of complex legislative issues affecting young children at all levels of government. He also worked to successfully increase the level of knowledge and respect for First 5 LA’s programs among Los Angeles County’s various delegations of elected leaders, including the then newly formed Los Angeles Universal Preschool, or “LA-UP.”
Todd has also put his management and strategic communications skills into leading two nonprofit advocacy organizations. First, he pushed for balanced federal budgets as Western Regional Director of The Concord Coalition, and organization Co-founded by former Senators Paul Tsongas (D-MA) and Warren Rudman (R-NH) to advocate fiscal responsibility while ensuring Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are secure for all generations. Todd worked for campaign finance overhaul as State Director of the California Clean Money Campaign, an affiliate of the Public Campaign movement to establish a system of publicly funded elections. In both roles, he created simple and direct messages from complicated material, and conducted strategically placed outreach efforts to help two relatively unknown organizations in California resonate with their desired media and public audiences.
He began his post-grad school career as Special Assistant to then Lt. Governor Gray Davis. Todd worked closely with Lt. Governor Davis to better organize staff operations, scheduling, and advance work, as well as conducted outreach efforts to policy groups and prominent supporters leading up to the Lt. Governor’s successful gubernatorial bid.
Outside of his professional endeavors, Todd has been involved in a wealth of political and issues oriented campaigns. He is former Board member of Heal the Bay, a leading coastal and water quality organization, and an elected Commissioner on the Santa Monica Rent Control Board. Previously, he served on the Board of Downtown Santa Monica Inc. – a business improvement district – and on the Advisory Board of Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE).
But of course, the thing Todd would probably most want you to know about him is that he is an avid, and “some say” quite talented, steering wheel drummer.
He is a graduate of the University of Richmond and received his Masters in Political Management from George Washington University. A native of the San Fernando Valley and raised in Brea, CA, Todd and his wife, Erin Tanenbaum, live in Santa Monica.