Steve Fowler applies his adroit political organizing skills and public policy experience to the entire firm’s client work. Elected to the Nebraska State Legislature at age 22, Mr. Fowler served 11 years as a state senator. During his term, he held posts as Chairman of the Rules Committee and Chairman of the Urban Affairs Committee. He also served six years on the Appropriations Committee and three years on the Public Health and Welfare Committee. Mr. Fowler left the legislature to serve as Governor Bob Kerrey's Director of Policy and Planning.

Upon moving to California in 1985, Mr. Fowler applied his outreach and communication skills to statewide organizing. Joining the staff of Campaign California, he was directly involved in the strategic planning and execution of campaigns for three major initiatives in the state, including the Tobacco Tax initiative.

In his work at FowlerHoffman, Mr. Fowler has designed opinion leader communication programs for The California Wellness Foundation, the Pew Global Stewardship Initiative, and The Nature Conservancy of California. He has directed public education and outreach campaigns on violence prevention, children's safety and child abuse, long-term care, forest conservation, biodiversity, and urban redevelopment. He has served as an advisor to SRI International’s project on the role of social networks in disseminating science content in California’s afterschool system. Currently, Mr. Fowler is consulting on initiatives to expand learning opportunities for young people for the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Afterschool Alliance and the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.

Mary C. Hoffman, Partner, oversees all FowlerHoffman client research, applying her eclectic range of experience in strategic communication, nonprofit administration, evaluation research, and community organizing. She has brought this experience to the design and implementation of projects such as communication support for the Center for Community Partnerships for Child Welfare—both nationally and at two local partnership pilot sites in Kentucky and Florida. Ms. Hoffman conducted an eight-state assessment for the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Early Childhood Education Initiative and poverty alleviation audience research for the Northwest Area Foundation. She researched and designed strategic communication plans for Health Access, Casey Family Programs, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning initiative.

Before founding FowlerHoffman in 2001, Ms. Hoffman was an integral part of the strategic team at Martin & Glantz for ten years. In the late 1980s, Ms. Hoffman was the Systems Coordinator at World College West, a liberal arts college specializing in international development and environmental studies, and was an associate with Hughes Associates Consulting where she was responsible for the design of data analysis systems for youth-at-risk–program evaluations. Her experience also includes seven years of refugee resettlement administration and advocacy with the Intercultural Action Center in Sonoma County, California.

Lena Hoffman leads FowlerHoffman’s efforts on policy and program research for out-of-school time. She researched and drafted a policy agenda to promote physical activity and nutrition in afterschool programs and developed and curated a resource section for the Afterschool Alliance website. Ms. Hoffman managed a feasibility study for a fundraising program to support the expansion of afterschool programs in California and coordinated workgroups for the development and launch of a pilot summer learning program for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Ms. Hoffman researches and develops background briefs on the topics of adverse childhood experiences and trauma informed care to inform FowlerHoffman’s work on growing public resources for quality afterschool programs. This includes conducting research on the use of public revenues derived from the legalization of cannabis and research support for the 50 State Afterschool Network’s professional learning community on substance use prevention.

Ms. Hoffman was a research assistant at Q&A Research, a human resource generalist at Telecare (a behavior health services provider) and student taught in public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received a multiple subject teaching credential from Dominican University of California and a BA in Psychology, Minor in Anthropology from Mills College. Currently she is a candidate for a master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis on nonprofit management at Sonoma State University.