“We focus influence on the audiences that matter, so leaders understand the stakes, trust what’s true, and act.”
Aric Caplan
Founder & Principal
Where narrative shapes decisions. Since 2004.
Aric Caplan helps mission-driven organizations win where narrative, policy, and public trust intersect. For more than two decades, he has advised national nonprofits, coalitions, and public agencies on high-stakes communications that shape decisions, not just headlines.
He founded Caplan Communications in Washington, DC in 2004, building a practice grounded in integrating earned media, message strategy, and rapid response directly into policy and regulatory processes. His work spans climate action, environmental protection, civil rights, and public health, positioning clients as authoritative voices when scrutiny is high and outcomes matter.
Earlier in his career, Aric worked in broadcast journalism at historic KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh and led programming at WJNO in South Florida, bringing newsroom discipline to every engagement. He later transitioned into public affairs, building and leading client relationships at leading PR firms before launching his own.
His work includes leading national campaigns such as the defense of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workforce. He has also coordinated multi-state climate initiatives that aligned policymakers, advocates, and stakeholders around shared outcomes.
In 2021, a peer-reviewed study by Brown University identified Caplan Communications as an outlier among public relations firms. It was recognized not for advancing fossil fuel interests, but for helping drive climate policy progress and shaping public understanding of environmental issues.
Aric’s approach is disciplined: designing communications to function as part of decision-making, so organizations don’t just participate in public debate, they shape its outcome.
Integrity
We take on work where the facts, science, law, and public interest align, and we operate inside those constraints. We do not overstate claims, distort evidence, or advance narratives that cannot withstand scientific, regulatory, legal, or media scrutiny.
Transparency
We provide direct, decision-ready counsel on what is working, what is not, and where risk is increasing. Informed by newsroom discipline, our guidance is timely, clear, and grounded in how issues will be reported and understood. Clients receive recommendations tied to tradeoffs and likely outcomes, not general guidance or post-facto reporting.
Accessibility
We translate complex policy, scientific, legal, and technical issues into clear public understanding, without diluting the underlying facts or evidence. Informed by the same discipline that guides our counsel, we focus on how issues are understood while decisions are still in play, so stakeholders can engage early, with accuracy and context. The goal is informed participation that reflects the realities shaping outcomes, not simplified messaging detached from them.
About
Where narrative shapes decisions. Since 2004.
Caplan Communications partners with mission-driven organizations operating where public narrative, policy, and real-world impact converge.
Our work spans climate and clean energy, environmental protection, civil rights, public health, workforce and economic policy, and institutional communications, especially in high-stakes environments where clarity, credibility, and timing shape decisions. Recognized in a 2021 peer-reviewed analysis by Brown University on how public relations firms shape climate policy and public discourse.
We design communications as policy defense, integrating earned media, message architecture, and rapid response directly into decision-making environments. The result: organizations shift from reacting to shaping outcomes, with narrative aligned to the decisions that matter most.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Since 2004. Before founding the firm, Aric Caplan spent a decade in broadcast journalism at KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh and WJNO Radio in South Florida, then transitioned into public affairs at leading PR firms. That newsroom discipline informs every engagement.
In 2021, a peer-reviewed study by Brown University identified Caplan Communications within its analysis of how public relations firms shape climate policy and public discourse. The study recognized the firm not for advancing fossil fuel interests, but for helping drive climate policy progress and shaping public understanding of environmental issues.
We primarily work with organizations, including national nonprofits, coalitions, B Corps, public agencies, and labor unions. We also work with select authors operating at the center of public debate. The common thread is work where the stakes are real and communications must shape outcomes, not just generate visibility.
We focus on outcomes that influence decisions and endure beyond the news cycle. Clients should expect measurable shifts in understanding, stronger positioning in decision environments, and communications that contribute to durable outcomes, whether shaping media coverage, influencing policy debates, or strengthening institutional credibility.
Success is defined by impact on decisions, not volume of activity. We measure success against the objectives established at the outset. Depending on the engagement, that may include narrative shifts in coverage, alignment with policy or regulatory goals, stakeholder engagement, or contribution to decision-making processes.
Proactive engagement is where communications create the greatest strategic advantage. The most effective work happens before positions harden, when an issue is emerging, risk is building, or a decision process is underway. Clients value our rapid response, but its purpose is not simply speed. It is to define the frame early, before others set the stakes or shape outcomes in ways that work against your policy goals. Early integration ensures communications is not reacting to events but helping determine how those events are understood while decisions are still in play. The best way to begin is a focused conversation about your objectives, constraints, and timing. From there, we identify where communications can exert the most influence and structure the work accordingly.
Get in Touch
We mainstream what matters.
If you’re navigating a high-stakes communications challenge, we’d welcome a conversation.