The World’s Best New Agency
PRovoke Media names Moxie Strategies its 2026 Global New Agency of the Year, months after naming it North America’s Best
The firm adds four new team members to meet demand
NEW YORK (October 19, 2026) – PRovoke Media has named Moxie Strategies its Global New Agency of the Year for 2026, its top honor for new agencies worldwide. It comes just months after PRovoke named Moxie the Best New Agency in North America, and less than three years after the firm opened its doors with a handful of people and one big idea.
Moxie is a boutique strategic communications and advocacy firm built for highly regulated industries and high-stakes public issues. It has fewer than 30 people and two offices, Asbury Park and New York City, and serves the US domestic market.
How Does a Firm this Size Win at this Level?
The team. Moxie’s people have been in the room where decisions are made: governors’ offices, statehouses, federal agencies, union halls and boardrooms. And there are no hand-offs. The team a client meets is the team that delivers.
The culture. Thoroughness, relentlessness, and accountability, on every engagement, every day. The team is made up of problem solvers who dig deeper, challenge assumptions and don’t relent until they move people to act.
The impact. Data that gives clients the confidence to act, and audience-first strategies that reach everyone from a single decision-maker to the public at large. Moxie creates the conditions for decision-makers to act, and it measures success by outcomes.
“People always ask me how a firm our size beats the biggest names in the business. The answer is the Moxie model. When you hire Moxie, you meet the people who do the work, and they have sat in the seat of the person you need to move. We pair that with unmatched data that tells us exactly where the decision will be made and who will make it. Then we do not stop until it gets done, and we move at a speed the oligarchs cannot match,” said Maggie Moran, Founder and CEO of Moxie Strategies. “I founded Moxie, but this team built it. They left stable careers, bet on an idea, and worked nights and weekends to prove it. Size was never the point. Impact is. Today the whole world knows it. I couldn’t be prouder of our team.”
In under three years, Moxie has completed more than 100 client engagements in 20 states, reaching more than 40 million Americans and 90,000 key stakeholders with bespoke content. Clients span energy, healthcare, labor, tech, philanthropy, advocacy, higher education and the public sector. Its Aimi by Moxie polling platform won Best AI Product at PRovoke’s 2026 Innovation SABRE Awards.
“The future of this business belongs to firms that can pair senior judgment with real intelligence, and do it fast,” said Tommy Meara, Partner at Moxie Strategies. “Every Moxie engagement starts with the data: who decides, what moves them, and what it will take. That is how a boutique outworks firms ten times its size. We are growing fast but with great intention, and we will never trade away what won us this award: senior people doing the work.”
New Talent to Meet the Moment
Moxie is adding capacity to meet growing client demand. Rebecca E. Carvalho joins as Senior Vice President of Creative, bringing more than a decade of digital strategy and audience-driven creative for advocacy and healthcare clients. Kara Burke and Kiah Lattimer join as Principals of Public Affairs, bringing experience in energy, government communications and stakeholder engagement across New York and New Jersey. Melissa “Mel” Josephson joins as Associate of Public Affairs.
“An award like this is earned by people who have carried the weight of real decisions, and that is who we hire,” said Jeannine Frisby LaRue, Partner at Moxie Strategies. “Rebecca, Kara, Kiah and Mel come from the Executive Chamber, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, NYSERDA, the Governor’s office and top creative agencies. They know what it takes to move a decision-maker, and they raise the bar for everyone around them. The best new agency in the world should keep getting better. That is the job.”
Meet the New Team Members
Rebecca E. Carvalho | Senior Vice President of Creative
Carvalho joins from Bellweather Agency, where she served as Digital Director, leading creative campaigns for healthcare, advocacy and tourism clients, including directing the strategy for an AI-enabled patient access tool. Previously, at EssenceMediacom, she built content frameworks that drove 164% growth in share of search and 29-fold growth in page-one keyword rankings in a single year. Carvalho holds a bachelor’s degree from Iona College and is fluent in Spanish.
Kara Burke | Principal of Public Affairs
Burke joins from NYSERDA, where she led strategic communications and media relations for the authority’s building electrification and workforce development portfolios. She previously held several New York State government communications roles, including Interim Director of Press Operations and Deputy Press Secretary in the Executive Chamber. Burke holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from SUNY Geneseo and is pursuing a master’s degree in Energy and Environmental Management from the University of Connecticut.
Kiah Lattimer | Principal of Public Affairs
Lattimer joins after nearly seven years in New Jersey state government, most recently as Senior Advisor of Operations to the Lieutenant Governor. She previously served as Special Assistant to the Lieutenant Governor and spent more than four years in community outreach in the Governor’s Office. Lattimer holds a master’s degree in social work from Capella University and a bachelor’s degree from Saint Peter’s University.
Melissa “Mel” Josephson | Associate of Public Affairs
Josephson was recently named one of six 2026 Rising Stars by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. Previously, she worked in the Office of former New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, where she supported then-First Lady Tammy Murphy’s public health initiatives, including efforts to reduce maternal and infant mortality in New Jersey. Josephson graduated with Highest Honors from the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
About Moxie Strategies
Moxie Strategies is a national strategic communications and advocacy firm specializing in highly regulated industries and high-stakes issues. Moxie shapes public opinion and policy outcomes, creating impact at the intersection of business, policy, government, and politics. Senior-led by design, the firm brings former government officials, seasoned strategists, and creative communicators to lead every engagement, every day, backed by data that gives clients the confidence to act. Core sectors include energy, healthcare, advocacy, foundations, higher education, the public sector and labor. A majority women-, Black-, and LGBTQIA+-owned firm with offices in Asbury Park, NJ, and New York, NY, Moxie operates nationwide. PRovoke Media’s 2026 Global New Agency of the Year. Force of nature. Learn more at moxiestrategies.com.
For further information, please contact:
New Jersey: Janice Laurente [email protected]
New York: Tommy Meara [email protected]
General: [email protected]
