Karl Frisch Associates (KFA) was a for-profit consulting firm owned and operated by left-of-center activist and Democratic operative Karl Frisch that existed from 2014 to 2015. ¹ KFA’s clients included the New Venture Fund (NVF), the largest nonprofit managed by the left-of-center “dark money” consulting company Arabella Advisors. ^{2  3}

Frisch is a longtime Democratic Party operative with experience working at left-of-center organizations such as Allied Progress, Media Matters, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). ^{4 5 6 7}

History

Karl Frisch founded Karl Frisch Associates in the summer of 2014 after working as a partner at Bullfight Strategies, a left-of-center⁸ communications firm founded by Eric Burns, the former president of left-of-center Media Matters for America. ^9110113

KFA took on the left-of-center “dark money” organization New Venture Fund (NVF), the largest nonprofit managed by Arabella Advisors, as a client shortly after its founding. ³ Frisch’s relationship developed with NVF in this period “set the stage” for Frisch to found the left-of-center Allied Progress (also a project of the New Venture Fund) in August 2015. ^{3 12}

KFA’s most recent public records with the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs are from 2015. ¹³ KFA’s business license expired on July 1, 2016. ^{1 10} During its one year of operations, KFA reportedly had 20 employees with an annual revenue of $3,000,000. ¹⁴

Leadership

Karl Frisch was the founder of KFA, where he worked as a principal from July 2014 to August 2015. ¹⁵  He currently sits on the Fairfax County School Board in Fairfax County, Virginia. ¹⁶

Frisch has many associations with left-of-center nonprofits and the Democratic Party. Frisch was co-chair of President Joe Biden’s Virginia LGBTQ+ Leadership Council during the 2020 presidential campaign; founded of the left-of-center Allied Progress;⁴ worked as communications director and senior fellow with Media Matters⁵ and as national press secretary for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC);^{6 7} and was named in a plan for the development of a communications hub to support the left-of-center Wyss Foundation. ¹⁷

1. “Karl Frisch Associates; Karl Frisch.” Businesses Licenses DC. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://www.businesslicensesdc.com/license/400314903201/karl-frisch-associates-karl-frisch.
2. Vogel, Kenneth P. and Robertson, Katie. “Top Bidder for Tribune Newspaper Is an Influential Liberal Donor.” New York Times. April 13, 2021. Accessed via Web Archive. April 14, 2021 capture. https://web.archive.org/web/20210414000507/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/business/media/wyss-tribune-company-buyer.html.
3. Northey, Hannah. “Dem strategist takes on oil industry – despite the odds.” E&E News. September 10, 2015. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060024471.
4. “Karl Frisch.” Fairfax County Public Schools School Board Members. Accessed May 17, 2021. https://www.fcps.edu/staff/karl-frisch.
5. “CONTRIBUTOR Karl Frisch.” HuffPost. Accessed May 18, 2021. https://www.huffpost.com/author/karl-frisch.
6. “Karl Frisch.” American Association of Political Consultants. Accessed May 17, 2021. https://theaapc.org/awards/40-under-40/40-under-40-winners-class-of-2017/karl-frisch/.
7. “Karl Vincent Frisch.” LegiStorm. Accessed May 18, 2021. https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/19640/Karl_Vincent_Frisch.html.
8. “Bullfight Strategies.” Bullfight Strategies LinkedIn Profile. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/company/bullfight-strategies/.
9. Bullfight Strategies Twitter Bio. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://twitter.com/bullfightstrat?lang=en.
10. “Karl Frisch Associates; Karl Frisch.” OpenGovUs Business Profile. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://opengovus.com/washington-dc-business/400314903201.
11. “Eric Burns.” Eric Burns twitter biography section. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://twitter.com/theEricBurns.
12. Demasters, Karen. “New Nonprofit Targets Payday Lenders, Among Others.” Financial Advisor. August 6, 2021. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://www.fa-mag.com/news/allied-progress-will-target-institutions-that-take-advantage-of-americans–says-founder-22702.html.
13. “2015 List of Businesses with Report.” District of Columbia Department of Regulatory Affairs. 2015. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://dcra.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcra/publication/attachments/2015%20List%20of%20Businesses%20with%20Report%20Due.pdf.
14. “Karl Frisch Associates, LLC.” Zoominfo. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://www.zoominfo.com/c/karl-frisch-associates-llc/459728945.
15. “Karl Vincent Frisch.” Legistorm. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/19640/Karl_Vincent_Frisch.html.
16. “Karl Frisch, Providence District Representative.” Fairfax County Public Schools. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://www.fcps.edu/staff/karl-frisch.
17. “A Plan for the Development of a Communications Hub Supporting the Wyss Foundation’s Core Issue Areas.” Civitas, Prepared for the Wyss Foundation. February 2015. https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2021/04/Wyss-Foundation-Communications-Hub.pdf.