PFB Media is an advertising agency. It is co-owned by Chauncey McLean and Jon Fromowitz, who, along with Gaurav Shirole, are the co-founders of Future Forward USA, a super PAC known for being the largest outside organization that supported Vice President Kamala Harris’s unsuccessful campaign for president in 2024. ^{1 2}

Clients

In 2022, PFB Media was paid $527,869 by Protect Our Future PAC, $512,305 by Future Forward USA, and $8,390 by Families United for Freedom, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) data compiled by OpenSecrets. ³ According to the 2022 tax return of Future Forward USA Action, the 501(c)(4) arm of Future Forward PAC, it paid PFB Media $178,077 for its role as an “independent contractor” that year. ⁴

In 2024, PFB Media was paid $98,333 by Future Forward USA. ⁵ Future Forward is known for being the largest outside organization that supported Vice President Kamala Harris’s unsuccessful campaign for president in 2024 and raised over $700 million on behalf of Harris in the lead up to the election. ^{2 6}

PFB Media is listed as having received $41,500 from the Democratic Party of Virginia for its services. ⁷

Connections to Future Forward USA

The payments made by Future Forward USA to PFB Media were highlighted in reports about Future Forward’s founders using the PAC’s funds on companies they own. According to journalist Lee Fang, PFB Media is co-owned by Chauncey McLean and Jon Fromowitz, who, along with Gaurav Shirole, are the co-founders of Future Forward USA. ^{1 2}

This is confirmed by filings with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In the 2022 Future Forward USA Action tax return, the group declared that 35 percent of PFB Media was owned by Future Forward’s director, who at the time was Chauncey McLean. Another contractor listed as having been solicited by the group that year, GCJ Research, was also revealed to be 35 percent owned by McLean. ^{4 8} Additionally, in the fine print of the filing’s Schedule O section, both McLean and Jon Fromowitz are listed as “minority owners” of PFB Media. ⁹

1. Fang, Lee. “Kamala Harris SuperPAC Spent Lavishly on Firms Owned by PAC Leadership.” LeeFang.com, November 13, 2024. Accessed November 30, 2024. https://www.leefang.com/p/kamala-harris-superpac-spent-lavishly.
2. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Pro-Harris group paid $10 million to companies linked to its founders.” Washington Examiner, November 26, 2024. Accessed November 30, 2024. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3240767/harris-future-forward-paid-companies-linked-founders/
3.  “Vendor/Recipient: PFB Media – 2022 Cycle.” OpenSecrets. Accessed November 30, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2022&vendor=PFB+MEDIA.
4. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Future Forward USA Action. 2022. Schedule L, Part IV – Business Transactions Involving Interested Persons.
5. “Vendor/Recipient: PFB Media – 2024 Cycle.” OpenSecrets. Accessed November 30, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2024&vendor=PFB+MEDIA.
6. Schleifer, Theodore; Goldmacher, Shane. “Inside the Secretive $700 Million Ad-Testing Factory for Kamala Harris.” New York Times, October 17, 2024. Accessed November 30, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/us/elections/future-forward-kamala-harris-ads.html.
7. “PFB Media LLC.” The Virginia Public Access Project. Accessed November 30, 2024. https://www.vpap.org/vendors/481650-pfb-media-llc/?order=name.
8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Future Forward USA Action. 2022. Part VII – Compensation of Officers, Directors, Trustees, et al.
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Future Forward USA Action. 2022. Schedule O, Return Reference.