BerlinRosen: New York Strategic Communications Profile

BerlinRosen is a New York strategic communications firm co-founded in 2005 by Valerie Berlin and Jonathan Rosen, per CB Insights and Rosen's biography. It is the flagship of Orchestra, formerly BerlinRosen Holdings, a portfolio company of O2 Investment Partners. Rosen is CEO of Orchestra and Berlin is executive chair, per Business Wire. The firm describes itself as built to operate with the speed and intensity of a political campaign.

Originally published June 2016. Updated October 18, 2026.

Who founded and leads BerlinRosen?

Rosen's biography on LittleSis says he co-founded BerlinRosen with Berlin in 2005 and built it from a two-person start-up to a team of more than fifty in New York and Washington, and that Crain's New York Business named him to its 2012 "40 Under 40" list. The Capital Research Center's LaborWatch says Berlin and Rosen are co-principals who formed a communications and political consulting firm in 2005, and that it rose to prominence after client Bill de Blasio won the 2013 New York mayoral election. After the Orchestra rebrand, Rosen became CEO and Berlin executive chair, per Business Wire.

Person	Role	Source
Jonathan Rosen	Co-founder; CEO of Orchestra	Business Wire
Valerie Berlin	Co-founder; executive chair of Orchestra	Business Wire
Jesse Derris	Chief strategy officer of Orchestra; Derris chair	The Business of Fashion

Who owns BerlinRosen?

O2 Investment Partners, which Business Wire describes as a Midwestern private equity firm seeking majority interests in lower middle market B2B services, technology and select industrial companies, partnered with BerlinRosen in January 2022. A Business Wire release on the Derris deal noted that O2 made a significant investment in BerlinRosen in January 2022. BerlinRosen is therefore not independent of an investor.

What is Orchestra?

BerlinRosen Holdings rebranded as Orchestra, a network of eight agency partners with more than 600 employees in 12 cities across North America and Europe, per Business Wire. O'Dwyer's dated its report March 25, 2024, while the Business Wire release carried an April 22, 2024 date. The eight were BerlinRosen, Derris, Glen Echo Group, Inkhouse, Message Lab, M18, Onward and Brightmode, and Business Wire says the agencies remain independent companies. Inkhouse's later boilerplate says Orchestra has acquired nine firms since 2022, naming Civitas and Small Girls PR alongside the others and omitting Brightmode.

Date	Event	Source
2005	BerlinRosen founded in New York	CB Insights
January 2022	O2 Investment Partners partners with BerlinRosen	Business Wire
May 10, 2023	BerlinRosen Holdings takes a majority stake in Inkhouse	Boston Globe; Inkhouse
March or April 2024	BerlinRosen Holdings rebrands as Orchestra	O'Dwyer's; Business Wire

The Boston Globe said the Inkhouse deal brought BerlinRosen its first Boston-area office, although it already had Boston-area clients including Boston Properties, WS Development and BlueHub Capital.

What does BerlinRosen do?

The Orchestra announcement says BerlinRosen is built to operate with the speed and intensity of a political campaign and takes a 360-degree approach to communications, activating audiences and elevating story above all. O'Dwyer's says Orchestra's clients span consumer, technology, climate and sustainability, education, healthcare, philanthropy, real estate, travel, hospitality, and arts and culture. The Marque profile of Rosen says the firm offers communications, branding, crisis communications and political campaign strategy.

How does BerlinRosen compare with other public affairs firms?

BerlinRosen blends progressive campaign roots with a multi-agency group. See EPR's public affairs and political communications pillar and profiles of Mercury Public Affairs, APCO Worldwide, Portland Communications and sister agencies Inkhouse and Derris.

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