Darius Anderson is Founder and Chairman of Platinum Advisors, a full-service government affairs firm founded in 1998. It ranks in the top five California government advocacy organizations in terms of revenue. With offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, Orange County and Washington, DC, Platinum Advisors provides lobbying, real estate project development, procurement, public affairs and strategic consulting to corporations, governments, trade associations and non-profit organizations. Anderson was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors in 2018.

Widely recognized as one of California’s most effective political strategists, Anderson has successfully advised many of California’s highest-ranking political and business leaders and is involved in a variety of civic, charitable and governmental activities. Anderson previously served as Chair of the National Advisory Council for UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) and currently serves on the boards of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, Californians Building Bridges and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. In 2010, he was appointed to California’s Political Reform Act Task Force.

Prior to founding Platinum Advisors, Anderson served as Chief of Staff for The Yucaipa Companies and as Vice President of External Affairs for Ralphs Grocery Stores, Inc., a Fortune 500 company. Between 1993 and 1998, he was responsible for The Yucaipa Companies’ business development efforts and for Ralphs Grocery Stores’ government affairs, public relations, community relations and external corporate communications. Anderson previously served as Executive Director of the Ralphs/Food 4 Less Foundation as well.

An accomplished entrepreneur, Anderson is also Founder and CEO of Kenwood Investments, LLC, a California Real Estate Development and Opportunity Fund, and Founder and Managing Member of Sonoma Media Investments, LLC, the owner and publisher of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Sonoma Index-Tribune. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its fire coverage. In the wake of the 2017 fire disasters, Anderson founded the Rebuild North Bay Foundation.

A passionate collector, Anderson is the proud owner of world-class art and baseball memorabilia collections. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from George Washington University and currently lives in Sonoma.

Eric’s career in journalism began as a part-time sports photographer while still in high school, which then extended through and after earning his degree in Mass Communications and Journalism at CSU Fresno. Eric saw the coming digital transformation in the mid-90’s and pivoted his focus to the burgeoning online space.

As a self-taught web designer and engineer, he worked for the next 15 years to build audience, revenue and consumer adoption of the still-growing digital news environment. In 2009 Eric was named Publisher and President of The Modesto Bee and The Merced Sun-Star, McClatchy Company publications in California’s Central Valley. Eric was the first Publisher in the 150-year history of the company to come from digital operations; during his tenure the publications leaned into digital audience and revenue growth – an emphasis that continues today.

In 2014 Eric joined the Seattle-based Pioneer News Group as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for more than 24 publications and 500 employees across five northwest states. He was instrumental in leading a variety of projects for the company including overall improvements to digital platforms, audience and sales efforts, optimization of key functions such as news page design, customer service and ad design and fostering a culture of inclusivity, collaboration and diversity.

Eric joined Sonoma Media investments in late 2022.  As a passionate and dedicated champion for the preservation of community publishers and journalism, Eric currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the California Press Foundation and lives in Sonoma County with his wife Susan.

Brad Bollinger is the former publisher of the North Bay Business Journal.

Before joining the Journal after its purchase by the New York Times Co. in 2005, he was the business editor and a columnist for The Press Democrat since 1990.

While he was editor, the Press Democrat business section won several national, state and regional awards for its coverage, including six “Best In Business” citations from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Bollinger was a leading editor on the Press Democrat’s extensive four-day series in September of 2004 on the local impacts of economic globalization, “Global Shift.” The series won the prestigious Polk Award as well as the New York Times companywide Punch award. The newspaper’s 2002 series on the wine industry, “Vine to Wine,” received the highest award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Bollinger has made dozens of presentations to community organizations and groups of executives on the economy. He is a past chairman of the North Bay Leadership Council. He also serves on board of directors of the Ernest L. and Ruth W. Finley Foundation in Santa Rosa. The Finley Foundation has been a supporter of numerous projects in Sonoma County including the Finley Center complex in Santa Rosa, the Humane Society, Kid Street Theater, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Social Advocates for Youth, Redwood Empire Food Bank and many, many other youth and human services groups.

Bollinger has a journalism degree from San Jose State University and master’s in communication from CSU, Chico. His 1983 master’s thesis on newspaper ombudsmen was the subject of articles in Columbia Journalism Review and Editor & Publisher. In 1990, he was among the attendees at the inaugural Summer Institute for Economics for Journalists created by the Foundation for American Communications.

Bollinger and his wife, Corine, live in Santa Rosa.