As senior counselor for LAGRANT COMMUNICATIONS, Joe assists the team with media relations and strategic counsel for clients such as, Novartis, American Airlines, Southern California Edison, Deloitte, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Nissan North America and Talbert Medical Group, among others. Joe also has a key role working with the senior team on new business development.

He brings 30 years of experience to LAGRANT. Complimenting Joe's lengthy civic engagement in politics and public policy is a wealth of experience as a writer, communications expert and public relations professional. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, where he teaches public relations classes at the Annenberg School of Communication.

Joe's previous public relations experience includes, working as an account executive for Rogers & Associates. Prior to this, he was the Western Regional Public Relations Director for the Chevrolet division of General Motors.

He has also worked as a journalist. First, as a staff writer and monthly automotive columnist for Westways Magazine, published by the Southern California Auto Club, and then as the editorial director for Argus Publishers.

He has enjoyed a high profile in the media, appearing often as a commentator on a range of cutting-edge issues. He has acquired a reputation as an articulate, forceful public speaker, invited often to give quotes, make commentaries and write opinion articles for print sources. Joe has also been featured on local television and radio broadcasts, as well as on national TV news shows aired on CNN, MSNBC, PBS and the FOX Network, among others.

Joe is co-founder and vice president of Community Advocates, Inc., a privately funded political think-tank that provides fresh, innovative ideas and policy analysis in the areas of race and inter-group relations.

Prior to Community Advocates, Hicks was the Executive Director of the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission, where he served from 1997 to 2001 under Mayor Richard Riordan. He also served as the Executive Director of the Multi-Cultural Collaborative, formed in 1992 to serve as an umbrella organization for community-based groups serving diverse racial and ethnic constituencies.

For a five-year span during the early 1990s, Joe was the Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights organization founded by Martin Luther King, Jr.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Elizabeth, and his daughters, Katarina and Natasha.