From start to finish, this week we learn from one of our areas brightest entrepreneurs. From working out of a non-airconditioned top floor space, to now working with clients all over the United States, Joe Bonilla talks about what’s like to value and have the presence of mind to remain balanced with work and personal life. Listen in as Joe shares many stories, including how authenticity helps create cultures of sustainability in todays business landscape.  

Charitable causes Feed Albany, although they closed end of 2022.

Bio

Joe Bonilla is a results-driven entrepreneur committed to providing tough, but decisive leadership in communications, startup business, and media. As the co-founder, managing partner, and senior media director of Relentless, an award-winning creative strategy firm headquartered in Albany with offices in Greenville, SC and Las Vegas, Joe has led Relentless to work with some of the most recognized brands (including but not limited to: Deloitte, Uber, Amtrak, Redburn Development, Waste Management, Bow Tie Cinemas, Nine Pin Cider, and many more), public figures (including Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Assemblymember Pat Fahy, Albany County District Attorney David Soares, and several in- and out-of-office), and public entities (Clark County in Nevada, Albany County, City of Troy, and more) over the past decade-plus in business. Originally a two-person operation working out of "Class D" office space, Joe has built Relentless into a communications and creativity powerhouse - working with rising leaders at the local, state, and federal level, startup organizations to Fortune 500 companies all driven to be part of the "public conversation," no matter the terrain or the timezone. 

Under Joe's continued leadership, Relentless is recognized for its media relations expertise, excellence in creative design and media production, and ingenuity in solving complex public challenges. 

In addition to Joe's leadership with Relentless, Joe - alongside Relentless co-founder Rich Fazio and award-winning former journalist Liz Benjamin - co-founded Motor Oil Coffee, a startup craft coffee company based in the Capital Region, and CivMix, a news and commentary platform. Further, Joe has worked to develop and manage back office business operations for Jack Carpenter and Taylor Rao, the co-founders of Two Buttons Deep, to help build the brand into the fastest growing media outlet in Upstate New York. 

Prior to Relentless, Bonilla handled media outreach for a leading enterprise technology public relations firm and was a communications director for a New York State Assemblywoman. Bonilla also served as the founding executive director of the Capital Craft Beverage Trail Association, a leading craft beverage trade association in New York State. Joe is a graduate of the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany (B.A. Public Policy, concentration in Community Relations). While attending UAlbany, Joe produced a series of events that featured former President Bill Clinton and the late legendary journalist Barbara Walters to campus as part of the World Within Reach Speaker Series that brought increased attention to the University community. 
 
Bonilla previously served as chairman of the City of Albany’s Public, Educational, and Government Access Oversight Board, president of the board of directors for Capital CarShare Inc., and as vice chair of Troy Prep Charter School. Bonilla was also a regular panelist of WAMC Northeast Public Radio’s nationally-syndicated and award-winning news and discussion program The Roundtable, co-host of CivMix’s The Mix podcast with former journalist Liz Benjamin, and hosted “Behind The Buttons” on Two Buttons Deep. Bonilla is also a co-founder of Feed Albany, a non-profit charity focused on providing meals to in-need and at-risk individuals in the Capital Region in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
Active within the community, Bonilla serves on the following boards and commissions: 

Secretary and Governance Committee Chair, University at Albany Alumni Association 
Trustee, Maria College 
Board Member and Communications Committee Chair, Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Capital Region 
Board Member, Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce 
Board Member, United Way of the Greater Capital Region 
Advisory Board Member, Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy 
Capital Region Board Member, New York League of Conservation Voters 
Board Member, New York Urban Orchards 

Bonilla, a graduate of the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany (B.A., Public Policy), has recognized by:

• City & State Magazine (Albany Rising Stars 2017, Upstate Power 100 2021, Political Consultants Power 75 2021, PR Power 50 2022, PR Power 50 2023)
• Capital Region Hispanic Chamber (Business Person of the Year 2022)
• Hispanic Coalition of New York (40 Under 40 Latino Rising Stars 2012)
• Albany Business Review (40 Under Forty 2014)
• University at Albany (Thirty Under 30 2014)
• Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy (Young Alumnus in Political Science Award 2017)
• Albany County Legislature (Beyond the Call Award 2020) 

Contact

Joe Bonilla
Managing Partner and Senior Media Director at Relentless Awareness LLC
LinkedIn