Who we are

Here are a few things the team at Salt Public Affairs is not afraid of:

  1. 01Controversy
  2. 02Honest advice
  3. 03Being non-partisan
  4. 04Reporters
Boats moored along the Portland, Maine waterfront

The team at Salt Public Affairs brings decades of collective experience from the front lines of public affairs and political campaigns.

We've stood in front of packed rooms of concerned residents to explain proposed economic development projects, faced tough questions from the media and provided executives with the candid insights necessary for sound decision-making.

Our team has managed $40 million in political and public affairs campaign spending. We've spearheaded a statewide coalition on sustainable cruise ship tourism, national anti-hunger campaigns, and a multimillion-dollar statewide program aimed at holding elected officials accountable.

In 2021 we launched a campaign to stop a statewide referendum our opponents had qualified for the ballot with 80,000 signatures. We went out and collected 80,000 signatures of our own to put a counter-measure on the same ballot, requiring any new government-run power company to win statewide voter approval before taking on $1 billion or more in debt.

Initial polling showed only 37% of voters were with us, but by the time Election Day rolled around we won with just over 70% of the vote. The team of nearly 100 staff, partners and vendors built a broad based, non-ideological and diverse coalition of voters, businesses and organizations that led to a decisive win.

Between us we bring decades of experience to the table, but if you only measured the experience of the Salt team in years, you’d be missing half the story.

  • 01Senior public affairs leader at Fortune 50 companies
  • 02Talk show host
  • 03NYC restaurant manager
  • 04College professor
  • 05Field organizer
  • 06Senior Congressional aide
  • 07Nonprofit leader
  • 08Trans-Atlantic sailor

How we work

Five things you can hold us to.

  1. 01

    Senior-led, always

  2. 02

    Candid before agreeable

  3. 03

    Discreet by default

  4. 04

    Non-partisan on purpose

  5. 05

    Comfortable in the hard room

Leadership

The people on your account.

Willy Ritch

Willy Ritch

Founder and President

Willy Ritch has decades of experience in communications, public affairs, public policy, government and the media.

At Salt Public Affairs, Willy has worked with investor-owned utilities in seven states on a range of issues. In Maine he ran a two-year, $25 million campaign to oppose a state takeover of the IOUs, winning a statewide referendum with 70% of the vote.

Prior to founding Salt, Willy ran a political independent expenditure organization that placed over $5 million in TV and digital ads, oversaw a national anti-hunger media campaign and had a career as a top-rated morning talk radio host.

Before Salt
Political IE organization · national anti-hunger campaign · morning talk radio host
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/willyritch
Sarah Flink

Sarah Flink, PhD

Partner

After several years as a university professor, Sarah left academia for private and public sector work in strategic communications, marketing and public affairs. Recent work for the state of Maine has involved extensive community engagement, including management of a community feedback hotline, and serving as an expert in a mediated settlement between a municipality, its business community, and the cruise industry.

Since joining Salt Public Affairs, Sarah served as the chief of staff on the campaign to stop the state takeover of the IOUs and has consulted on digital organizer campaigns across multiple states.

A native of rural Minnesota, Sarah lived in San Diego, Chicago and New York before moving to Portland, Maine.

Teresa Torrejón

Teresa Torrejón

Digital reputation & strategic intelligence · Spain

Teresa Torrejón leads Salt Public Affairs' digital reputation and strategic intelligence work in Spain, advising clients on reputational risk, issues management and digital positioning. She also works on the firm's campaigns in the United States and other international markets.

Before joining Salt, Teresa spent eight years leading international media programs for the regional government of Madrid and later managed events and sponsorships for Mercedes-Benz España. In 2013, she founded Luxo Client, her own strategic communications consultancy.

Wyatt Manlove

Wyatt Manlove

Director of Operations

Wyatt Manlove is the Director of Operations at Salt Public Affairs. He oversees the company’s day-to-day functions, manages campaign infrastructure, and supports staff on special projects and message development. Before joining Salt in late 2024, Wyatt worked as a field organizer on door-knocking and petition-gathering efforts for political candidates and issue campaigns up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Wyatt was personally responsible for the collection of tens of thousands of signatures, has trained hundreds of canvassers to knock on thousands of doors, and has knocked on just as many himself.

Claire DiMattina

Claire DiMattina

Senior Advisor

Claire DiMattina is a strategic communications and public affairs leader with nearly 20 years of experience helping organizations navigate complex policy, reputational, and business challenges. She has held senior leadership roles at Google and McDonald’s, where she led global public affairs and reputation campaigns, and previously worked on Capitol Hill. Based in Chicago, Claire now advises companies and organizations on communications strategy, public affairs, and stakeholder engagement.

The firm works in the United States and internationally, and behind the senior team sits a network of trusted specialist partners in polling, analytics, creative production and field operations.

Sailboats and small boats moored in a harbor with the Portland, Maine skyline behind

If this sounds like the help you need, say hello.

Contact Salt willy@saltpublicaffairs.com