We are extremely delighted that this move is made possible by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade recognizing Tectonica as a business of special economic interest for the Spanish economy and paving the way for Tectonica’s original founders’ Ned Howey and Mar Isabel Spada, as well as recently incorporated partner Auwlyee Cabrera, to relocate for the opening of our European offices. We will continue to work with the other members of our incredible team, some of whom may hopefully join us in Spain.

Central to the story of Tectonica thus far is our location in Argentina. After being abruptly widowed in 2009, Ned Howey moved from San Francisco California to Buenos Aires on a one-way ticket with a couple suitcases in hand and not knowing a single person (nor a word of Spanish). Working at a web design studio a year later, he met Mar Isabel Spada, a designer of unparalleled talent and a deep passion for politics. The two formed Tectonica Studios (Argentina) in 2012 with a vision to transform digital organizing by catalyzing people-based movements, causes, and campaigns. They developed a unique approach to digital organizing combining context-based strategies, diverse technologies, cross-boundary organizing, and a strong visual and narrative style. While Argentina has an infamously challenging business environment, the company was bootstrapped from humble beginnings in a small apartment, to international recognition, a team of world class talent and has earned numerous prestigious awards.

The particular difficulties of Argentina’s economic situation in the moment was cause for introspection and planning to ensure that the company would continue to be able to offer its services - and ideally expand them - for our clients in the future. Spain was an obvious choice for relocating the business considering the Spanish fluency of our founders, Spain’s positioning within the Eurozone, and Barcelona’s ideal location for travel to current and future clients.

While Tectonica has served clients in over 25 countries, many of our largest history of success has been with European clients including the UK Labour Party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), La Republique En Marche! (Emmanuel Macron’s party in France), Belgium’s Groen, Sadiq Khan’s campaign for Mayor of London, and most recently Madrid’s Mayor Manuela Carmena. We were winners of the prestigious Reed award’s “Best Website - Europe” category two years running. Europe’s high level of civic engagement and multi-party diversity in politics results in a large market opportunity for the agency. We are thrilled by the possibility to see our expertise have a place in helping progressive causes and politics advance through applying digital technologies to building movements in Europe and elsewhere.

As we take a deep bow in gratitude for the opportunities given to us in our foundations in Argentina and we look forward with excitement at our future, our opportunities for growth, and further impact with the organizations, parties, and individuals we work with.