Our Story
BUILT FOR MOMENTS WHEN STANDING STILL IS THE GREATER RISK.
FireHorse Public Affairs was built around a simple belief: the organizations that shape the future rarely operate in environments designed for certainty. Markets move. Technology advances. Political priorities shift. Public opinion changes. Regulation catches up. Somewhere in the middle, businesses and institutions have to decide whether to wait for clarity or help create it.
THAT IS WHERE FIREHORSE WAS BORN.
STRATEGY IN MOTION.
The Fire Horse is a powerful symbol of movement, independence, visibility, and transformation. The Horse brings momentum and independence. Fire adds intensity, clarity, and transformation. Together, they represent accelerated movement with purpose. For us at FireHorse, that does not mean moving recklessly; it means knowing when to move and doing it with purpose.
TOI WALKER HUTCHINSON, Co-Founder
Toi W. Hutchinson is a public policy strategist and executive leader specializing in government affairs, cannabis policy, and regulatory strategy.
She served in the Illinois State Senate from 2009 to 2019, representing the 40th District, where she chaired both the Senate Revenue Committee and the Illinois Senate Black Caucus. Her legislative work centered on economic policy, tax modernization, criminal justice reform, protections for women and children, and cannabis legalization. She also served as the 46th President of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Following passage of Illinois' Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, she left the Senate in 2019 to become the state's first Senior Advisor to the Governor for Cannabis Control under Governor JB Pritzker, leading implementation of the adult-use program across regulation, economic development, criminal justice reform, social equity, and community reinvestment.
In 2022, she became the first woman to serve as President and CEO of the Marijuana Policy Project, and later joined Mercury Public Affairs as a Managing Director. She is now Co-Founder of FireHorse Public Affairs, advising businesses, organizations, and leaders on complex political and regulatory environments.
Hutchinson holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a JD from Northern Illinois University College of Law. She completed executive leadership training at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and is an Edgar Fellow.
WANDA L. JAMES, Co-Founder
Wanda L. James was elected to the University of Colorado Board of Regents in 2022, becoming the first Black woman elected to the board in more than 44 years. A CU Boulder graduate, she was also the first Black woman commissioned through the university’s Naval ROTC program and served as a Naval officer. She later graduated in the inaugural class of the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute.
Her career spans business, politics, public policy, and entrepreneurship. She and her husband, Chef Scott Durrah, owned six restaurants and later founded Simply Pure, becoming the first Black entrepreneurs in the United States licensed to own a cannabis dispensary, cultivation facility, and edibles company. She has been a sought after speaker and consultant nationally and internationally.
Politically, before co-founding FireHorse Public Affairs, Wanda managed the campaign for Congressman Jared Polis, who later became the Governor of Colorado. She also served on the national finance committees for Barack Obama and Kamala Harris. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, BET, CNBC, The Atlantic, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She has been named one of the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women’s Chamber; AdWeek named her one of the TrailBlazers alongside VP Kamala Harris and Tracee Ellis Ross. She has graced the covers of 7 national magazines, including Black Enterprise Magazine.
Wanda lives in Denver with Scott and their Bassett Hound, Isabel, and their 220 lb Great Dane, Malcolm.