Rev. Dylan Thomas Cotter is a public relations strategist, brand communications executive, author, and gay transgender media activist with more than fifteen years of experience at the intersection of lifestyle, culture, entertainment, media, and technology. His practice brings together business development, online intelligence, public relations, media relations, strategic partnerships, and media activism.
Recognized for securing national and international press coverage in major media outlets, including Playboy, The Associated Press, ABC News, Fortune, GQ, Rolling Stone, VICE, Out Magazine, Newsweek, KTLA, Yahoo News, Mashable, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, and U.S. News & World Report, among numerous others, Cotter advises founders, artists, and executives on brand positioning, reputation, corporate social responsibility initiatives, strategic communications, and earned media.
Since March 2023, Cotter has worked as a Strategic Advisor and Public Relations Consultant, advising founders, brands, and public figures across entertainment, media, technology, beauty, and lifestyle sectors on cultural positioning, strategic communications, media strategy, and brand growth. He develops insight frameworks and strategic narratives to help clients with brand strategy, audience engagement, and partnership opportunities; designs integrated public relations and marketing strategies that align brand storytelling with contemporary movements, audience behavior, and media ecosystems; and leads strategic partnership development between clients and organizations across technology, media, nonprofit, and lifestyle sectors.
Cotter also conducts digital forensic and organizational assessments for companies undergoing internal transformation, identifies digital risk exposure, and recommends communication and reputation management strategies. He advises executive leadership on reputation management, brand positioning, and corporate social responsibility initiatives designed to strengthen community engagement and authenticity.
His media practice has included numerous Tier 1 and Tier 2 media placements across key markets, including Playboy, The Associated Press, ABC News, Fortune, GQ, Rolling Stone, Out Magazine, The Advocate, Pride, VICE, KTLA, Reader’s Digest, Mashable, Yahoo! News, Newsweek, Men’s Health, South China Morning Post, Truthout, and others. The Associated Press interviewed him about professional job-interview attire; the story has since appeared in more than 180 publications.
From 2014 to 2022, Cotter was Founder and Creative Director of Cotter The Creative, a marketing and public relations consultancy delivering brand strategy, earned media, and creative campaigns for clients across the entertainment, fashion, technology, tourism, health, and nonprofit sectors. He developed and executed integrated marketing strategies combining public relations, social media strategy, influencer partnerships, and cultural storytelling. He generated more than 89 million impressions for a major entertainment technology launch through strategic media outreach and earned media campaigns, built strategic partnerships with global brands and organizations including Apple, Levi’s, SCRUFF, MedMen, Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, HeadCount, Friends of The LA River, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center *Trans Lounge Program, and directed corporate social responsibility initiatives and community engagement campaigns focused on civic engagement, environmental advocacy, and LGBTQIA+ community support.
Cotter’s work as a media activist emerges from his professional understanding of how narratives are manufactured, his personal experience of how journalists frame marginalized identities, and his desire to change those narratives rather than work within them. His media activism includes advocacy and public commentary on transgender healthcare, transgender youth, government policy, public health, transgender rights, transgender media representation, and sex workers’ rights. His media activism has appeared in Rolling Stone, Yahoo! News, Truthout, and Well Beings News.
His critical writing includes “Why Hollywood Overlooks Transgender Men’s Stories and Why It Should Not,” “Op-Ed: How Narratives Around Transgender People Have Been Covered In The Media,” and “The Cost of Visibility: Transgender Publicist’s P.O.V.”
Cotter is the author of Dear Cisgender Reader Walk Beside Me. An Invitation to Understanding My Big, Exciting Gay Transgender Life and Think Like A Transgender Thought Leader.
His community volunteering practice has included serving as a TGNCI Community PR Outreach Volunteer, providing individual one-time one-hour public relations consultations; volunteering with Models of Pride; serving as a Volunteer Instructor and Course Creator for the Los Angeles LGBT Center Trans* Lounge Program, creating “Creating Economic Opportunities and Developing Your Personal Brand”; and serving as a former Co-Chair of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council LGBTQIA+ Advocates Committee.
Cotter holds an A.S. Degree in Cinematography and Film and Video Production from The Art Institute of California Los Angeles. His certifications include Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace from ESSEC Business School, Leading Diverse Teams & Organizations from the University of Michigan, Technology Entrepreneurship Lab to Market from HarvardX, Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content from The Wharton School, Crisis Communications from IESE Business School, and Introduction to Public Relations from Microsoft.
Cotter was also an Artist + Activist Grant Recipient of The Soze Foundation in 2020.