Kaitlin partners with clients across industries to help them navigate dynamic and complex communications situations, including corporate crisis issues, M&A, and shareholder activism. Her approach is holistic, taking into account each company’s unique stakeholder landscape to help drive support and mitigate risk in the times that matter most. Areas of expertise include:

Mergers & Acquisitions

Select notable transactions: Salesforce in its acquisitions of Slack, Tableau, and MuleSoft; Joseph Phelps Vineyards in its sale to LVMH; Neiman Marcus in its strategic investment by FarFetch; Varian in its sale to Siemens Healthineers; Grubhub in its sale to Just Eat Takeaway.com; Rothy’s in its strategic investment by Alpargatas; Cray in its sale to Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Gilead in its acquisition of Kite Pharma; SolarCity in its sale to Tesla; and Commune Hotels & Resorts in its merger with Destination Hotels.

She also advises on unsolicited and shareholder-contested transactions, including Unity in its defense against AppLovin, HP in its defense against Xerox, and Pattern Energy in its contested transaction with CPP Investments, among others.

Crisis and Issues Management

In times of crisis, Kaitlin works with companies to control the narrative, minimize business disruption and protect their corporate reputation. She has extensive experience in issues ranging from reputational attacks, data breaches, short sellers, management succession and unplanned leadership changes, litigation, internal investigations, and workforce reductions.

Shareholder Activism

She has counseled companies in both public and private activism situations opposite many of today’s most prominent activist investors, including Starboard Value, Carl Icahn, Elliott Management, Third Point, Inclusive Capital and JANA Partners.

IR, PR & Media Training

Kaitlin works closely with clients to develop and refine their investor relations programs and public communications, with a focus on articulating a clear and compelling narrative that resonates with key audiences. This includes corporate positioning, profile-raising, thought leadership, employee communications and quarterly earnings preparation. In addition, she conducts media and presentation training with C-suite executives, as well as other internal/external company spokespeople.

Kaitlin joined Joele Frank in 2015. Previously, she served as a Teach for America corps member and on Make-A-Wish’s young professional advisory council. She received a BA in Finance and Marketing from the University of San Diego.