Building organizations
that hold under pressure

People Strategy for growth, change and repair

For CEOs, boards, and PE sponsors carrying a company through a scale moment or rebuilding after one went wrong.

I've built the People function at companies at their most demanding moments of growth and transformation: CloudKitchens from 300 to 4,000 across 30+ countries in under three years, Beren Therapeutics from a pre-commercial R&D team through its commercial scale-up and 'Day 1' launch readiness. That experience shows up in three ways.

• The scale moment A funding round, a launch, or an acquisition has just changed what the company needs to be. I design the people infrastructure that enables and drives how the team performs - and put in place the accountability and communication rhythms that actually strengthen culture as headcount doubles.
• The repair moment Something broke - a leadership failure, a poorly executed layoff, a culture the board or employees no longer trust. I diagnose what actually happened, stabilize the team, and design and redesign the systems that drive team strength through personal accountability, group trust and healthy interdependence - so trust is earned rather than just announced.
• Senior leader advisory Ongoing, confidential work with a CEO or executive who is leading through one of these moments and needs a partner who has done it.

Crisis preparedness, response and communications

For companies approaching a moment that could break them - a launch, an IPO, a regulatory decision, a merger, acquisition or rapid multi-country expansion. 

For public agencies and nonprofits building the capacity to respond.

Most companies find out whether their crisis plan works during the crisis. I help you find out before.

The work started at Ground Zero after 9/11, where a handful of volunteers became the communication layer that rescue and relief organizations didn't have. It continued through:

• Building WeWork's first emergency action plans and HR business continuity program
• Designing health and safety standards for an essential workforce through COVID at Atoms (dba Cloudkitchens, Otter)
• Owning internal communications, change management and employee relations at Beren Therapeutics through commercial scale-up

• Preparedness assessment Where the gaps are between the plan on paper and the way the organization actually communicates, decides, and escalates under pressure - including employee safety, duty of care, business continuity, and the cross-functional handoffs that fail first.
• Tabletop exercises Scenario-based simulations for the executive team and response leads, built to expose the coordination failures that only show up when the clock is running.
• Communications architecture Who says what, to whom, in what order - internal, executive, and external - designed before the event so that the first hours are executed rather than improvised.
• Response support When something is already happening: an embedded partner for the leadership team on internal communications, employee response, and reputational risk.