C Street Advisory Group Launches to Advise CEOs, C-suites, and Boards on the convergence of Business, Law, and Finance with Politics, Social Justice, and Diversity

Jon Henes, one of the country’s leading restructuring, crisis management, and corporate governance legal advisors, launched C Street Advisory Group, a strategic advisory firm that will guide CEOs, C-suites, and Boards of Directors on maximizing value while ensuring alignment between the expectations of key stakeholders and calls for diversity, equity, and inclusion. The firm is launching with an investment from Antara Capital, a multi-billion dollar investment fund founded by Himanshu Gulati.

C Street is specifically designed to provide clients with comprehensive and integrated advisory services to maximize their unique value in today’s ever-changing world with four core pillars:

1. Corporate Advisory: To advise on business transactions including restructuring, acquisitions, and transformational strategies.
2. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory: To align DEI values with stakeholder expectations to enhance value.
3. Talent Advisory: To recruit, develop, and retain diverse talent.
4. Communications & Crisis Advisory: To manage reputations, provide strategic communication services and communicate progress of systemic DEI strategies.

Jon Henes will lead an accomplished team of diverse talent at C Street, serving as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Henes founded C Street after nearly 20 years as a Partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

Mr. Henes said, “We are living in the era of reputation, with young workers focusing on social justice, diversity, and making an impact. Organizations and their leaders are keenly aware of this generational shift and are determining the best strategies to position their organizations to both do well and do good.”

Alvin Tillery, Ph.D., C Street’s Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory said, “Corporate America has an opportunity to maximize value by making DEI systemic, by recruiting and retaining the best talent, by enhancing the ingenuity and creativity of their employee teams, by strengthening current relationships with customers, clients, and investors, by generating new client and customer opportunities, and by building stronger and more flexible organizations.”

Mr. Henes continued, “C Street helps leaders at public companies, private companies, law firms, investment banks, private equity firms, hedge funds, and charitable foundations navigate today’s ever-changing world to unleash the true value of their organizations by making DEI systemic. Each organization is unique, with its own culture, opportunities, and needs. C Street listens and learns, and then provides unparalleled advice and services to steer organizations through the most complex issues of our time.”

A Diverse and Cohesive Team

C Street is being founded with a diverse team of accomplished professionals uniquely positioned to offer clients sophisticated and targeted advice based on deep expertise in law, business, finance, communications, public policy, philanthropy, and politics.

Corporate Advisory

• Jon Henes, C Street’s Founder and CEO, leads Corporate Advisory.
• Ali Krukowski, Director, Client Services & Business Development, brings more than six years of business development experience from Kirkland & Ellis.
• Luke Wolf, Director, Strategy, joins from the Office of the New York City Comptroller, where he managed key stakeholder relationships.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory

• Alvin Tillery, Ph.D., Head of DEI Advisory, has been a leading expert on race relations and DEI for more than 25 years. He has extensive experience advising Fortune 500 companies and holds a tenured appointment at Northwestern University, where he is the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy.
• Thomas Ogorzalek, Ph.D., Managing Director and Lead Research Scientist, has more than 15 years of experience analyzing public policy, public opinion, and race in the U.S. His work applies data and rigorous empirical research techniques to help organizations address practical challenges and confidently pursue new strategies.
• Bre Pressey, Director, brings nearly two decades of experience in the nonprofit, education, and social impact sectors. She most recently worked as the Program Manager for the Institute on Race and Political Economy at the New School.
• Jojo Adler, Director, joins from Morgan Stanley’s Fixed Income Division, where she served on the diversity council.

Talent Advisory

• Beth Kojima, Head of Talent Advisory, draws on more than 15 years of experience from Goldman Sachs and TPG-Axon Capital to bring a deep understanding of how companies and corporate boards operate.
• Melissa Crandell, Managing Director, brings nearly 15 years of Executive Search experience in the Financial Services and Asset Management industry.
• Jen Whitbeck, Vice President, joins following more than a decade at Goldman Sachs, where she helped launch the Alternative Capital Markets and Strategy Group.
• Lily Patricof, Director, previously worked on Ray McGuire’s New York City mayoral campaign, as well as Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign.

Communications & Crisis Advisory

• Melissa Prober, Head of Crisis and General Counsel, brings more than two decades of experience in law, government, and politics, with a focus on crisis and bet-the-company advisory.
• Lisa Hernandez Gioia, Head of External Affairs & Managing Director, Communications, has a 20-year record of working at the intersection of politics and business, advising leaders and driving internal communications and external affairs for organizations including the Clinton Global Initiative, Hillary for America, and Related Companies’ Hudson Yards.
• Maddie Sewani, Director, Communications, joins from Kekst CNC with more than five years of experience in strategic, financial, and crisis communications advisory.

Senior Advisors

• Brian Mathis, Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, brings deep financial expertise, including hedge fund, private equity, and venture capital experience. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former political appointee of President Clinton at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Stephanie Daily Smith, Senior Advisor, Political Advisory, is one of the premier political consultants in the country, with clients such as The Democratic National Committee, Biden/Harris for President 2020, Hillary Clinton for President, Gavin Newsom Independent Expenditure for Governor, Mayor Eric Garcetti, and the Democratic Governors Association.
• John Neffinger, Senior Advisor, Media Training & Speechwriting, is a nationally recognized expert on how people judge and influence each other. He has extensive experience coaching corporate executives, political figures, television personalities, TED talkers, Nobel prize winners, and citizen advocates to engage and move their audiences.
• Dr. Aliza Pressman, Senior Advisor, Parent Management Training, is the Co-Founding Director and Director of Clinical Programming for the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, as well as an Assistant Clinical Professor for the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Pressman is known for her award-winning podcast, Raising Good Humans.
• Eva Wisnik, Senior Advisor, Career Training, has worked with 86 of the AmLaw 100 firms nationwide and conducted more than 700 training programs for attorneys on topics ranging from interview training to achieving professional visibility.
• Amanda Tarplin, Senior Advisor, Investor Relations, has more than a decade of experience in investor relations and building out institutional-quality investor relations programs with experience in alternative asset management, food and beverage, consumer, fashion and wine.

Board of Advisors

Shaping and guiding C Street’s work is a Board of Advisors composed of trusted experts in their fields, all of whom share the firm’s mission of helping companies enhance value by creating a better, more just, and more equitable world.

• Minyon Moore is considered one of the nation's top strategic thinkers with extensive experience in political and corporate affairs and public policy. She has been named one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington by Washingtonian Magazine, and her book, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics, was awarded the 2019 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary work, Nonfiction. She is currently a Principal at Dewey Square Group.
• Jeff Hammes is the Chair Emeritus at Kirkland & Ellis. During his tenure as Chairman, he led the firm through a period of significant growth and transformation, increasing revenue from $1.4 billion to more than $4 billion and profits from $700 million to more than $2.2 billion, making Kirkland the largest and most profitable law firm in the world.
• Sarah Min has 25 years of media experience executing big, content-driven visions for startups and brands from publishing names such as Domino and Glamour to content powerhouses including HBO and Penguin Random House. She is a recognized expert for her sense of culture trends and understanding of customer behavior. She serves on the Boards of Friends of the High Line, EMILY’S List, and Color of Change.
• Jaeson Ma is a media executive, artist, investor, and serial entrepreneur. He is considered one of the leading financiers to companies, institutions, and individuals investing in Asian media, entertainment, and technology. His investments include TikTok, Grab, Coinbase, and Triller. He is the Founder and General Partner of East West Ventures and Co-founder of 88rising.
• Matt Johnson is one of the country’s leading entertainment lawyers, representing the most recognizable on-camera talent, renowned film and television producers, directors, writers, and many of the biggest superstars in the worlds of sports and music. He is a partner at Ziffren Brittenham.
• Charles Myers has 25 years of experience working with financial institutions and multi-national businesses to anticipate and assess policy agendas and announcements. He is a leader in forecasting global trade policy, energy dynamics, and regulation within the financial, energy, and technology sectors in the U.S., U.K., and Europe. He is the Chairman and Founder of Signum Global Advisors and serves on the Boards of the Central Park Conservancy and the Mayor’s Fund of NYC.
• Chetan Bansal has a 25-year record as a public and private markets investor and extensive experience providing capital and advice to early-stage, hypergrowth companies in varying capacities. He is a Partner and Co-Head of Investment Research at Antara Capital.

For more information, please visit www.thecstreet.com, and follow C Street on Twitter (@thecstreet_nyc) and LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/company/c-street-advisory-group).

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