WASHINGTON, April 23, 2026 | Breakwater Strategy, a leading strategic insights and communications consultancy, recently welcomed Chelsea Magnant as a new Vice President. Chelsea brings a rare combination of intelligence community experience, corporate strategy, and public policy expertise, significantly deepening the firm’s capabilities in geopolitical risk, technology policy, and regulatory affairs.
Commenting on the announcement, Breakwater Strategy CEO Arik Ben-Zvi said, “Chelsea has operated at the highest levels of government intelligence, global technology, and strategic communications — and that trifecta is exceptionally uncommon. Her CIA service, combined with her work at Google gives her a perspective that few advisors can offer. As the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and regulation grows more complex, Chelsea’s perspective will be invaluable to our clients. We are thrilled to welcome her to Breakwater.”
Prior to joining Breakwater, Chelsea served as an advisor at Brunswick Group, where she counseled leading technology companies on AI, geopolitical risk, and the policy and communications dynamics shaping the industry. Before Brunswick, she spent five years at Google across its geopolitical risk, global affairs strategy, and public policy functions, advising senior leaders on navigating a rapidly shifting regulatory and geopolitical landscape. In that role, she led scenario planning efforts to help the company successfully transition into a more regulated environment and engaged directly with governments on technology policy challenges and opportunities. Earlier in her career, Chelsea spent nearly a decade as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, where she produced geopolitical analysis for senior U.S. government leaders on emerging threats and regional instability, with a focus on Latin America.
“I’m so glad to be joining Breakwater. Arik has built a team with sharp strategic instincts, real intellectual curiosity, and genuinely good people,” Chelsea said. “The issues organizations are managing today — where technology, geopolitics, and regulation collide — are some of the most complex and consequential I’ve seen in my career, and I’m excited to help clients think through them clearly and act decisively.”
In addition to her client work, Chelsea teaches a graduate course on emerging technologies and the developing world at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. She holds a Master of Public Affairs from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and a B.A. from Emory University.