Joe Carberry is a Partner at Breakwater Strategy, a strategic insights and communications consultancy focused on helping organizations navigate high-risk, high-reward moments with a combination of research-driven insights and strategic counsel at the intersection of business strategy, public policy, the capital markets and the public conversation.

For more than 25 years, Carberry has built a strong track record helping organizations engage their most important constituencies, manage complex issues, and drive measurable business outcomes. His experience spans virtually every aspect of communications and marketing across various industries, in markets around the world. He has led initiatives that define and differentiate brands, build reputation, drive growth, manage risk, shape policy, engage employees, and navigate change.

Carberry’s experience includes working with some of the world’s leading brands, both in-house and as an external advisor. Before Breakwater, Carberry led the Corporate Relations function for The Charles Schwab Corporation, and co-led the firm’s marketing department. Prior to Schwab, Carberry was head of global communications for eBay Marketplaces; head of global public affairs at Visa Inc.; a partner at Brunswick Group; and President of the Western U.S. Region at MSLGROUP. He has worked extensively in financial services and technology as well as various other sectors. Carberry began his career in politics, working on the re-election campaign for California Gov. Pete Wilson and serving as deputy press secretary to San Diego Mayor Susan Golding.

He holds an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BA in journalism and graphic design from San Diego State University. He is a member of the advisory board for the SDSU School of Journalism and Media Studies.

An associate with Breakwater, Michael supports clients with day-to-day media and communications needs, including content development, coverage monitoring, and ad-hoc research requests.

Michael joined the Breakwater team in February of 2024. Prior to coming aboard, he worked as a Corporate Communications intern with the Zeno Group, where he helped identify and articulate thought leadership and media relations strategies for clients ranging from leading biotech firms to top skincare brands.

In addition to PR and communications experience, Michael has a variety of experience in content marketing and social media strategy. In 2023, he spearheaded social media strategy for the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, a professional association of over 15,000 members; while in college, Michael worked as a content development specialist for Credibly Retail Capital, where he developed and executed organic social content and thought leadership pieces on behalf of the mid-sized credit firm.

Michael graduated from Columbia University in 2022 with a major in History and a concentration in Economics. While in school, Michael served as an editor for the Blue & White, Columbia’s oldest literary magazine as well as a content supervisor for the Columbia Journal of Politics and Society. Additionally, he worked as a research and tech assistant in Columbia’s library system, where he connected students and faculty with scholarship resources in support of their academic work.

Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Michael is a die-hard Chicago Bears fan, in spite of their long history of mediocrity.

Patrick serves as a Senior Associate on the Research and Insights team, which analyzes public opinion, investor relations and long-term trends for clients facing complex uncertainties. He supports quantitative and qualitative survey development, primary and secondary research, and strategic planning projects.

Before joining Breakwater, Patrick completed internships with non-profits working in anti-corruption and conflict prevention, and worked on democracy and governance organization IRI’s Southern Africa team. In the latter role, he attended and helped organize political party trainings ahead of Angola’s 2022 General Elections and a regional party summit in Johannesburg.

Patrick was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin and graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in Political Science and African Diaspora studies. He spent four months studying in Accra, Ghana and travelled to Togo, Kenya and Tanzania after finishing his semester. He enjoys following Wisconsin sports teams, professional tennis and Brighton & Hove Albion.

As a Director at Breakwater Strategy, Maggie brings with her a passion for emerging technologies across industries and navigating complex regulatory environments.

Maggie is an MBA candidate at Georgetown University with a concentration in non-market strategy. She is honored as a Social Business Fellow and Impact Investing Fellow where she has performed research ranging from altruistic investment in disaster zones to the economics of agricultural supply chains in the Upper Midwest.

Most recently, Maggie worked as a consultant with the Department of Energy (DOE) managing the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) which aims to accelerate the commercialization of innovative energy technologies. Previously, Maggie served as the Technical Lead to the CEO of Nanoracks where she provided thought leadership for program development and market expansion, led the externally hosted payloads program for the International Space Station (ISS), and ran SBIRs under the Advanced Concepts program for a novel cislunar, autonomous data relay platform.

Lastly, Maggie worked as an Embedded Systems Engineer at Boeing to develop command and data handling systems for the ISS and test flight computers for the Space Launch System (SLS) at Marshall Space Flight Center. Maggie spent her early career working as a NASA intern developing real-time control systems for rocket engine test stands at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Maggie graduated Magna Cum Laude from Loyola University in New Orleans and received a double major Finance and Computer Science with a concentration in Computational Science.

Based in Washington, DC with her husband and puppy, Maggie spends her time enjoying all things jazz, oysters, and DIY home improvements.

Sam is an Associate Director at Breakwater Strategy. As a former journalist, Sam works with clients to help them build insightful communications strategies and manage reputational risks. Sam has a deep interest and understanding of the media landscape and is passionate about helping prepare clients for high-stakes appearances. He is particularly focused on the intersection of financial services, emerging technologies and policymaking.   

Prior to Breakwater, Sam was an Emmy-award-winning producer/reporter who covered the White House and Capitol Hill for CNN. He regularly filed stories for digital and worked with the network’s top correspondents and anchors. His stories spanned the intersection of politics and public policy, from debt ceiling negotiations and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster to the 2024 presidential campaign.  

After being born in Anchorage, Alaska, Sam spent his childhood in Russia before later moving to the UK. He then returned to the U.S. for university, graduating from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore with a bachelor’s degree in History and Writing Seminars. He first got involved in communications and journalism while writing for the undergraduate newspaper.  

When not in the office, you can often find Sam tinkering with his sourdough starter, exploring a new museum or finding a quiet place to enjoy a good book.  

A native of Buffalo, New York, Ginsberg is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University and the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.  He began his legal career as an attorney at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He left the firm in 1992 for a position in the Clinton presidential campaign and later served in the Clinton Administration in the Office of the White House Counsel and at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1995, Ginsberg became Senior Editor and legal counsel of George, the monthly political magazine started by John F. Kennedy, Jr.

Ginsberg spent eleven years at News Corporation as the company’s Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs and a member of the Chairman’s seven-person Executive Management Committee. In 2010, he joined Time Warner as the entertainment company’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Marketing and Communications, where he led the company’s integrated sales and marketing division, the Time Warner Foundation and was responsible for evangelizing the company’s major initiatives across the media landscape. After the sale of the company to AT&T in 2018, Ginsberg joined Softbank as the company’s Senior Vice President and Global Chief Communications Officer, where he remained until December 2020.

Ginsberg is the author of the New York Times bestseller First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents (Twelve). He has published opinion pieces in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and CNN.com, and was a former on-air political contributor to MSNBC.

Ginsberg is the chairman of the Board of New Visions for Public Schools, New York City’s premier educational reform organization; he is also a Director of The City, the online not-for-profit news service covering NYC, and Malaria No More.  From 2015-2018, Ginsberg was an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Business School where he co-taught the course Entrepreneurship in Incumbent Media. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ginsberg is a founding partner of 25Madison, the New York City-based VC firm and start-up studio.  He is also a director of Schrodinger, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDGR) and Townsquare Media, Inc. (NYSE: TSQ).

He lives in New York City with his wife Susanna Aaron and two sons.

Mark is the Founding Partner of Breakwater Capital Markets, a division of Breakwater Strategy, and Head of Capital Markets Advisory. He advises Venture Capital, Pre-IPO, Public Companies, Private Equity, Investment Partnerships and Family Offices on how to elevate valuation, business, and communication strategies. Additionally, Mark provides counsel to boards, management teams and investor relations officers on how to act on investor intelligence, strategic communications (including, Investor Days and Non-Deal Roadshows), IR Advisory, capital structure (including private credit), IR Advisory, hostile and complementary transactions, management change and other special situations including activist and short seller defense and complex business strategy.

Leveraging his diverse background, Mark engages effectively at all levels of an organization with agility and partner to develop highly differentiated strategy and operating plans.  He is deeply invested in the success of his clients and keenly focused on delivering transformational innovation that elevates value.

Before joining the firm, Mark was the Executive Vice President and Chief Client Officer of a globally oriented investor relations company where he led the development and execution of the rapidly growing business. Earlier in his career, Mark held executive leadership roles in Strategy, Finance, Operations, Technology, Marketing, Communications, Sales, People, Process and Organization and Product development driving significant improvements in operating performance and P&L results through industry leading levels of employee engagement and breakthrough innovation for impact, many of which set new benchmarks for their respective functions, most recently at a Fortune 15.

Mark has been an active member of the nonprofit community for over three decades and served on the Board of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, where he was a member of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Governance Committee and past Chair of the Finance and Development Committees. Mark is also a past Executive Board Member of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut, Juvenile Diabetes of Greater Hartford, the Campaign Chair for the oldest continuously operating food bank in the United States, and the Campaign Chair for a best-in-class Annual Giving Campaign for a Fortune 50.

Expertise:

• Capital Markets, Investor Relations and Business Strategy
• Investor Intelligence (Perception), Strategic, Transaction & Financial Investor Communications, Strategy & Reputation, Special Situations and Crisis Management, Valuation
• Investor Relations Strategy & Process Development and Execution
• Investor Days and Non-Deal Roadshows
• Sell-Side/Global Buy-Side/Retail Investors
• Board, CEO & Management Team Advisory (Business Strategy & Operations)
• Transformational Business Strategy & Breakthrough Innovation
• All Sectors and Market Capitalizations

Simone Jackenthal is a Director at Breakwater Strategy. She brings a passion for strategic communications, crisis support, and reputation management. Simone has substantial experience leading and executing public relations, public affairs, and other strategic communications campaigns for high–profile clients in highly regulated sectors. Her work includes media relations, thought leadership, crisis management, internal and external communications strategies. Simone’s experience spans several industries including political advocacy, technology, consumer products, health, nutrition, fintech, fashion, entertainment, and crypto, among others.

Most recently, Simone was a Director at Trident DMG where she largely advised clients on crisis communications and reputation management. She organized strategic communications campaigns for clients across various sectors, advised Fortune 500 companies on media trainings, and recommended approaches to C–suite executives for crisis mitigation. Simone led various funding announcements for technology startups, securing media coverage in top–tier national outlets, local media, and trades. She also coordinated with legal teams when necessary to create cohesive media strategies for clients engaged in litigation.

Previously, Simone served as an Associate at Weber Shandwick where she supported the Public Affairs team with government relations, marketing, internal communications, media relations, and social media. In this role, Simone organized events on the Hill to engage various clients with Members of Congress, drafted press releases for distribution, and secured media coverage with reporters. She also assisted with health and nutrition clients and supported the paid media and digital advertising team.

Simone earned a Master of Arts in Media and Strategic Communications and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Communications from The George Washington University. Her published thesis focuses on media framing effects of the Black Lives Matter movement, and she currently lives in Potomac, Maryland with her wife and two dogs.

As an Associate Director on the Research and Insights team, Jin works on all things research, from custom quantitative survey development to qualitative focus group execution and beyond. He is particularly passionate about public opinion research and considering viewpoints that challenge his own opinions.   

Before joining the Breakwater team, Jin was a Director at Accelerant Research, where he led the quantitative research function and designed custom market research surveys for clients to help them better understand their brand perceptions. Prior to that, Jin worked with fellow Breakwater team member Ben Williams at High Lantern Group, where he gained an appreciation for strategic communications and the scenic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Asheville, NC office.  

Jin is a graduate of the UNC Chapel Hill, where he majored in Economics and Psychology and minored in Business Administration. As a Chapel Hill native and UNC-alum, Jin remains a die-hard Tar Heel fan, and is known for annoying his co-workers with his hot takes and bold claims about all things Carolina sports.

Meredith currently serves as an Associate Director within the Breakwater Strategies Capital Markets practice.

Prior to joining Breakwater, she worked at Capstone LLC for almost three years, working as an associate and then senior analyst on the private market teams. She was a generalist, assisting all of Capstone’s policy vertical teams on over 30 due diligence and consulting projects for private equity and corporate clients. On the projects she has worked on, Meredith has covered a wide variety of topics such as organic waste policy, satellite-based emissions monitoring, and international debt collection laws.

Before joining Capstone, she attended Indiana University, Bloomington and received a degree in Finance and Public Policy Analysis from the Kelley School of Business. She currently serves on the Board of the Envision Capital Management, a student organization and 501c3 non-profit student investment fund she helped create while at Indiana University.

Expertise:

• Private Equity
• Market Research
• Public Policy
• Strategic Marketing