A senior 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 is an Associate Director at Breakwater Strategy, where he works with clients on stakeholder engagement, organizational strategy and reputation management. He brings experience across emerging technologies, international markets, and consumer brands, helping organizations navigate complex policy and business challenges from strategy to execution.

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.

Austin Cook is a Director at Breakwater Strategy, where he draws on a decade of experience in public affairs, crisis communications, and media strategy. He has led high-stakes communications efforts for political campaigns, elected officials, and businesses, helping clients navigate complex reputational challenges in fast-moving environments. 

Before joining Breakwater, Austin served as Communications Director for Elissa Slotkin’s successful 2024 U.S. Senate campaign, where he oversaw all media engagement, rapid response, and messaging strategy in one of the most competitive elections in the country. He previously served as Slotkin’s Communications Director in the U.S. House of Representatives, managing press strategy on national security, emerging technology, and defense policy. He also helped Slotkin prepare for her response to President Donald Trump’s 2025 Joint Address to Congress.

Earlier in his career, Austin was Communications Director for the North Carolina Democratic Party during the 2020 election cycle and held key communications roles on Senator Amy Klobuchar’s presidential campaign. He also has agency-side experience advising Fortune 500 companies and advocacy groups on strategic messaging and reputation management. 

Austin holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and international Affairs from Wake Forest University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, and a master’s degree in national security policy from Duke University. He lives in Brooklyn with his girlfriend and their dog.

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.

Emi Groth is a Senior Associate at Breakwater Strategy. Based in San Francisco, she collaborates with colleagues across the BWS firm to support clients on announcement planning, research asks, media relations, and communications strategy.

Prior to Breakwater, Emi worked at a boutique PR agency focused on early-stage tech companies and startups. While there, she developed strategic communications plans, managed media outreach campaigns, drafted messaging materials, and helped emerging companies shape their narratives.Emi graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in Art History. While attending undergrad, she played on UCSB’s collegiate D1 women’s soccer team for three years. Later, she studied abroad in Florence, Italy, interning as an art gallery assistant.

As a California native, you’ll find Emi outside hiking coastal trails or local parks, though she’s just as content at home trying out new recipes or getting hooked on the latest TV show or movie.

With an extensive background in market research, strategy, and communications, Maureen is focused on designing and delivering innovative solutions for our clients.

Maureen joined Breakwater with experience working for leading global corporations across Marketing, Strategy, and Business Intelligence. Over the course of her career, Maureen has been responsible for large scale, in-depth, global research projects, competitive intelligence, marketing and go-to-market strategies, and thought leadership execution. Through each of these focus areas, she has shaped both internal and external strategies, honing her ability to balance strategic development with operational execution. Maureen’s experience managing change and building strategies through mergers and acquisitions gives her a well-rounded perspective when analyzing issues, making recommendations, and developing solutions for clients.

Maureen holds a B.S.B.A. in Finance from The Catholic University of America, as well as an M.B.A. in International Business and an M.S. in Accountancy from Saint Peter’s University. She sits on the board of a small, non-profit dog rescue and was selected to be on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange the day her previous company went public. Outside of work Maureen is an avid reader, puzzler, and traveler, spending as much time with her family and friends as possible.

Expertise:

• Market Research & Competitive Intelligence
• Business Strategy
• Marketing Strategy and Communications
• Product Marketing and Development

Mark is the Founding Partner of Breakwater Capital Markets, the capital markets advisory arm of Breakwater Strategy, where he advises boards and executive leadership teams on how valuation is formed and how it can be elevated across global capital markets. He works with venture capital-backed, pre-IPO, public companies, private equity sponsors, investment partnerships, and family offices to align capital markets, business, and investor communication strategies to drive long-term value. 

Mark developed the Valuation Operating System™, a proprietary enterprise framework that integrates business strategy, operations, investor intelligence, and capital markets engagement into a disciplined approach to value creation. The Valuation Operating System provides leadership teams and boards with a practical structure for understanding how valuation is built and defended across the global investor ecosystem and how to influence it deliberately through periods of growth, transformation, transaction, or market volatility. 

He is widely regarded as an international authority on valuation formation and investor behavior, with published and presented perspectives across major global financial centers in Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and North America. His work helps boards, management teams, and investors interpret global market dynamics and make informed decisions at moments of strategic inflection. 

Mark’s expertise spans capital markets and investor relations; investor intelligence and perception analysis; valuation strategy and architecture; strategic, transactional, and financial investor communications; investor relations strategy and execution; investor days and non-deal roadshows; capital structure optimization, including private credit; and advisory support for special situations such as activist and short-seller defense, hostile and complementary transactions, management transitions, and crisis environments. He works across sell-side, global buy-side, and retail investor audiences, serving organizations of all sizes across sectors and geographies. 

Before founding Breakwater Capital Markets, Mark was Executive Vice President and Chief Client Officer of a globally oriented investor relations firm, where he was instrumental in scaling a nascent business into a globally recognized investor relations firm, shaping its strategy, client model, and market positioning through a period of accelerated growth. Earlier in his career, he held senior executive leadership roles across strategy, finance, operations, technology, marketing, communications, sales, product development, and organizational design, delivering sustained improvements in operating performance and P&L results through high levels of employee engagement and innovation, most recently within a Fortune 15 company. 

Mark has been active in the nonprofit community for more than three decades. He served on the Board of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, including as a member of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Governance Committee, and past Chair of the Finance and Development Committees. He is also a former Executive Board Member of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut and Juvenile Diabetes of Greater Hartford and has served as Campaign Chair for the oldest continuously operating food bank in the United States and for a best-in-class annual giving campaign for a Fortune 50 company.

Expertise: 

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

Elayna Herrera is an Associate at Breakwater Strategy based in Washington D.C. Elayna utilizes her experience in corporate communications, research, and writing to support her teams and aid clients in achieving their goals. As an associate, her day-to-day includes media monitoring, research, administrative work, and crafting communication deliverables.

Elayna graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with a degree in journalism and political science. During her time in college, Elayna was a campus tour guide where she leveraged her storytelling ability to attract prospective students from all over the country to come to Carolina. It served as a rewarding role that polished her communication skills and allowed her to build special connections with the individuals on her tours. If she wasn’t giving tours, Elayna was helping craft new packages for her school’s student-run broadcast, Carolina Week, while also contributing to her sorority’s judicial and DEI committee.

Before joining Breakwater in October 2025, Elayna held a variety of internship roles working across different industries, including energy and renewables, philanthropy, biotech, and higher education. As a corporate communications intern at Duke Energy, Elayna published two stories on Duke Energy’s Illumination site highlighting the company’s philanthropic contributions to the environment. She also worked as a consumer troubleshooter intern at ABC11, a newsroom in Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as a public affairs intern at SKDK, a public affairs and political consulting firm.

Outside of work, Elayna enjoys running, trying new food, reading, and travelling. Her favorite international destination is Granada, Spain, a small town in the southern region of the country that offers delicious tapas and scenic architecture.