Strategic
Communications

Dirk T. Schmitt is advising companies on their communication strategy as well as on crises and mergers & acquisitions (M&A). Dirk has advised on more than 60 domestic and international transactions and was most recently chief representative of a Dax 30 company. As managing director of an international strategic communications consultancy, Dirk advised large corporations on communication in politics and media, as well as with investors and other stakeholders. Dirk studied political science in Mannheim and Munich, and later business administration at the University of St.Gallen (HSG) and Toronto. He has received numerous awards, including the “Press Office of the Year” accolade from the Federal Association of German Press Officers, and has held honorary positions in associations, foundations and academic societies.

Dr Kai Gregor Klinger advises clients on financial and strategic communications, IPOs, M&A transactions and restructurings. He has extensive expertise in capital markets, corporate finance, shareholder activism, regulation and corporate governance. Most recently, Kai was CMO (Chief Markets Officer) of a European listed asset manager. Prior to that, he was responsible for investor relations, communications, M&A, treasury, governance and risk management as part of the senior management of large and family-owned companies. He began his career in transaction consulting at a Big Four company and a major bank.
Kai holds a degree in economics from the University of Heidelberg and a doctorate in business administration from the University of Mannheim. In his spare time, he likes to let his thoughts wander while sailing, reading a good book or travelling to his second family home of France.

Dr. Alexander Falkenberg has conducted private equity, M&A and financing transactions with a volume of more than USD 30 billion. Alexander was Chief Investment Officer at a private equity firm with a portfolio value of more than USD 3 billion. Previously, he worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston. Alexander holds a PhD from the University of St.Gallen (HSG), an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and a ‘Diplom-Kaufmann’ (German business administration degree) from the European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel.

As head of communications in the aviation industry and as press spokesperson for an industrial holding company in the Dax, he advised executive and supervisory boards on complex communications issues: from media relations and crises to change and executive communications, and public affairs. In these roles, as well as an economist and speechwriter for an international strategy consultancy, his journalistic background was of great benefit to him. Thomas spent more than twelve years as a political and business editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Handelsblatt publishing group (Wirtschaftswoche).

Alexander Schmidt has more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications. In various positions at well-known communications consultancies, he has supported listed companies, private equity and owner-managed companies. He advises on communications relating to corporate finance issues as well as restructurings and turnarounds. Alexander Schmidt is also well versed in issues management and crisis communication. He studied literature and history and holds an Executive MBA from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

Entrepreneur, CEO, consultant, strategist: Rainer Westermann designs mission-critical communications and manages reputation risks for his clients in Germany, the US and Canada.
Litigation communication, crisis prevention and management, and executive communication are his specialties. Rainer has repeatedly swapped the perspective of the consultant for that of the responsible decision-maker - for example, as head of communications at Infineon Technologies or as a board member of LHS Group, Atlanta, a NASDAQ-listed software company. As CEO Germany of Burson-Marsteller, he repositioned the company. In Toronto, he built up the corporate communications and investor relations department for Fleishman-Hillard Canada.

Rainer's expertise is in demand: He is board member of Reputation Advisors International, and since 2021 he has been Chairman of the Board of the Life Sciences Acceleration Alliance e.V., Munich, as well as a member of the Advisory Board of the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning and a lecturer at the TUM School of Management.

Andrea Schmitt has spent more than 25 years in executive communication, specialising in project and event management activities for major financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank, Citibank and Targobank. She has operational experience in leading large teams, process management and optimisation, and has stewarded company in-house training and coaching projects. Over the last 12 years, she has focussed her energies on both large-scale gatherings in public spaces and events for employees and executives. Further to this, she also works in internal communication for a service provider in the banking sector. Andrea currently manages a social welfare facility on a voluntary basis, and previously lived in Asia for several years where she assisted social projects for an international women’s network.

Dominic Stenzel brings more than 20 years of communications and leadership experience in the consumer goods industry and the German armed forces to the table. In a wide variety of roles, he was responsible for the entire spectrum of internal and external corporate communications and also represented companies as a press spokesperson. Dominic advised executives and their organizations primarily in the areas of positioning as well as crisis and other special situations. Most recently, he led the DACH region communications team of global tire manufacturer Goodyear as press spokesperson. Dominic studied communication sciences with a focus on public relations and integrated communication at Danube University Krems.

He was press spokesman in a DAX40 company and then head of communications in a pan-European trading holding company. There, Max Niklas Gille managed a wide variety of crisis and change situations. He further developed the communications work in these companies across all channels and advised top management on reputation issues. This included, for example, CEO positioning in social media. Niklas holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Applied Sciences Gelsenkirchen and an MBA in Communication and Leadership from Quadriga University Berlin.