Kara provides strategic counsel and communications support to private and public companies across industries and in a broad range of special situations, including mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism, leadership changes and crisis management. She also works with clients to develop and refine their investor and public relations programs.

Mergers and Acquisitions

She has advised clients on a number of friendly and contested transactions, including: Pluralsight in its sale to Vista Equity Partners; Noble Energy in its sale to Chevron; Interxion in its sale to Digital Realty; Broadcom in its acquisition of CA Technologies; Edgewell Personal Care in its proposal to acquire Harry’s; Fiserv in its acquisition of First Data; Avon in its sale to Natura; Bristol-Myers Squibb in its acquisition of Celgene; Bemis in its sale to Amcor; GGP in its sale to Brookfield Property Partners; and Broadcom in its proposal to acquire Qualcomm, among others. Post-close, she has also supported several companies through integration processes and transaction-related rebrandings, including: Mylan’s integration of Upjohn, formerly a division of Pfizer, and subsequent rebranding into Viatris; and International Flavors & Fragrances’ integration of Frutarom.

Shareholder Activism

She has supported a number of companies in private and public activism situations as well as proxy contests. In her experience, she has helped defend companies against Ancora Advisors, Elliott Management, Engine Capital Management, JANA Partners, Land & Buildings Investment Management, Legion Partners, Macellum Advisors, Sarissa Capital Management, Starboard Value, ValueAct Capital and VIEX Capital.

Crisis Management

She assists management teams and boards of directors on a variety of crisis situations, including unplanned leadership changes, cybersecurity breaches, environmental issues, regulatory inquiries, internal investigations, earnings surprises, financial restatements and reputational attacks. Recently, she has also worked with clients on a variety of issues related to COVID-19, including workforce-related actions and financial and operational updates.

Investor Relations, Public Relations and ESG

She works closely with senior management and outside financial and legal advisors to develop bespoke IR and PR programs for companies. To help her clients align their strategies with best practices and more effectively achieve their engagement objectives, she provides support around overall corporate positioning, ESG initiatives, profile-raising and thought leadership opportunities, media relationships, employee communication practices, investor days and quarterly earnings processes.

Kara joined Joele Frank in 2016. She received a BA in Art History and English from Williams College.