Helena Deman
Director, Governance and Corporate Stewardship
Helena advises companies at the intersection of reputation management, shareholder engagement, strategic communications, and global public affairs. She assists clients across different industries with the ideation and roll out of their corporate strategies through reporting and board advisory work. Taking a pragmatic and risk management approach, she provides counsel on ever-changing regulatory environments and potential reputational risks.
Recent Highlights
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Governance and Corporate Stewardship
She helps elevate governance and proxy disclosures as well as sustainability and corporate responsibility reporting to align with investor expectations and top market standards. Via in-depth interviews and close collaboration, she works with internal and external stakeholders, senior leaders, and subject-matter experts to create a tailored narrative on the company’s strategic priorities, environmental risk and human capital management, and oversight. She helps companies meet compliance needs by aligning disclosures to international reporting frameworks and refining messaging to meet stakeholder needs.
Crisis Communications and Reputation Management
Helena develops communication strategies and crisis plans to protect corporate reputations in a variety of situations, including government investigations, unplanned leadership changes, litigation, shareholder activism, social media attacks, and workforce reductions and restructuring.
Shareholder Engagement
Helena helps prepare executive teams and Boards for in-season and off-season shareholder engagement. She develops messaging for an investor audience on the business’ strategic priorities, executive compensation, and oversight mechanisms.
Public Relations
She works with investors, the media, employees, and her clients to achieve impactful messaging and positioning via different channels, including social media, company websites, and news outlets. She has counseled on external global engagement strategies and multi-stakeholder partnerships that help grow visibility, develop thought leadership, and advance business objectives.
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Credentials
Helena joined Joele Frank in 2024 from APCO, a global advisory and advocacy firm. Earlier she served at the Belgian Mission of the United Nations. She received an MA in History from the University of St Andrews, Scotland.