Edelman provided portfolio management counsel and support to a large Education Investment company after its affiliate organization issued a series of statements that opposed the company’s well-established mission, vision and values. Furthermore, the company’s CEO was known to defend and even agree with these controversial perspectives – which threatened the company’s reputation of being a trusted, impartial social impact organization. The Board of Directors identified an immediate need to discuss strategic alternatives for the company, including a sale of the asset or a formal, CEO leadership transition.

STRATEGY & EXECUTION

Edelman worked closely alongside other external advisors and the company’s management to evaluate and assess the strategic options and corresponding action plans for those alternatives. This included a risk assessment of the pros and cons of each alternative as well as various playbooks with a communications strategy and specific roll-out contingencies for each scenario.

OUTCOME

• Through various deliberations with the company’s management and external advisors, Edelman recommended and executed the alternative which ultimately sold the affiliate and was later followed by a transition of the CEO.
• This counsel ensured a minimal risk of reputational impact, avoidance of litigation, minimized distraction from other company impact and operating activities all while safeguarding their invested capital.
• Edelman successfully protected the company from negative media coverage and ensured a single news cycle which avoided any misplaced threads of narratives the company did not seek to comment on.
• The program targeted the company’s most important audiences and stakeholders and underscored broader commitments to its mission and social impact objectives, positioning the company to properly mitigate future issues and avoid self-inflicted damages.