Deirdre Walsh
Senior Vice President
Deirdre Walsh helps lead Abernathy’s Crisis practice, advising executives and communications teams on crisis preparation and response strategies. She has led tailored crisis tabletop simulations for clients as they’ve sought to identify gaps in their crisis planning and response protocols, and has built comprehensive crisis plans to help companies navigate various high-stakes situations. She has also counseled clients through complex crisis scenarios, including facility disruptions, misconduct allegations, product recalls, and investigations.
Deirdre’s industry experience is wide-ranging; however, she brings notable expertise working with sports, entertainment, and consumer goods companies. Deirdre has supported individual and institutional investors in building and strengthening their reputations ahead of investments in new sports markets. She has also supported companies, teams, and leagues as they’ve navigated reputational challenges driven by investigations, employee misconduct, global issues, and other business disruptions.
Representative Experience
• Leadership teams and Boards during executive changes, including investigations and allegations of misconduct, investigations, and other business disruptions
• The National Women’s Soccer League on its joint investigation into alleged misconduct
• Ted Segal on his acquisition of a majority stake in Houston Dynamo FC
• A sports and pop culture brand on building a business and financial media profile ahead of its multi-million-dollar equity stake sale
• A major cruise line in its communications response to all stakeholders amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
• A global beverage conglomerate on media relations, stakeholder engagement, and crisis response
• Private equity clients, including Madison Dearborn Partners and Sixth Street, on transactions and other matters
Education
• Skidmore College, B.S. in Management and Business
Memberships and Affiliations
• Professional Board Member, PAWS Chicago