TrailRunner Team - TrailRunner International

Jennifer Potthoff

Jennifer Potthoff is Chief Administrative Officer for TrailRunner International, based in New York. Jennifer leads Human Resources, Information Technology, and the firm’s Employee Experience team.

Prior to joining TrailRunner International, Jennifer spent more than 25 years in human resources, talent recruitment, and communications with several organizations, including Goldman Sachs, Global Atlantic Financial Group, and Catalyst. She has a strong international background and has led teams in New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, and Bangalore.

Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts in communications and policy studies at Syracuse University. She studied coaching at the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). She is Secretary of the Board for the People Strategy Collective (formerly NYHRPS), a New York City-area network of seasoned HR and business leaders, and Co-Chair of the PR Council’s HR Community.

Trudy Wang

As a Managing Director and Head of the Shanghai office for TrailRunner International, Trudy Wang brings 17 years of experience in financial journalism, corporate communications, and crisis and issues management, combined with strong knowledge and insights about China’s marketplace and business world. She has extensive and solid experience serving healthcare and financial clients. She has a special focus on developing TrailRunner International’s strategic sectors in the China market which includes pharmaceutical/healthcare/biotech, technology and new economy, IPOs, and capital markets.

Prior to joining TrailRunner International, Trudy led her own strategic communications firm, and she was previously a senior consultant at Ogilvy Public Relations, Shanghai. In her earlier career, she also worked for seven years as an investigative reporter at China’s most influential economics news journal, Caijing Magazine. Her reporting covered a broad spectrum of fields and topics including trade, investment, mergers and acquisitions, antitrust issues, intellectual property rights, and financial fraud. She is an often-published public columnist and guest speaker on China’s economy and media landscape for business delegations coming to China from all over the globe.

Trudy holds a master’s degree in East Asian Area Studies from the University of Southern California, and she also studied public relations at Boston University. In December 2015, she completed the Executive Program for Social Impact and Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania. Trudy also holds an International Certificate in Investor Relations (ICIR) granted by the UK Investor Relations Society. A Shanghai native, she speaks Mandarin as well as fluent English and Japanese.

Kathryn Fast

Kathryn is an Associate for TrailRunner International, based in Denver, Colorado. She works with clients across a broad range of industries, including technology, AI, entertainment, financial services, education, and more. Kathryn has more than six years of experience serving clients on matters of corporate communications, leadership changes, executive positioning, media relations, and special situations such as restructurings, M&A transactions, and IPOs. She also co-leads the firm’s intern program.

Kathryn joined TrailRunner International in 2019 as an Analyst in the Truckee, California office. Prior to joining TrailRunner International, she participated in the company’s summer internship program.

Kathryn graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Bachelor of Science in strategic communications. She also studied social entrepreneurship and innovation in Panama City. Outside the office, Kathryn pursues her love for the outdoors through hiking with her dog, Riley, spending time with her family and friends, and international travel.

Kelly Wallace

Kelly Wallace is Chief Media/Brand Officer for TrailRunner International, based in New York. She leads the firm’s work training C-suite executives for high-stakes media interviews and presentations as well as the firm’s branding and communications. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer and before that as Head of New York, working with a diverse group of clients on areas of corporate and executive reputation, special situations, crisis management, and influencer engagement.

Kelly is an award-winning journalist and communications leader, bringing more than 20 years of media and communications experience to TrailRunner International. Her distinguished career in communications includes print and broadcast television and leadership in the digital space. She served as a network television news correspondent covering The White House, the Middle East, and political campaigns for CNN; national news for CBS; and the State Department for Fox News. At CNN, she was part of the network’s Peabody and DuPont Award-winning team coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the South Asian tsunami disaster, respectively.

Kelly moved to iVillage, one of the first digital content and community platforms for women, to serve as executive director of digital video and the channel’s first-ever chief correspondent. In this role, she led the video team, served as iVillage’s spokeswoman and conducted high-profile content interviews, including with then-First Lady Michelle Obama. She received a Gracie Award as Outstanding Digital Correspondent.

Just prior to joining TrailRunner International, Kelly was a digital correspondent and editor-at-large for CNN (her third stint at the network), driving innovation around parenting and women’s content. She is a frequent moderator and speaker at events and high-profile panels for women.

Kelly graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in economics. She is a former member of Women in America, a professional development and mentoring program for executive women. She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Jim Wilkinson

Jim Wilkinson serves as Executive Chairman of TrailRunner International.

Prior to founding TrailRunner, Jim served as SVP, Head of International Corporate Affairs for Alibaba Group, the world’s largest online and mobile marketplace. At Alibaba Group, Jim played a key leadership role in the company’s historic IPO in 2014. He also designed and led Alibaba’s international communications strategy, and he built the company’s international corporate communications and government relations teams.

Prior to joining Alibaba Group, Jim served as Executive Vice President, Communications for PepsiCo, a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion. Jim joined PepsiCo from Brunswick Group, where he served in San Francisco as Managing Partner for International Business and Financial Strategy, providing strategic counsel on global corporate mandates spanning international operations, corporate and financial communications, corporate reputation, investor relations, crisis management, and litigation. Jim also worked for Brunswick Group in Texas, where he established and built the firm’s Dallas/Fort Worth office.

Prior to Brunswick Group, Jim served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson, serving as Paulson’s senior strategist and counselor, and working on matters of financial policy and crisis management. Prior to his work for the Treasury, Jim served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and worked with Rice in The White House at the National Security Council as Deputy National Security Advisor for Communications. From 2002-2003, Jim was Director of Strategic Communications for General Tommy R. Franks at U.S. Central Command, and from 2000-2001 served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications. Prior to working in the White House, Jim spent several years working in the U.S. Congress for House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Jim served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves, and also taught international communications at The Johns Hopkins University. Jim holds degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington (BBA, Finance) and The Johns Hopkins University (MA), and he is a graduate of the Yale University School of Management Global Executive Leadership Program. Jim is currently working on his MA in Biblical Studies and Theology at Wheaton College.

Jim serves as a national board member for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, on the Board of Trustees for The Women’s Sports Foundation, and on the Board of Directors for Headstrong – a national mental health treatment practice of choice for our nation’s military, veterans, and their family members.

Jim is an endurance sports enthusiast and enjoys trail running, playing chess, snowboarding, and playing acoustic guitar. Jim also has a love of aviation and is a commercially rated pilot.

Andy Wambsganss

Andy is a recognized legal expert and international leader with strong relationships in key markets around the world, in Washington, D.C., and at state and local levels throughout the United States.

Andy has extensive legal advisory experience, including serving as counsel for several domestic and international companies. As a senior partner with a leading Texas-based law firm, he has also handled a wide array of domestic and international business litigation matters, including complex financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, oil and gas transactions, and real estate matters. Andy also has extensive experience in government relations, regulatory and public law issues, and labor/employment disputes.

During his career Mr. Wambsganss has also worked in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government in Washington, D.C. and in Texas. He has served as Mayor of Southlake, Texas, and as a judge and in other elected and appointed positions over the past two decades. Mr. Wambsganss worked in Washington, D.C. in the 1980’s for U.S. Congressman Dick Armey (R-TX) prior to joining the Second Court of Appeals of Texas in 1991 as a briefing attorney. Following completion of his judicial clerkship with the Court, Mr. Wambsganss joined Brown & Thompson, PC.

EDUCATION

University of Texas–Arlington (B.A.)
University of Texas–Austin (J.D.)

PROFESSIONAL ADMISSIONS

Member, State Bar of Texas
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of International Trade
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
United States District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas
Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas

ACTIVITIES

Member, Tarrant County Bar Foundation
Member, Northeast Leadership Forum
Chairman, Metroport Cities Fellowship
Chairman, AIR Ministries

EXPERIENCE

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Legal Counsel Division
Mayor, Southlake, Texas
Mayor Pro Tem, Southlake, Texas
City Council, Southlake, Texas
Judge, Southlake, Texas
President, Southlake Crime Control & Prevention District
Ripon Scholar, Washington D.C.
Second Court of Appeals, Texas

Brendan Lahiff

Brendan Lahiff is a Director at TrailRunner International, focusing on financial communications for global clients in finance, manufacturing, fintech, and other sectors. Brendan brings over 20 years of experience spanning investor relations and financial communications, corporate communications, securities regulation compliance, market surveillance and global custody/corporate actions.

Prior to TrailRunner International, Brendan spent eight years performing the investor relations functions for semiconductor companies, co-managing the investor relations function for SanDisk Corp., a Western Digital Corporation company, and leading the investor relations function for Intersil Corporation, a Renesas Electronics Corporation company. Prior to working with semiconductor companies, Brendan spent eight years at communications agencies including Financial Dynamics, an FTI Consulting firm Inc. company and Lippert / Heilshorn and Associates Inc., servicing a wide variety of clients and market capitalizations across the technology and telecommunications, consumer, healthcare and life sciences, industrial and energy, and financial services industries. Brendan began his career at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., conducting global custody and corporate actions.

Brendan holds degrees from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania (BS, Finance and Minors in Economics and English) and the University of San Francisco (MBA). He lives in Colorado with his wife Lorinda and daughter Keira, and enjoys spending time outdoors with his family snowboarding, mountain biking, running and hiking.

Matthieu Bao

Matthieu Bao serves as Finance Manager at TrailRunner International’s Shanghai office.

Matthieu has spent more than 11 years in accounting and taxation in China. Prior to joining TrailRunner, Matthieu managed accounting and human resource communications for T&G Global, including supervising PWC accounting reports and monthly tax declarations, as well as helping implement various other systems there.

Before joining T&G Global, Matthieu served as Accounting and HR Manager for Deret Logistique Asie, where he implemented communications programs for setting up new branches, which involved taxation policy matters with Mazars.

Matthieu holds a degree from China University of Mining and Technology (BA, Accounting), and his hobbies include jogging, reading, and being active outdoors.

Bryan Brush

Bryan is an Analyst based in TrailRunner International’s New York office.

Prior to becoming an Analyst, Bryan completed the firm’s internship program. Before that, he interned for Royal Caribbean International, the global cruise line, and the London Lions, a professional basketball team in London, England.

Bryan graduated from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science in public relations. During his time at Syracuse, he wrote for the sports section of The Daily Orange, the student newspaper. He also served as an Account Supervisor at Hill Communications, the student-run public relations firm.

In his free time, Bryan enjoys playing tennis, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Yuanyuan Yu

Yuanyuan serves as a HR Manager at TrailRunner International’s Shanghai office.

She plays a central role in supporting the office’s operations, leading recruitment, personnel placement, benefits, and compliance.
Prior to joining TrailRunner, Yuanyuan worked as a senior consultant for an educational consulting company. Her responsibilities included offering strategic advice and support services to Chinese students and working with US universities on placement. During her three-year tenure, she established an efficient human resource system at the company. Previously, Yuanyuan worked at Siemens, liaising with personnel on organizational behavior and career development.

She graduated from the University of Oregon majoring in business administration with a concentration in finance. In her free time Yuanyuan enjoys traveling with her family and friends.

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