Managing Director - TrailRunner International

Amanda Bush

Amanda Bush is a Managing Director for TrailRunner International based in Austin, Texas. A seasoned attorney and litigator who also serves as Of Counsel to the Texas law firm Jackson Walker, Amanda has spent her career advising clients facing complex legal matters, including commercial litigation, intellectual property, media and First Amendment.

A former litigation partner at Jackson Walker, Amanda is also a Managing Partner at Pine Cove Capital, a Texas-based strategic advisory firm. She serves on the Board of Directors for Hanwha Solutions, a multinational energy services, petrochemical, and real estate development company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and on the Board of Directors for Backpack Group, a Miami data solutions provider serving the operators of large buildings.

Amanda was named the 2016 National Woman of the Year by The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for raising more than $490,000 in a 10-week fundraising campaign, a national record at the time. Amanda also has served on the Host Committee for the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play golf tournament, on the Advance Team of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and on The Chancellor’s Council for the University of Texas System. She also co-chaired the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy’s Dallas/Fort Worth’s Celebration of Reading from 2003-2014, an event that raised over $1 million annually.

Amanda has been named a “Rising Star” by Thomson Reuters (2007-2014) and a “Top Attorney” by Fort Worth, Texas magazine. In 2012, Amanda was named to the Fort Worth Business Press’s “40 Under 40” list. In addition to her legal, advisory, and charitable work, she has participated in Congressional-led business delegations to international markets including Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Amanda graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Texas, and she received her law degree from The University of Texas School of Law.

Amanda lives in Austin with her husband and their two sons.

Brianne Nurick

Brianne Nurick is a Managing Director and Head of the New York office for TrailRunner International bringing more than two decades of issues management, corporate reputation, and crisis communications experience in the political, government and corporate sectors. As a trusted advisor to the C-suite, Brianne has counseled clients in myriad industries on high stakes issues such as employee misconduct and activism, societal issues, corporate restructuring, executive transitions, high-profile litigation, legislative and regulatory disputes, NGO activism, quality assurance, permitting and siting, industrial accidents, and data breaches.

Prior to joining TrailRunner, Brianne spent 15 years at BCW Global where she led some of the firm’s most complex reputation management engagements and served in a variety of leadership roles including Executive Vice President, Public Affairs and Crisis Practice Lead for New York. Before BCW, Brianne served in the Administration of President George W. Bush at the U.S. Department of Energy and worked on the 2000 campaign for then U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan.

Brianne is a graduate of the George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in business administration. She spends her free time watching Detroit and Philadelphia sports and exploring the Catskill Mountains with her husband Ned and dog Marvin.

Scott Sonju

Scott Sonju is a Managing Director based in Dallas who advises the firm’s sports industry clients on a wide range of matters across corporate strategy, finance, operations, communications, and public/private partnerships. Prior to joining TRI, Scott was President of SNS Consulting and for five years was President of Neltex Sports, an investment and advisory consortium that advises, develops, and owns and/or operates sports-related businesses. During that time, Scott forged a historic partnership with the China Baseball Association, launched a professional rugby club, advised buyers and sellers of sports assets, and served as a senior advisor to Major League Cricket.

For more than a decade, Scott was President and co-owner of the Frisco RoughRiders affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers, where he was named Texas Executive of the Year. During Scott’s tenure, the RoughRiders led its league in attendance and revenue and received myriad industry and community awards. Scott began his career with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks organization.

Scott is active in the community and has served on multiple civic and charitable boards. He has been recognized twice by the Dallas Business Journal as one of the city’s “40 Under 40.”

Scott earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Texas A&M University and his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He is an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University, where he teaches a master’s-level sports sponsorship course. Scott loves to read, hike, travel, write, and teach. He and his wife Amy have four children and make their home in North Texas.

Teresa Henderson

Teresa Henderson is a Managing Director for TrailRunner International based in Texas, drawing on more than 35 years’ experience as a communications strategist. Teresa specializes in creating platforms and initiatives to address complex issues and deliver business results. For much of her career, she has focused on reputation management in the natural resources and industrial space. Her clients have included leading organizations in the E&P, energy technology and services, renewable power, chemical, natural gas, pipeline and terminal, and commercial shipping port sub-sectors. She has also worked extensively in CPG manufacturing, providing change management communications and issues and crisis management.

Teresa routinely advises on strategic brand awareness, sustainability programs and goals, social justice, executive thought leadership, board governance, and other critical matters that move and impact stakeholders. She has managed numerous high-stakes situations including hazardous material accidents, workplace incidents resulting in loss of life, youth protection matters and sexual misconduct allegations, product recalls, foodborne illnesses, communications for Presidential cabinet appointments, C-suite transitions and other sensitive leadership issues, NGO activism, plant and location closures, and right of way/permitting.

Before joining TrailRunner, Teresa was Vice Chair, Client Strategy at BCW (formerly Burson-Marsteller). Her prior roles at BCW include Southwest Market Leader and Managing Director in the Corporate and Financial Practice, where she led the Dallas market and team, President of the Midwest/Southeast Region and Chief Operating Officer for North America.

Previously, Teresa held senior leadership position at Edelman, Ketchum, and Pierpont Communications, overseeing client campaigns and regional growth at all three firms.

Teresa began her career as a copywriter at Runner’s World magazine. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Old Dominion University and is a frequent speaker on the art and science of communications. A lifelong Texan and avid traveler, Teresa and her husband live on the South Texas Coast.

Serena Saitto

Serena Saitto is a Managing Director based in New York for TrailRunner International where she brings more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications and financial journalism to counsel clients in financial communications, crisis communications and special situations such as M&A, IPOs, leveraged buyouts and corporate activism.

Most recently, Serena was a Senior Vice President at Edelman Smithfield, where she advised public and private companies on financial communications and special situations. Before Edelman Smithfield, Serena worked for more than 15 years as an award-winning financial journalist, reporting from Europe, Latin America and the U.S. for leading financial publications including Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. She won a Sabew (Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing) award as part of a Bloomberg team for best in enterprise reporting on the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Her coverage for Bloomberg of the 2008 financial crisis received a “Best in Business Reporting” award from the Society of Silurians, one of the oldest press clubs in the country. At Bloomberg, she led coverage of M&A and IPOs in the Americas as a Senior Reporter. As a Senior Tech Reporter, she also covered venture capital and VC-backed startups. In these positions, she often contributed to Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg TV. She also moderated Bloomberg conferences globally.

Before joining Bloomberg, Serena was a correspondent for Dow Jones Newswires in Buenos Aires and Milan contributing to The Wall Street Journal and CNBC. Her most recent journalism post was working as a reporter in San Francisco covering Silicon Valley for The Information.

Serena holds a Master of Science in political economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor of Science in political sciences from La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

A dual citizen of Italy and the U.S., Serena speaks English, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. She lives in Manhattan, and loves traveling and spending time outdoors, surfing and skiing.

Seth Hand

Seth Hand is a Managing Director for TrailRunner International and head of the firm’s Middle East business. He brings more than 20 years of experience, 15 of those years in the Gulf region, providing strategic counsel and reputation management to companies, CEOs, and senior government ministers. In addition to his work in the Middle East, Seth also has extensive experience across Sub-Saharan Africa and has successfully delivered projects in Angola, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Rwanda.

Seth joined TrailRunner from Edelman Middle East where he served as Managing Director for the Middle East and led the regional corporate reputation practice. Before Edelman, Seth held other senior leadership roles in the Gulf region, including at Finsbury as the Regional Managing Director for the Middle East, Grayling as the Director for New Market Development, and H+K Strategies as an Account Director.

A native of Scotland, Seth graduated from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in corporate communication. He has a 12-year-old son and a French Bulldog called Zico. Away from work, Seth likes to relax by playing guitar, working out at the boxing gym, and traveling.

Lauren DiGeronimo

Lauren DiGeronimo is a Managing Director and Head of the Truckee office for TrailRunner International. She advises a range of clients on mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, senior management changes, restructurings, litigation support and crisis situations, as well as ongoing corporate positioning and executive visibility programs.

Bringing 20 years of experience to her work at TrailRunner, Lauren has helped the firm’s clients navigate regulatory issues, global expansions, data privacy concerns and more. She has represented companies and organizations in the tech sector, specifically in the dynamic world of artificial intelligence, as well as in health care, financial services, consumer goods, sports and nonprofit.

Prior to joining TrailRunner, Lauren managed corporate and consumer communications for Citizens Financial Group, including helping to successfully execute the bank’s initial public offering (the largest bank IPO in U.S. history). She also served clients such as Covidien (Medtronic), McDonald’s Corp., Wyndham and many other companies and organizations in roles at Morrissey & Company Communications in Boston, Nuffer, Smith, Tucker Public Relations in San Diego and Middleton & Gendron in New York.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BA in journalism and psychology, Lauren spends her free time skiing, hiking and camping with her husband and two sons.

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’s strategic sectors in the China market which includes pharmaceutical/healthcare/biotech, technology and new economy, IPOs and capital markets.

Prior to joining TrailRunner, 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.

Johanna Hoopes

Johanna is a seasoned global communicator with 15 years of experience in international public affairs, crisis communications, brand building and localization, stakeholder engagement and storytelling for diverse audiences across Asia and Latin America.

Before joining TrailRunner Johanna spent a decade building Dragon Media, a Shanghai-based public relations and event management firm serving Fortune 500 companies and startups entering the Chinese market. Prior to founding Dragon Media, Johanna worked as a journalist for Forbes China and as a senior editor at City Weekend Shanghai, covering business, travel, technology, sports, and real estate. She also worked as a business director at Jack Morton Worldwide, creating brand experiences for some of the world’s most iconic companies in the automotive, sports and technology sectors. Johanna has an extensive network throughout APAC, having produced major events, press conferences, brand launches and executive tours for CEOs, professional athletes and celebrities.

Prior to her role at Jack Morton Worldwide Johanna worked in economic development and public-private partnerships for AED, a USAID contractor based in Washington DC, and collaborated closely with ministries of education and multinational companies operating in Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Equatorial Guinea, designing large-scale corporate responsibility programs including curriculum development, teacher training and online learning initiatives. She also completed consultancy work on corporate social responsibility and social development indices for the World Bank.

Johanna received her International MBA from the Moore School at the University of South Carolina where she completed an exchange year at Fudan University in Shanghai. She received her BA in international relations and economics with minors in Spanish and anthropology from Boston University. She was a Startingbloc Fellow and winner of the 2008 Zipcar Social Innovation Competition. Johanna is proficient in Mandarin, Spanish and French.

Sarah Grubbs

Sarah Grubbs is a Managing Director for TrailRunner International and head of the firm’s Nashville office. She advises clients on corporate positioning, international strategy and expansion (APAC and LatAm), crisis preparedness and response, reputation and change management, and high-stakes situations such as IPOs, M&A transactions, regulatory issues, and executive leadership changes. Sarah works with a wide range of clients, including large international conglomerates, Fortune 500 companies, newly public companies, and start-ups.

Before joining TrailRunner, Sarah worked on the Public Affairs and Crisis team at global communications firm Burson Cohn & Wolfe (formerly Burson-Marsteller). While there, Sarah developed and executed award-winning communications strategies for Fortune 500 companies and NGOs facing issues and crises, including financial investigations, litigation, regulatory action, misconduct allegations, data breaches, and activist campaigns.

Sarah began her career in journalism, where she worked as a news writer for NBC San Diego, covering national and local stories. Before that, Sarah was a member of the NBC San Diego Investigative Reporting Team.

Sarah graduated summa cum laude from the University of San Diego (BBA, Marketing; minor, Communication Studies).