THE OFFICE OF

Marshall Comins

Expertise: Strategic Consulting, Crisis Management, International Advocacy, Troubleshooting, Research, Central and Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa

Profile

Marshall Comins is a senior advisor, specializing in strategic consulting, international advocacy, crisis management and complex issue resolution.

Marshall works with clients to resolve the most complex issues, advance their interests and build the right arguments before the public. He has a track record of executing integrated programs for clients that add value to their agenda. He is a specialist in the countries of the former Soviet Union, with in-depth experience operating across Africa — specifically Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa

Qualifications

Education

– MA, International Relations (Concentration in Strategic Studies) and International Economics, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University

Key Appointments, Affiliations and Activities: Past [-] and Present [+]

– Special Advisor for Europe and International Strategy, The Office of the Head of State (MENA)

– Senior Advisor for International Affairs, Senator, Former Governor and Presidential Candidate, Forbes-Listed Entrepreneur, West Africa

+ Crisis Management and Media Strategy Advisor, Forbes-Listed Entrepreneur, with Diversified Asset Portfolio in Oil and Gas, Mining, Healthcare and Entertainment

– Special Advisor for Eurasia and East Asia, Forbes-Listed Entrepreneur in Nigeria, with Global Interests Spanning Telecommunications, Oil and Gas and Retail

– Senior Advisor for Strategy, Ambassador of Zimbabwe

– Special Advisor for International Strategy, Former Head of State in CEE Country

+ Senior Advisor for International Affairs, Global Petroleum Group (Grenada)

+ Founder and CEO, Global Executive Outcomes Group Limited (UAE)

– Partner and Executive Vice President of Global Affairs, Stone Strategic Solutions

– Member, Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative (EASI) Next Generation Leaders Network, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

+ Vice President, Strategic Consulting, Romanian-American Business Council

+ Special Advisor to East African Member of Parliament and Sport Federation President

– Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Russian Softball Federation, and, Executive Director of Global Communications, Romanian Baseball Federation

– Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Washington East West Political Strategies

Case Studies

  • Non-Profile Project – InternationalMarshall co-organized in a Balkan country the publication of the local-language edition of the memoirs, “A State of Mind: Faith and the CIA,” by former CIA officer Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, and events surrounding their publication. The memoirs address Mr. Mowatt-Larssen’s life and work in the CIA and his journey of faith. During his visit to the country, Mr. Mowatt-Larssen partook in high-level events and received an honorary doctorate for his service during the Cold War from an acclaimed national university.
  • Political & Thematic Campaigns – WorldwideMarshall served as a senior advisor to one of the world’s foremost international electoral campaign managers and political consultants for more than five years. The work spanned the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe. Marshall provided technical, strategic communications and digital insight on campaigns and initiatives, and also led special projects.
  • U.S. Strategic Advocacy Campaign – The BalkansMarshall served as an advisor on a project to garner support for an adamantly pro-American former public official amid a multiyear, politically motivated attack against him, which was initiated largely as a result of his historically unprecedented crackdown on illegal narcotics trafficking while in office. The project included high-level meetings with and outreach to the State Department, Department of Defense, Congress, and the Intelligence Community.
  • Political & Sports Campaign – Eastern EuropeMarshall frequently seeks out non-profile projects. One such initiative included managing the career transition of a UFC legend and former American mixed-martial-artist from the ring to politics in an Eastern European country. The client became an integral part of the country’s media and political scene and more visible than any foreigner in domestic politics since its independence in 1991, leading processions with prominent figures in the nation’s capital and rising to the status of a national superstar. The campaign was covered extensively by national, regional and international media.
  • Political, Business & Crisis Management Campaign – Sub-Saharan AfricaAs part of a crisis management program to help a former politician and one of Africa’s most successful businesspersons safeguard his interests amid a politically motivated campaign against him, Marshall co-led a regional and international advocacy campaign that included media and government affairs, business development and strategic partnership-building activities. The work mobilized stakeholders and led to alliances with leading brands, helping the client gain leverage to counter opposing forces. Among the strategic partnerships organized for the client, who owns a media conglomerate — was a collaborative project with The International New York Times, its first-ever in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Crisis Management Campaign – EUMarshall co-led an EU crisis management program to assist an acclaimed entrepreneur whose business was seized in an armed raid by politically backed competing forces in his geography of operation. The advocacy program included national and international government affairs and strategic comms activities, collaboration with legal teams, and the mobilization of targeted stakeholders.
  • Energy Sector – InternationalMarshall’s experience in the energy industry is significant. He presently serves as a senior advisor for international affairs to the owner and CEO of Global Petroleum Group (GPG), a company implementing offshore oil and gas projects in the Caribbean. His energy industry experience also includes executing a public strategy campaign for the first large-scale waste-oil refinery project in an Eastern European country, working on an ad hoc basis with a substantial private natural gas company in the region, and assisting Eurasian diversified energy giants in developing national, regional, and global communications strategies.
  • Crisis Management Campaign – Central EuropeMarshall consulted a major telecom company amid highly publicized, politically motivated accusations against its CEO and board of directors. The advocacy program included crisis management, strategic communications and government relations activities, as well as interfacing with legal teams. It also included a corporate image campaign centering on an advertisement that became the most viewed and viral in the company’s history, tallying more than 1 million views in a matter of days. The program played an integral role in the positive resolution of the crisis situation.
  • Investor Relations Campaign – Eastern EuropeMarshall managed an international communications and investor relations campaign for a leading young female entrepreneur in Eastern Europe. The campaign resulted in extensive global media coverage for her and her company and played a crucial role in her securing a multimillion investment from a prominent international investment vehicle. It also included business development and strategic partnership-building activities, such as meetings with the CEO of Tesco and other major corporations, and engaging influencers such as rock legend Bryan Adams.
  • Political, Business & Sports Campaigns – Central EuropeMarshall opened, managed and successfully exited a public affairs firm in Central Europe, which managed and/or advised national and EU parliamentary and presidential campaigns in the late 2010s.
  • Media Projects – InternationalMarshall worked as an editor with, owned and/or managed, and consulted an array of media in Eastern Europe in four languages. He also published a city newspaper in Poland, which he later sold, and a cultural magazine in Ukraine. Marshall is the publisher of Billionaires.Africa — the world’s premier source of news and actionable intelligence on African billionaires and UHNWIs.
  • Corporate & Sovereign Research — InternationalMarshall has in the past on an ad hoc basis assisted corporate and sovereign clients from around the world to conduct strategic research into custom subject matters, economic issues such as market competitiveness and the fairness of the playing field, and a range of other topics and circumstances pertinent to the given client’s commercial, sociocultural, and/or political interests. 

Client Locations

Media Coverage

Contact

  • Brussels, Belgium
  • Berlin, Germany
  • Central & Eastern Europe