{"id":4934,"date":"2025-10-15T19:30:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/?p=4934"},"modified":"2025-10-15T19:30:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T19:30:34","slug":"courtney-geduldig-a-stronger-bolder-voice-in-public-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/courtney-geduldig-a-stronger-bolder-voice-in-public-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Courtney Geduldig: A Stronger, Bolder Voice in Public Affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Adam Stone<\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"<\/p>

National Grid helps ensure gas and electricity reach 20 million homes and businesses in New York and Massachusetts. <\/span>As chief<\/span> corporate affairs officer, <\/span>Courtney Geduldig, J.D. \u201900<\/span><\/b>, helps ensure that National Grid itself is seen and understood.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Geduldig focuses on reputation and risk management at the company, which is based in the United Kingdom and is one of the world\u2019s largest publicly listed utilities. <\/span>\u201cThe government affairs and public affairs and policy teams report to me,\u201d she says. Also under her umbrella are aspects of communications, stakeholder management, community engagement, and social impact.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s everything that encompasses our external-facing presence as an organization,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

For legal professionals working in \u201ccorporate affairs,\u201d the definition of the role has evolved in recent years. Corporations used to view many of these public-facing functions as cost centers, an expense that went toward risk mitigation. Now that\u2019s changing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Today, corporate affairs work increasingly is seen as \u201cproactive reputation management, external-facing capabilities that could actually add value to a company,\u201d <\/span>Geduldig<\/span> says. \u201cIt\u2019s become very clear that how an organization shows up in the external environment can have a bottom-line impact.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In today\u2019s world, \u201cthe brand matters,\u201d she says, and as a corporate affairs professional, \u201cyou can quantify that: How you engage from an inclusivity standpoint and a social impact standpoint. That can drive investors, can drive talent.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Hence <\/span>Geduldig<\/span>\u2019s wide-range portfolio: Communications and social impact. \u201cWho are we? Why do we do what we do? Putting all of those functions together reflects the integrated nature of all those things,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This is high-profile work, in that it drives outward-facing impacts. <\/span>Geduldig works behind the scenes to craft that public perception. <\/span>\u201cIn corporate affairs, we make sure that the people who are front-facing have all the tools they need, that they\u2019re operating in the environment that\u2019s most favorable, to get the outcome that we want,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Her early career work helped prep her for the role. She was a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and served as chief financial counsel to U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). \u201cAs a senior government official, I was often the person behind the person, making sure that a cabinet secretary or a senator could be successful,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Her present work is much the same. \u201cWe\u2019re spending our days talking to governors, members of Congress, members of the administration, to condition the environment for the business and the company to be successful,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Those who know<\/span> Geduldig say she\u2019s well-suited for such a role.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cShe\u2019s exceptional at building great teams,\u201d says <\/span>Darlene Bright, J.D. \u201902<\/span><\/b>, who is global head of government affairs and public policy at S&P Global and was a co-worker of Geduldig\u2019s. \u201cShe has a knack for finding talent, and for challenging members of her team to stretch beyond their traditional skill sets.\u202fShe is extremely dedicated and loyal, and she is constantly keeping up with new innovations.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

That\u2019s not to say that this is easy. Public-facing work comes with high stakes. \u201cGetting it wrong can go very badly,\u201d<\/span> Geduldig says. On the upside, she adds, <\/span>\u201cGetting it right can have a huge impact.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The biggest challenge often comes in relation to others within her own organization, who may only see the glamour side of the job. \u201cEverybody thinks it\u2019s fun. They want to go talk to members of Congress, they want to spend time with ambassadors and senior officials,\u201d she says. \u201cBut there really is an art to it, a sequencing of events \u2014 and language is really important, precise wording for things.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

She works hard to help her colleagues understand \u201cthat what we are doing is actually trying to protect them, to set them up for success,\u201d she says. And outside her daily work, she helps others to convey that message, as chair the of executive committee of the Public Affairs Council, the nation\u2019s leading professional organization for the public affairs community. \u201cI enjoy giving that back, helping the profession shift, helping my peers to address best practices and do their jobs better.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

While the current high-level pivot from sustainability back to fossil fuels complicates the picture, <\/span>Geduldig says the bigger issue for her company right now is just in meeting the ever-growing demand for reliable energy. <\/span>\u201cWe do have climate targets we have to meet, but our primary reason for existing is to provide that energy to our customers when they need it, how they need it, and at an affordable rate,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But Geduldig has navigated change before. \u201cI was with S&P <\/span>right after the financial crisis,\u201d she says. If anything, she finds these market upsets \u201can interesting challenge.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Her UBalt Law experience grounded her in the skills that she needs to meet that challenge. \u201cUBalt Law teaches you the critical thinking skills,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s about asking that next question. It\u2019s not the first question you ask, it\u2019s the next two and three: Planning out what would happen next.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In law school, that comes through in the way students evaluate case law and learn to solve problems. \u201cThose skills from law school are invaluable,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd at UBalt Law in particular, you\u2019re being taught by actual professionals. The emphasis on internships and actual working experience makes a real difference.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Adam Stone <\/em><\/strong>is a writer based in Annapolis.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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By Adam Stone National Grid helps ensure gas and electricity reach 20 million homes and businesses in New York and Massachusetts. As chief corporate affairs officer, Courtney Geduldig, J.D. \u201900, helps ensure that National Grid itself is seen and understood. Geduldig focuses on reputation and risk management at the company, which is based in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3596,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4934"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4934"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5297,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4934\/revisions\/5297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}