Join Keith E. Gottfried, Founder and CEO of Gottfried Shareholder Advisory LLC, as he leads an expert panel of thought leaders and advisers representing the perspectives of both issuers and investors. The panel will share timely insights into what’s shaping the 2026 proxy season, including evolving shareholder activism preparedness and response strategies, the impact of the SEC’s new approach to shareholder proposals, and how shareholder engagement dynamics continue to shift in response to the 2025 changes in SEC guidance limiting engagement by passive investors.

The discussion will explore:

• The outlook for shareholder activism in 2026

• How the activist playbook is evolving compared to prior years

• How companies are adapting their preparedness and response strategies as activism becomes more sophisticated

• How the SEC’s 2025 guidance limiting engagement by passive investors has impacted shareholder engagement and investor communications

• Which shareholder proposal issues are expected to dominate this year

• How the change in the SEC’s approach to shareholder proposals is impacting the shareholder proposals that are submitted and expected to come to a vote

• The impact of changes in proxy advisory firm voting policies

• How institutional investors are approaching ESG -related proposals in a more complex regulatory and political environment

Moderator:

Keith E. Gottfried
Founder & CEO, Gottfried Shareholder Advisory, LLC

Keith Gottfried is the CEO of Gottfried Shareholder Advisory LLC, a strategic advisory firm focused on advising public companies, the C-suite, and boards of directors on shareholder activism preparedness and defense.  Keith is a highly experienced shareholder activism advisor. Throughout a career that spans over 30 years, working at some of the country’s most prominent firms, Keith has advised numerous public companies in connection with high-profile shareholder activism campaigns. Before founding his firm in 2021, Keith led the shareholder activism defense practice at a large global law firm. 

Keith's work as a shareholder activism defense advisor has been recognized on numerous occasions. In both 2018 and 2019, Keith was named by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) to its list of Directorship 100 honorees, which recognizes the most influential people in the boardroom community, including directors, corporate governance experts, regulators, and advisors. Keith publishes and presents regularly and has been frequently quoted by the national business and news media, on shareholder activism trends and developments. Keith has also been a frequent contributor to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance on shareholder activism developments. Keith holds an M.B.A., with high honors, from Boston University's Questrom School of Business, a J.D., cum laude, from Boston University's School of Law, where he was an Edward F. Hennessey Distinguished Scholar of Law, and a G. Joseph Tauro Scholar of Law, and a B.S from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Panelists:

Aneliya Crawford
Chief Partnerships Officer & Shareholder Advisory Global Practice Lead, Sodali & Co

Aneliya Crawford joined Sodali & Co in January 2026 as Chief Partnerships Officer & Shareholder Advisory Global Practice Lead. She is an accomplished executive with almost 20 years of experience as an M&A and governance advisor in the public and private markets. Aneliya is a recognized leader in shareholder activism, M&A, and corporate governance, with a distinctive blend of legal and banking expertise across premier global institutions.   

Most recently, Aneliya served as the Head of Corporate Shareholder Advisory, Americas at UBS.  Prior to that, she was Global Head of Activism and Defense at UBS, where she built out the investment bank’s activism defense practice around the globe and advised some of the world’s largest corporations.  She led a senior team of Managing Directors and Executive Directors, advising clients on complex M&A, activism, ESG, and capital markets transactions and driving strategic client engagements across borders.  

Prior to UBS, Aneliya was an equity partner in the M&A group of Schulte, Roth & Zabel (now MCDermott Will and Schulte), co-leading one of the premier shareholder activism groups in private law, and previously a partner at Olshan Frome Wolosky, representing clients in hundreds of activist proxy contests and hostile takeovers for some of the world's most prominent investors. Her career is marked by hands-on leadership, commercial acumen, and a collaborative approach.  

Aneliya earned dual degrees in business and political science in Bulgaria, completed her law degree in New York, and a post-graduate business degree in Cambridge, MA. Aneliya brings a proven track record of building and scaling advisory businesses, leading high-performing teams, and delivering integrated solutions to blue-chip clients globally. 

Liz M.Graffeo
Partner, Reed Smith

Liz focuses her practice on capital markets transactions, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions. She advises public companies and underwriters on a broad range of transactions, including initial public offerings, follow-on equity and debt offerings, private placements, spin-offs, and convertible note transactions. Liz regularly counsels listed companies on SEC reporting and disclosure obligations, corporate governance and compliance matters, and annual meeting and proxy-related issues, including shareholder proposals and executive compensation disclosures. She also represents companies and boards of directors in connection with mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and strategic investments.

Garrett Muzikowski
Managing Director, M&A, Activism & Governance practice, FTI Consulting

Garrett Muzikowski is a Managing Director for the M&A, Activism & Governance practice in FTI Consulting’s Strategic Communications segment. Mr. Muzikowski supports companies in the development of strategies to secure shareholder support in both contested and uncontested situations. 

Mr. Muzikowski advises clients preparing for shareholder activism and when navigating live activism situations, ranging from private engagements to proxy fights and contested M&A. He has advised companies when engaging with Elliott Management, Starboard Value, Jana Partners, Engaged Capital, Legion Partners, Ananym Capital and Land & Buildings, among other activist funds. 

Mr. Muzikowski also counsels companies on corporate governance matters. With a distinct understanding of how to appeal to investors’ internal voting policies, he partners with clients to draft compelling proxy statements and develop effective shareholder engagement strategies. During his career, he has helped clients secure favorable outcomes on hundreds of proposals, including director elections, Say on Pay proposals, equity plans and environmental or social shareholder proposals.  

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Muzikowski worked at the world’s leading proxy advisor, Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”), on the Custom Research Team. While at ISS, he helped some of the world’s largest institutional investors — such as State Street, BlackRock, Vanguard and Fidelity — develop and implement their proxy voting guidelines. In this role, he gained a keen understanding of how investors update their policies and when investors may “override” their voting policies based upon engagement with a company and the company’s proxy disclosures.

Mr. Muzikowski received his B.S. in Mathematics and Economics from American University in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Society for Corporate Governance and is a CFA Charterholder and CAIA Charterholder.

Amy I. Pandit
Partner, Jones Day

Amy Pandit represents publicly traded corporations and counsels clients on corporate governance, executive compensation, and in federal securities laws, stock exchange, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and Dodd-Frank Act compliance matters. She recommends courses of action for companies navigating the increasingly complex regulatory environment, designs and develops executive compensation and other incentive programs for publicly traded companies, and advises on the legal implications and potential public implications of those programs as well as on shareholder engagement and proposal matters. Amy has been recognized by BTI as an "all-star" for superior client service and as an Acritas "Star Lawyer."

Amy also works closely with companies' boards of directors and executive management teams, engaging them on critical legal and compliance matters and advising on corporate governance issues and disclosure matters most relevant to their business, shareholders, and other stakeholders.

Amy is a board member of The Three Rivers Chapter of the National Association for Corporate Directors. She frequently writes and presents on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), executive compensation, corporate governance, and shareholder proposal topics.

Ron Schneider
Director, Corporate Governance Service, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN)

He is responsible for providing thought leadership on emerging corporate governance, proxy, sustainability and other disclosure issues. Over the past four decades, Ron has advised and assisted senior management, the C-suite and boards of public companies of all sizes, industries and stages of growth to establish effective investor engagement programs, facing investor activism, and with challenging proxy solicitations involving corporate governance, compensation and control issues.

During his career, he has managed more than 1,600 proxy solicitations, 200 tender or exchange offers and 30 proxy contests, with his proxy fight clients succeeding in over 70% of such situations.

Ron’s prior experience includes three years at investor relations agency The Financial Relations Board (FRB), three years at AST Phoenix Advisors and nine years at BNY Mellon, providing thought leadership on regulatory changes and emerging best practices.

Earlier in his career, Ron held increasingly senior positions at major proxy solicitation firms Morrow & Company, D.F. King and Georgeson & Company, where he served on its firstBoard of Directors. Ron earned a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University.