Leadership

Michael Young 

Founder & CEO

Michael founded Actual as a leading creative, brand-building agency that helps clients solve their most pressing communications and marketing challenges. Michael brings a global business perspective and deep expertise across a range of post-industrial technologies, including: cloud, SaaS, fintech, 3D printing, IOT, and artificial intelligence.

Prior to starting Actual Agency, Michael spent 20 years in leadership roles at independent and global agencies, including Access and Ketchum. His area of expertise is integrated communications (paid, earned, shared, owned) for global technology, b2b, and corporate brands.

Michael hosts the Purpose, Inc. podcast where he talks to industry leaders about corporate purpose and stakeholder capitalism. Listen to the podcast.

Michael is a partner at Actual’s parent, Millwright Holdings. Michael is a graduate of the University of London where he earned a BSc. (2:1, Hons) in International Relations.

Kate Corcoran Adorno 

Executive Vice President

Kate is an inveterate and consummate public relations professional who excels at collaborating with clients to manage successful media relations, executive visibility and thought leadership outcomes. Kate has worked with Actual principals for nearly ten years. She has managed client engagements including EMC, Neustar, Philips, Pure Storage and MongoDB. At Actual she oversees the Celestica, 3D Systems, Techstars, and 7 Park Data relationships.

Christine DeJoy

Vice President

Passionate about today’s ever-evolving media landscape, Christine is a seasoned public relations and communications professional with over 19 years of experience. As Vice President of Actual Agency, Christine manages a broad range of communications matters for clients and is committed to assembling and managing alliances to meet communications and public relations objectives. Her client experience spans broadcast (NBC, CBS), digital media (Fremantle, Smiletime), and fintech (BMO.) Christine holds a B.A. in Telecommunications from Ball State University and an Entertainment Business Management degree from Vancouver Film School (VFS.)

Andrew Ryan 

Director, Content Strategy

Andy’s B2B writing skills are unparalleled and his ability to take a complex B2B value proposition and turn it into a pithy, compelling blog post or byline helps distinguish our client executives as thought leaders with a smart POV. Andy is a triple threat: he also possesses an uncanny ability to craft a trend or market-facing pitch that elevates our client out of the product-only mindset and gets them into meaningful coverage that decision-makers find most valuable. He currently handles writing for Celestica, Techstars, 7Park Data and Clarizen. 

Katherine Benfield

Account Director

Katherine is a B2B public relations professional with experience in enterprise and small business cloud and SaaS technology. Her expertise spans managing executive visibility platforms, developing thought leadership content, and leading strategic communications programs. Katherine brings a passion for storytelling and collaborative teamwork to her role as Account Director at Actual Agency.

Brittney Blanchard

Senior Account Supervisor

Brittney Blanchard is a media relations guru who began her career in the Bay Area. Brittney has extensive communications experience in cybersecurity, storage and technology, working with brands like Facebook, Intuit and Pulse Secure. Brittney also has extensive experience in social media, event management and product launches.

Khush Chaudhary 

Senior Account Executive

Versatile, intuitive, persistent, relentless: qualities that define a superlative communications practitioner like Khush Chaudhary. Khush began her career with KPMG in India. She relocated to New York City to earn her Masters at NYU. She has expansive communications, thought leadership, crisis reputation & management, and social media experience, with brands including Ernst & Young, American Express and Deloitte. Khush has also worked with senior leaders in Fintech and enterprise technology helping them shape executive visibility and thought leadership platforms. 

Marques Wilson

Account Executive

Marques Wilson specializes in public relations and investor relations supporting clients in healthcare, ad-tech and technology. Marques’ has expansive communications, marketing and social media experience working with financial services like Square 1 Bank, NanoVest, Inc.

Mahala Herron-Rutland

Account Coordinator

Adaptable, creative and on-target, Mahala enjoys the story-telling aspects of mass communications and public relations. She began her career in Los Angeles, as a ℅ 2020 UCLA graduate, specializing in expository writing, science communications and social media.