Joy Crabaugh is a senior communications advisor who works with CEOs and leadership teams when consequential decisions and high-stakes situations require communications judgment beyond what they have in-house.

She brings more than two decades of experience advising leaders and communicating in environments where decisions carry real organizational, reputational, and stakeholder consequences.

Her experience spans military, federal government, and global corporate environments, including:

• U.S. Marine Corps (active-duty officer)

• Office of the Secretary of Defense

• U.S. Coast Guard

• Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 corporations

Her career has included advising senior leaders, serving as a spokesperson in high-visibility environments, navigating complex stakeholder and reputational issues, and leading communications around consequential organizational and business decisions.

Across those environments, Joy saw the same pattern repeatedly: the communication problems that become visible often begin much earlier.

A consequential decision is made without fully considering how it will be received. Leadership isn't aligned. Legal, operational, and communications considerations are addressed separately. By the time someone asks, “What should we say?” the organization may already be managing consequences created upstream.

That experience shapes Joy's approach today.

She works alongside CEOs and leadership teams before communication becomes merely a messaging exercise — helping them think through decisions, anticipate stakeholder response, align leadership, establish the strategic narrative, and translate that thinking into communication across the organization and externally.

Today, Joy provides Chief Communications Officer counsel and capability to organizations that need additional senior communications leadership — whether for a specific consequential situation, as ongoing executive advisory support, or to strengthen leadership communication capability over time.

Her work can complement an existing communications function or provide senior communications capability where none exists. The common denominator is a leadership team facing decisions or circumstances where communication, stakeholder confidence, and organizational credibility can materially affect the outcome.