Jonathan Leibowitz.
Jonathan founded nivria after departing his nearly fifteen-year career at KARV, a boutique strategic advisory and communications firm that manages high-stakes and specialized matters for clients such as sovereign wealth funds, multinational corporations, and governments. He was among the firm’s earliest employees, helping build a global practice in strategic communications and geopolitical intelligence spanning more than sixty countries.
Over the course of his career, Jonathan saw firsthand the fragility of complex ventures, particularly in geopolitically contentious times. nivria exists to help those working on important, complex initiatives make better decisions and manage the growing list of stakeholders that matter.
Experience.*
- 01
Saudi Arabia — Public Investment Fund (PIF)
Strategic communications for one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds through a period of intense global scrutiny and rapid expansion — spanning the fund’s anchor positions in the SoftBank Vision Fund and Blackstone’s infrastructure fund.
- 02
Industrial environmental crisis
A foreign-owned industrial company facing simultaneous pressure from class-action litigation, federal and state regulators, national media, and community opposition — a mandate requiring coordinated strategy across legal, public affairs, and communications tracks, from the local level to the federal.
- 03
African LNG
Assessment of a major energy development after insurgent activity disrupted operations — ground-level evaluation in a volatile security environment, engagement around U.S. development financing, and the design of a sustained security- and stakeholder-monitoring framework.
- 04
NEOM
Engagement spanning sectors and regions of one of the largest greenfield development initiatives in the world — including the Discover NEOM global roadshow and the launch of the NEOM Investment Fund (NIF).
- 05
Grain export labor dispute
A labor dispute that shut down grain shipments out of Washington State, a stoppage in a critical national export corridor, worked through to resolution and restored to flow.
- 06
Foundations
Work with high-profile global foundations formulating and executing mission and strategic priorities amid competing stakeholder interests and public profile.
- 07
Combatting terrorism & extremism
Work confronting terrorism and extremism: a multi-country awareness campaign on a designated terror group’s exploitation of civilian airport infrastructure; international roundtables on extremism in the Balkans; and a communications strategy, developed at the request of foreign-policy experts, to support Kurdish information flow after the U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria.
- 08
Latin American critical minerals
Examination of one of Latin America’s most consequential and contested critical-mineral projects on behalf of an interested party, assessing the political, community, and legal dynamics that would determine its future.
- 09
Global cultural events
Production and positioning of some of the world’s largest live events, including major international music festivals operating at national scale. (Live Nation.)
- 10
Global convenings
Engagement across major global gatherings, on the producer, sponsor, and participant sides, including the Future Investment Initiative (FII), the Milken Institute Global Conference, and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
A sampling from a career spanning strategic advisory, communications, live entertainment, marketing, and private charitable work. Involvement varied by engagement.