With more than four decades of experience in proxy solicitation and corporate governance, Mark Harnett is one of the most seasoned advisors in the industry. At Okapi Partners, he counsels both boards of directors and activist shareholders on contested elections, M&A transactions, tender offers, and corporate governance strategy – bringing a rare depth of perspective to both sides of the table.

Mark's expertise spans the full arc of a proxy campaign: advising on timing and content strategy, briefing boards and CEOs, developing persuasive messaging, managing roadshows with institutional, index, and arbitrageur shareholders, guiding client engagement with proxy advisory firms, and modeling vote outcomes. He has worked alongside the country's leading M&A lawyers and investment bankers across hundreds of proxy contests, tender offers, and mergers throughout his career.

Prior to joining Okapi, Mark was a Founding Partner and Managing Director of Strategic Governance Advisors (SGA), a corporate governance advisory division of Sard Verbinnen & Co. (now FGS Global), where he advised clients on shareholder engagement, executive compensation, ESG, and contested situations. Before that, he co-founded MacKenzie Partners in 1992 and served as President, building the firm into one of the most recognized names in proxy solicitation over more than two decades.

Mark is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Wisconsin Law School.