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NORTH COAST STRATEGIES

Strategic Counsel for Leaders Operating Under Pressure

North Coast Strategies helps leaders navigate institutional risk and strengthen complex systems inside regulated and publicly accountable institutions under political, regulatory, and reputational pressure. We provide discreet strategic counsel, strengthen governance structures, and align fractured stakeholders, when decisions carry legal, political, and reputational consequences, so organizations can move forward with integrity and control.

Reputational & Institutional Risk
We provide discreet counsel when legal, political, and reputational pressure is rising, helping leaders align their response, contain escalation, and protect long-term credibility.

Collaborative Problem Solving & Strategic Facilitation
We build structured alignment across competing stakeholders and create durable pathways to move decisions forward in complex systems where trust has eroded and competing interests are vying for attention.

Strategic Counsel & Institutional Decision-Making
We advise executives and boards when complex institutional decisions carry legal exposure, political implications, and reputational risk, bringing clarity and disciplined judgment when delay or overreaction could compound legal and reputational exposure.

Daniel Cherrin is a Strategic Facilitator and Neutral Advisor
for Complex Systems and High-Stakes Disputes

Daniel is a senior advisor and strategic facilitator who works with leaders navigating institutional risk, systems reform, and reputational pressure in regulated and publicly accountable environments. An attorney by training, with experience as a litigator, Communications Director for the City of Detroit, and federal lobbyist for the Detroit Regional Chamber, he brings legal discipline, political awareness, and steady judgment to complex and high-exposure situations.

Daniel advises executives, boards, and general counsel when legal exposure, governance realities, political dynamics, and media considerations converge. His work centers on moments when credibility is tested, stakeholders are divided, and decisions carry lasting institutional consequences. He is known for bringing clarity to layered environments and structuring forward movement where fragmentation or escalation threatens stability.

His experience spans public institutions, nonprofit coalitions, regulated innovators, and global companies. He has advised leadership teams on major investment announcements, public-private partnerships, and cross-sector initiatives, including matters connected to investments by Carlyle, Verizon Ventures, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, and ArcelorMittal. He has also supported collaborations involving the U.S. Department of Energy and the UK Department for Transport on energy and aviation initiatives.

Crisis Management and Institutional Risk

Daniel provides discreet crisis counsel to leaders facing regulatory scrutiny, litigation exposure, executive transition, workforce crises, activist pressure, and reputational threats. He integrates legal strategy, governance considerations, and media realities into disciplined decision-making frameworks that protect long-term institutional credibility. His approach emphasizes alignment, containment, and clarity in moments when delay or miscalculation can compound risk.

His crisis experience includes:

• litigation and regulatory communications to align public messaging with legal strategy

• workforce crises, workplace misconduct, and executive reputation management

• navigating NGO and activist campaigns that threaten corporate or organizational credibility

• mitigating misinformation and political backlash in highly sensitive industries

Daniel is known for his calm, strategic thinking in high-pressure environments and his ability to turn today’s threats into tomorrow’s opportunities.

Collaborative Problem Solving and Systems Alignment

As a trained mediator and strategic facilitator, Daniel designs structured processes that bring competing stakeholders into alignment in politically sensitive and power-imbalanced environments. He has built and led coalitions, facilitated high-stakes negotiations, and helped institutions clarify authority, strengthen governance, and move stalled systems forward.

His leadership includes forming and leading The Collective, a coalition of independent community mental health providers serving tens of thousands of individuals across Wayne County, Michigan. He has co-facilitated regional transit strategy efforts involving multiple municipalities and advised nonprofit and institutional leaders seeking to influence policy while strengthening internal structure and accountability.

Approach

Daniel’s work is grounded in clarity, discretion, and disciplined thinking. He operates as a senior advisor embedded directly with leadership teams, bringing integrated counsel across legal, political, governance, and media dimensions. His focus is not activity, but stability, alignment, and outcomes that hold under scrutiny.

Daniel is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, International Association of Facilitators (IAF) and the Leadership Council for Convergence Center for Policy Resolution.

Outside of his professional work, Daniel serves on nonprofit boards, including a Trustee to the Detroit Music Hall and organizations supporting elder care, behavioral health, and family services. He is a past board member of the State Bar of Michigan and to the Representative Assembly to the State Bar of Michigan. Married for 26 years with three grown children, he balances his work with functional body building, trail riding, pickleball, and long road trips. After completing a marathon at 50, he embraces a mindset centered on resilience and long-term endurance in both life and leadership.

CASE STUDIES - The Problems We Solve

Collaborative Problem Solving and Systems Alignment

MI BEHAVIORAL HEALTH & WELLNESS COLLABORATIVE

Michigan’s behavioral health providers are navigating a broken system. North Coast Strategies is elevating their voice to address inequities and drive transformative change focused on person-centered care.

After the reorganization of community mental health in Michigan and the creation of the Detroit Wayne Health Integrated Network, nonprofit providers were concerned about the future viability of their organization. In 2014, the CEOs of 18 well-established community mental health organizations, serving 80,000 people and employing 12,000 people, who often competed against each other, started having conversations about how to ensure the long-term sustainability of their organizations.

Daniel Cherrin was brought in to help facilitate those conversations. After finding opportunities to work together and developing trust among the CEOs, the MI Behavioral Health & Wellness Collaborative became recognized as a 501(c)(6) and has become Michigan's leading voice of community mental health providers. Since 2015, Daniel has been leading the collaborative, facilitating bimonthly meetings, and serving as the spokesperson for the community mental health providers. Through the Collaborative, we share best practices, monitor legislative and regulatory proposals, and work together to help our independent agencies work more effectively through collaboration, increased awareness, and capacity.

MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF SUBSTANCE ADDICTION PROVIDERS

Addiction treatment and preention remain sidelined in healthcare. We’re working to make them a statewide priority and a catalyst for system transformation.

Substance Use and Addiction Providers in Michigan, were not getting the resources or attention they needed to support people in the community. To get their voices heard, the Michigan Association Substance Addiction Providers (MIASAP) retained Daniel Cherrin to structure their meetings, help develop a strategic plan, implement that plan, and develop relationships with legislators and other elected officials. Cherrin leads monthly meetings for SUD providers and worked with the association's membership to revise its bylaws and professionalize the volunteer-led association as a 501(c)(6).

THE ANN ARBOR AREA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (THE RIDE)

For years, elected officials in Washtenaw County talked about the county’s growth as issues related to traffic and road congestion grew into problems. After a countywide initiative failed, the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA), which operates public transit in the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area, convened regional stakeholders to identify a reasonable and realistic solution to the county’s congestion problems. Daniel Cherrin was retained to facilitate the discussion among the local elected leaders. After a series of meetings over a year, the regional stakeholders supported a proposal to take to the voters for approval to create an urban transportation strategy and expand service throughout the county.

A few months later, voters in Washtenaw County overwhelmingly approved by 71.4 percent the 0.7 millage, and today the AAATA is implementing an urban transit strategy with plans to support communities throughout the region. Voters approved the millage partly because it was needed and because the government leaders in Washtenaw County identified a problem and worked together to find a solution.

As a result of the facilitated discussions, listening to public input and analyzing specific suggestions, the AATA:

• Developed a 5-Year Transit Improvement Program (5YTIP) for the Urban Core of Washtenaw County.

• The City of Ypsilanti (August 15, 2013) and Ypsilanti Township (December 17, 2013) joined the AATA.

• The AATA board adopted a five-year transit improvement program that was based on a proposed program presented to the working group in March 2013 and refined through community feedback on Jan 16 2014.

• A new funding model for expanded service and hours for a new urban core transit plan was approved by the voters in May 2014.

• Changes to TheRide Governance Structure – MGF or Board member

Strategic Counsel & Institutional Decision-Making

THE DETROIT WINDSOR TUNNEL

Following 9/11, new border regulations, economic downturns, declining traffic volumes, and heightened federal scrutiny, the Tunnel faced operational strain, legislative risk, and financial instability. Competing political interests, shifting federal mandates, and ownership uncertainty created real exposure. Bankruptcy proceedings added additional public scrutiny and uncertainty about long-term control of the asset. At stake was not just traffic flow, but governance, funding, staffing, and public oversight of a critical cross-border infrastructure link.

The Detroit Windsor Tunnel is the busiest passenger border crossing between Canada and the United States and ranks among the top 15 crossings nationally. For more than two decades, North Coast Strategies has advised its operators across federal, state, and municipal levels of government, integrating legal strategy, legislative advocacy, regulatory navigation, and public positioning around one of North America’s most visible infrastructure assets. The work has included securing federal appropriations, reshaping state legislation, adding NEXUS lanes and Customs capacity, facilitating a public-private partnership that increased border throughput by 25 percent, and guiding leadership through Chapter 11 restructuring under national media scrutiny. The result was not just funding or favorable coverage, but long-term operational stability and preserved public oversight of a critical international gateway.

Reputational & Institutional Risk.

LANZATECH

LanzaTech had commercially viable carbon capture and transformation technology and growing global partnerships, but it faced a credibility gap at a critical growth stage. Its science was complex, the climate tech market was crowded, and the company was preparing for major capital events including a SPAC and Nasdaq listing in a volatile environment. To attract investment, secure global brand partnerships, and withstand scrutiny, LanzaTech needed a disciplined narrative that translated synthetic biology and industrial decarbonization into clear, credible language investors, policymakers, and the public could understand and trust.

As LanzaTech (LNZAW) moved from emerging climate innovator to publicly traded carbon transformation company, the central challenge was credibility at scale. The company was advancing complex synthetic biology and carbon capture technology in a volatile capital market environment, navigating a SPAC transaction, increased investor scrutiny, and public debate around climate solutions. The risk was not lack of innovation. The risk was misunderstanding, oversimplification, or narrative drift at a critical institutional moment

North Coast Strategies developed and led a disciplined communications strategy that aligned investor messaging, media engagement, brand partnerships, and executive positioning. We shaped the narrative around LanzaTech’s commercial validation, industrial partnerships, and real-world deployment of its technology.

This included securing high-impact coverage in Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Fast Company, Forbes, CNBC, CNN, The New York Times, Vogue Business, and other global outlets. We supported milestone announcements, including a $1 billion investment from Brookfield Renewable Partners, and helped frame the company’s Nasdaq listing following its $2.2 billion SPAC transaction.

Beyond media strategy, we developed award submissions and institutional positioning that resulted in LanzaTech being named a finalist for The Earthshot Prize, Prix Voltaire, one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies, Fortune’s Change the World list, and Inc. Magazine’s Best in Business. We also supported thought leadership content, executive messaging, White House appearances, and public-facing communications during leadership transition ahead of the company’s IPO.

The result was not simply coverage. It was institutional validation. LanzaTech moved from promising technology to recognized market leader in the circular carbon economy, with its credibility reinforced across capital markets, policy environments, industry partnerships, and global media.

discrete pr & Crisis management

Quiet. Strategic. Effective.

Reputational risk is everywhere. In a world of deepfakes, synthetic narratives, and machine-amplified misinformation, perception can shift in seconds. When the stakes are high, protecting a brand, a legacy, or a career takes more than damage control. It takes judgment, knowing when to engage, when to stay silent, and how to move forward without leaving a trace. At North Coast Strategies, we don’t chase attention; we manage exposure.

Named Michigan’s Top Crisis Management Firm by Michigan Lawyers Weekly, our practice is built on strategic discretion, quiet, effective solutions designed to protect credibility before, during, and after a crisis. Led by attorney and former government official Daniel Cherrin, we navigate complex, high-risk environments where legal strategy, public perception, and machine memory intersect. Whether advising a founder under scrutiny, a judge facing media coverage, or a board responding to an investigation, our work balances human judgment, legal precision, and modern information intelligence to control narrative, protect trust, and preserve influence.

Our Approach

We help leaders show up with clarity, credibility, and control in moments that demand discipline and discretion.

• Low-Visibility, High-Impact Response: Contain issues quietly — before they become public.

• Strategic Legal Alignment: Integrate communications and legal strategy to avoid missteps and escalation.

• Proactive Reputation Defense: Establish credibility and preparedness long before scrutiny arrives.

• Modern Risk Navigation: Guide clients through political, regulatory, digital, and media environments where one misstep, human or synthetic, can redefine narrative.

Why Clients Choose Us

• Discretion over exposure — quiet action, not public theater
• Legal precision — informed by law, not spin
• Modern foresight — built for misinformation, synthetic media, and machine memory
• Trusted leadership — two decades navigating public and private crises

From founders to public figures to legal teams, we help leaders protect credibility, control narrative, and move through uncertainty with confidence. Because in today’s world, reputations aren’t destroyed by crisis — they’re destroyed by how crisis is handled. And credibility isn’t managed in public — it’s secured in private.