MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 29, 2026--
Holder Partners, a multidisciplinary consulting and advisory firm, today announced the launch of its Strategic Communications practice and the appointment of Ali Ponte as Director and Practice Lead.
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The practice advises leading companies and institutions, their boards, senior executives and counsel on communications, reputation and stakeholder considerations in complex matters and periods of significant change or opportunity. Each engagement is tailored to the client’s objectives and, where relevant, draws on Holder Partners’ broader advisory capabilities. Its strategic counsel, informed by research and analysis, helps clients assess the implications of a matter, anticipate stakeholder responses and communicate clearly and effectively.
That work includes crisis preparedness and response, communications counsel for disputes, investigations and cyber incidents, as well as tailored plans for transactions and significant organizational change. It also helps organizations and senior leaders clarify what they want to be known for, identify priority stakeholders and decide how best to engage them.
“Many of the matters our clients face sit at the intersection of communications, risk, reputation and broader business considerations,” said Frank Holder, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Holder Partners. “Launching this practice reflects the firm’s growth and a growing need for communications advice grounded in an understanding of the facts, risks and stakeholders involved. Ali’s experience in institutional positioning, executive engagement and strategic relationship-building strengthens our ability to advise clients on these issues.”
“Strategic Communications begins with understanding the environment in which an organization operates: who can influence a situation, what interests are at stake and which decisions may shape its course,” said Ali Ponte. “That understanding guides our advice on positioning, communications and stakeholder engagement. We work with clients as they face heightened scrutiny, pursue transactions, enter new markets or strengthen their institutional profile.”
Building on Previous Work
The practice builds on Holder Partners’ work in strategic communications and stakeholder advisory for clients in complex business and institutional environments. The firm has advised senior executives on positioning during leadership transitions and periods of expansion; developed strategies for engaging business, government and investment stakeholders; and supported international initiatives and executive dialogues tied to client objectives.
Ali Ponte
He leads Holder Partners’ Strategic Communications practice, bringing more than a decade of experience in building cross-sector relationships, shaping institutional positioning, and engaging executives.
Before joining Holder Partners, he was Head of Strategic Growth at the International Economic Forum of the Americas (IEFA), a global platform for economic dialogue. In that role, he led the development of strategic partnerships and convened corporate leaders, government officials, financial institutions, law firms, and institutional investors through executive dialogues and thought leadership programs aligned with participating organizations’ priorities.
Earlier in his career, he served as a Business Development Executive for the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, where he worked to attract foreign direct investment and strengthen the province’s international profile. His experience across energy, infrastructure, finance, technology, and trade reflects a career connecting commercial opportunities with institutional priorities across borders.
About Holder Partners
Holder Partners is a multidisciplinary consulting and advisory firm serving companies, investors, legal counsel, governments, and private clients across the Americas and internationally. The firm’s expertise spans investigations and forensic accounting; cybersecurity and data science; due diligence and compliance; expert testimony and litigation support; organizational change; and strategic communications, reputation and stakeholder advisory.
For more information about Holder Partners’ Strategic Communications practice, visit: https://holderpartners.com
Ali Ponte, Director and Practice Lead of Holder Partners’ Strategic Communications practice.
DENVER (AP) — An Egyptian man faces an additional life sentence after pleading guilty Thursday to federal hate crime and other charges for a deadly firebombing attack on demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, last year.
Mohamed Soliman is already serving life in prison after pleading guilty to state charges last spring. Federal prosecutors who previously said they would not seek the death penalty against Soliman said at his change-of-plea hearing they would seek a life term plus 50 years in prison for the dozen counts.
Soliman spoke through an interpreter at the hearing and said little besides “yes” and “no” responses to the judge’s questioning, such as whether he understood the consequences of pleading guilty. Wearing a brown shirt and khaki-colored pants, Soliman was led out of court in handcuffs and shackles without looking at the victims in the courtroom.
Yelling “Free Palestine,” Soliman lit and threw two Molotov cocktails at the demonstrators who were marching in support of hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
Federal prosecutors accused Soliman of attacking in June 2025 because the demonstrators were Jewish. The flames badly burned Karen Diamond, 82, and injured a dozen others.
Diamond died three weeks later. Her family says she suffered “indescribable pain.”
In all, Soliman pleaded guilty to nine federal counts of hate crimes, including one resulting in Diamond’s death and eight for attempting to kill other demonstrators. Three additional counts were federal weapon charges.
“The defendant violently used the explosives to cause permanent and life-threatening injuries to several of these victims and cause the death of Karen Diamond,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Hindman said in court shortly before Soliman pleaded guilty.
A group of victims sat stoically in the courtroom, some taking notes as the judge asked Soliman if he understood the proceedings. Several victims intended to make statements at Soliman’s sentencing but declined to do so in court Thursday, Hindman told the court.
Colorado U.S. District Judge John Kane said he would review sentencing guidelines before deciding whether to accept or reject prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation. He noted the guidelines are not binding.
“I have not made up my mind about the sentence,” Kane said. “Sometimes I follow that advice and sometimes I don’t.”
Soliman's federal sentencing was set for Jan. 7.
Boulder residents, particularly the Jewish community, described being unnerved by the attack in their city northwest of Denver that’s home to the University of Colorado.
The group “Run for Their Lives” had been demonstrating weekly downtown. Soliman got near the demonstration on Pearl Street, a pedestrian mall lined with shops and restaurants, by posing as a gardener.
Federal authorities alleged Soliman planned the attack for a year. After his arrest, Soliman told police he sought “to kill all Zionist people,” a reference to the movement to establish and protect a Jewish state in Israel, according to an FBI affidavit.
Federal officials said he was in the U.S. illegally. He entered in 2022 on a tourist visa that expired the following year, then filed for asylum.
He was granted work authorization, but it too expired, federal officials said
Soliman was living with his wife and their five children in an apartment in Colorado Springs at the time of the attack. He worked a series of low-paying jobs.
The couple divorced in April. Soliman recently dropped his opposition to removing his family from the U.S.
Prosecutors in Soliman’s state case argued he planned for more harm than he carried out. He tried twice to buy a gun and was denied, they said.
He brought 18 Molotov cocktails — bottles filled with flammable liquid that are lit, thrown and burst into flames when they shatter — to the demonstration in a box, but only two were thrown.
Of the 29 attack victims identified by state prosecutors, 13 were physically injured. Prosecutors considered the rest victims because they could have been hurt.
An injured dog led to a state animal cruelty charge.
While in court to plead guilty to the state charges in May, Soliman said he has known and respected Jewish people but questioned the deaths of innocent people in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
“Yes, I am against Israel and I can’t deny that. And that is my right,” Soliman said.
Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado.
FILE - This image provided by the Boulder Police Dept. shows Mohamed Sabry Soliman. (Boulder Police Dept. via AP, File)
FILE - A woman places a bouquet of flowers at a makeshift memorial for victims of an attack outside of the Boulder County, Colo., courthouse, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
