About HKc
Purpose
HKc was founded on a simple belief: when organizations align policy intelligence, data integrity, and strategic purpose, they unlock a sustainable competitive advantage. We work with institutions to navigate the accelerating pace of sustainability-related regulatory requirements, stakeholder expectations, and market pressures—while also helping them anticipate what comes next. By integrating sustainability principles into their framework, we empower leaders not only to respond effectively but to chart a forward-looking path, strengthen decision-making, and lead with clarity, confidence, and long-term vision.
Background
HKc brings together experience across industry, academia, and government to help organizations navigate rapidly shifting regulatory landscapes and evolving stakeholder expectations while upholding data integrity. Drawing on work that spans global risk analysis, public policy, and corporate governance, we translate complex trends into clear strategic guidance aligned with sustainability principles. Our interdisciplinary background enables us to provide sustainability-related intelligence with both rigor and practicality, ensuring that every recommendation is grounded in evidence, aligned with real-world constraints, and positioned to create durable organizational value.
Approach
HKc blends regulatory insight, analytical depth, and practical execution—ensuring sustainability strategies are not only visionary but also actionable and built to endure. Our methodology integrates policy intelligence to align organizations with global regulatory systems, while prioritizing data integrity to build credible and decision-ready information. We focus on organizational design and governance to embed sustainability principles into core operations, as well as strategic communication to deliver insights that resonate across leadership teams—resulting in programs that are structured, defensible, and built for long-term value.
Founder & Leader
Dr. Sarah Haley Knowles is a certified sustainability strategist and policy advisor with over 15 years of experience assisting organizations in navigating the intersection of sustainability, global risk, economic systems, and regulatory change. As an independent consultant, she collaborates with corporations, financial institutions, nonprofits, and public-sector organizations to tackle complex sustainability challenges, design strategies that enhance resilience, ensure data integrity, and foster long-term value creation.
With MBA and Ph.D.-level training in sustainable economics and geopolitics, her research and publications delve into the connections between climate change, corporate governance, social stability, and global political and economic systems. As the author of Diminished Prosperity (Palgrave Macmillan 2025), her work merges rigorous analytical methods with practical, real-world insights—bridging academic inquiry with strategic application informed by regulatory insight.
Previously, Dr. Haley Knowles served as Director of Corporate Sustainability and Regulatory Reporting at Freddie Mac, where she advanced climate strategy, disclosure readiness, and compliance frameworks across the U.S. housing finance ecosystem. She has also held leadership roles at Deloitte and Wells Fargo, supporting initiatives in sustainability strategy, human rights, natural capital, risk management, and corporate governance.
Through two decades of hands-on volunteer service, she has developed a community-centered perspective that shapes her approach to sustainability and social impact. This experience enables her to connect high-level strategy with real-world challenges and opportunities, bringing both empathy and practical wisdom to her work.
Dr. Haley Knowles is recognized for her ability to integrate sustainability principles into core business strategy—helping clients transform regulatory complexity and global risk into strategic advantage. Her approach is collaborative, data-driven, and rooted in a commitment to advancing resilient and equitable systems.
