Karen Wendt was referred to me by colleagues as a reliable and committed keynote. She has a longstanding interest in academic research and an outstanding track record in finance, responsible investment, change management, Corporate Social Responsibility, accounting, reporting and organizational development. From the beginning, Mrs Wendt has been involved in the field of responsible finance and investment. She has contributed substantially to this nascent field of research with articles, workshops and the anthology on Responsible Investment Banking, and is meanwhile the editor of Sustainable Finance.
I approached Karen Wendt for collaboration and speaking on an international research project about CSR reporting in front of international companies according to the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The collaboration with Karen Wendt was very effective and efficient, mutually beneficial and to my highest satisfaction. Her capability to connect with her audience was outstanding and within a short period of time she managed to involve her audience into a highly dynamic expert discussion Her strong analytical and research skills, her expert knowledge and competence, her capacity to deal with complexity and to think through complex research settings made her questions and answers session and our collaboration overall a highly satisfying experience
(Prof. Dr. Sabine Einwiller, Vienna University)
I know Karen Wendt since 2013, when I met her at the CGC – CSR First Annual Conference at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK. I serve as President of the organization along with the help of a distinguished international group of scholars and business leaders. Karen presented “Investment Banking between Crisis, Legitimacy Loss and Positive Impact Investment and Finance.” As the topic was relevant and appealing, she had to deal with quite a large audience, of which I formed part. Her presentation was excellent both in form and substance. Due to the high quality of content and presentation skills she received the best presentation award for her performance. Her capability to connect with her audience was outstanding and within a short period of time she managed to involve her audience into a high level expert discussion about the field of investment, banking and responsibility, which was dynamic, refreshing, agile, sophisticated and highly appreciated by the audience. Due to her flexibility and enthusiasm she created a very energetic and intense discussion atmosphere and I decided to invite her to my May 2015 “Responsibility and the Financial Crisis” Conference in Jekyll Island- where I was the Conference Director. Karen Wendt was invited to complement the conference with a European view on systemic issues and developments. She was the only Non-American participant in this three day expert discussion. The discussion was based on scientific reading materials, which formed the basis of the discussions and had to be integrated into the argumentation and discourse. Karen Wendt was quickly accepted by the group as a highly knowledgeable specialist and as a person with outstanding analytical and communication skills and impeccable cultural intelligence and high personal and professional values. Therefore she was quickly integrated into this professional academic group level. She speaks English like her mother-tongue
(Prof. Dr. Nick Capaldi, Liberty Fund)
I am grateful that I have the chance to work with Karen. From the first seconds Karen impressed me with her empathic and analytical mindset. She understands immediately what kind of person she is talking to and in which situation this person finds itself from a personal development point of view. Karen is able to develop the discussion from this starting point and takes it to the next level.
We had to prepare a speech for a larger audience and conference and engaged Karen as a speaker. Karen is able to engage an audience quickly, captures possible blocking points and asks the right questions. She fully understand the big picture – no matter what industry or problem she deals with. In her speech about change management she demonstrated that he has the analytical skills that permit her to highlight every aspect, understands on how to unblock situations and resistance to change and come to a possible new organization.. I am extremely thankful for the insights that she was able to unlock within me. Karen is visionary, inspiring and leading by example. I wish her a lot of success!
(Christina Popa, Legal Compliance Manager Groupe PSA)
EBRD has invited Karen for a couples of events as a committed and inspiring speaker about topics stretching from Alternative Conflict Resolution, Risk Assessments and Management, Sustainability, Global Administrative Law, Reporting and introducing Theories of Change into investment and finance. Her speeches are dynamic, interesting and sometimes challenging the audience in a very sophisticated way. We are extremely grateful for the great collaboration and inspiration that Karen is able to instil.
(Darius Prazek, Former Director EBRD, now Sustainabilty Advisor)
Karen takes a holistic approach to everything she does. She hold an inspiring speech in Frankfurt at the Goethe University in front of investmentbankers (the cluster of normative orders) . She knows how to engage the audience, lead them to the right questions they never thought about and inspire. She always was ahead of the next new trends and recognized in advance where the trend shall go. She allows space for the audience to ask questions and make it an eye level dialogue. I would particularly like to emphasize her quick comprehension, cultural awareness and I am extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to ask critical questions at the right time
(Nobert Enste, former Board Member of Bankhaus Metzler, Germany).
