Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaitlyn Allen and Amanda Hsieh.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kaitlyn and Amanda. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Global Affairs Associates was founded in 2013 to provide sustainability and corporate responsibility consulting. It is now co-owned by Kaitlyn Allen and Amanda Hsieh, both native Houstonians. We have spent 2019 and 2020 transforming the business from an individual practice into a boutique consulting firm with a growth plan. The business was built over the past seven years on quality work, solid client relationships and referrals; we are moving into the next phase of the business with organic growth to complement that. We got here by taking a specific stance on sustainability and ESG (environmental, social, governance, as it’s known in the investing world): that a business-appropriate approach is the most sustainable approach. We always approach our work from the standpoint of what’s appropriate for the client’s business and ensure that all of our recommendations align with the business strategy.
This approach, which differs from some of our competitors, opens space for listening and responding to clients’ needs and challenges on the road to becoming a more sustainable company rather than pushing a particular agenda. While we are insistent on helping clients get up to speed on the trends influencing finance and investing, we also meet them where they are and serve that need with multi-year ESG strategic reporting plans.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being an entrepreneur is never cut and dry. You’re constantly dealing with the challenges of wearing multiple hats and balancing priorities. One tiny “crisis” can throw off your workweek, and a major crisis can throw off a whole month. It’s hard to keep all the balls in the air for your clients and business, and also be a good life partner, parent, or caregiver in your personal life. Amanda and I were both solo-preneurs and dealing with these struggles alone. When we began working together on projects, something clicked for us: why are we doing this alone? Why not join forces? And so in 2018, we chose to become business partners and rebuild the business with each other to lean on. It’s been one of the best business and personal decisions we have ever made.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Global Affairs Associates – what should we know?
Global Affairs Associates is a boutique sustainability and ESG (environmental/social/governance) consulting firm, which means we help clients evaluate, measure, and communicate their impact. Historically our clients have been publicly traded corporations, but we now serve privately held companies and are branching out into private equity firms and startups as well. As the sustainable investing trend grows and more investors use ESG criteria to assess a fuller picture of risk, companies need to know what to measure and report–that’s our specialty. With over 100+ published frameworks and surveys for disclosing ESG data, it can be difficult for a corporate team to navigate–particularly at smaller and medium-sized firms. We help companies set a strategic ESG reporting plan to cut through the noise and discover which metrics, framework, and disclosure methods make the most business sense. (We also don’t want smaller businesses getting left behind because they have fewer resources.) That’s something that really sets us apart–we are “framework-agnostic”, meaning we don’t push a particular framework on all clients as a one-size-fits-all. We start with their business model, size and industry and recommend a set of indicators and framework that fits their needs. That’s the service and approach we are known for, and we also do end-to-end sustainability reports, ESG marketing plans, and climate risk reports, We are the only women-owned boutique firm in Texas helping clients implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), the financial community’s top framework for assessing climate financial risk and opportunities. We are very proud of being a first mover in Texas on TCFD, which has rapidly become a global phenomenon and is still relatively unknown in our state.
We supplement our consulting work with educational offerings, both free and fee-based, to raise awareness of these topics that affect our local businesses and communities directly. We founded the Resilient Business Forum in 2019 to help advance non-partisan, “everyone-welcome” conversations about business resilience throughout the transition to a low-carbon economy. When we came up with this idea, we were responding to what we believed was a massive education gap about sustainability, resiliency, and climate risk in Houston–and sometimes a lack of awareness that the low-carbon energy transition is already in motion on the global stage. As native Houstonians and sustainability consultants, we were worried for our city and the energy industry ecosystem that supports our economy; many of our clients are in oil and gas or related services. We felt it was our duty to get the word out and help educate people to have intelligent conversations about these topics in their businesses and communities—and to have a forum where environmental issues are not politicized in a partisan way. It just so happened that something was in the ethers last year, as the Center for Houston’s Future had simultaneously been planning their first-ever Low Carbon Energy Summit, OTC’s (Offshore Technology Conference) plenary centered on energy transition, and many other energy-focused events grappled with the topic. Now, the Resilient Business Forum is evolving into more of a community. We partner with other local organizations like the US Green Building Council, the Southern Impact Investing Alliance, the Texas Impact Alliance, and NGOrganize to host meet-ups and events.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
We have to thank our rock star advisory board—Franck Avice of the French-American Chamber of Commerce, Michael Bloom of R.G. Miller Engineers, Inc., Martine Caillaud of Oxy, and Dr. Jamila Yamani of Climate Impact Capital. They have been an invaluable resource for us as we implement our growth plan. Our team of expert Associates—Anton Rushakov, Carol Liffman, Dr. Ivonne Cruz, Tomas Salazar, Paula Luff, and Mary Morley—are the reason we can offer such diverse, specific services to truly add unique value for each client. We also work with non-profit partners to advance our education work–the French-American Chamber of Commerce, Texas Impact Alliance, Southern Impact Investing Alliance, HARC, Center for Houston’s Future, the US Green Building Council, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers to name a few. We are grateful to be part of such a collaborative community working toward a shared vision for a more sustainable Houston and more resilient business community.
Looking back in time, so many people took the time to speak with us at the beginning, before there was a business plan for Global Affairs Associates—Amy Mifflin, now of Motiva; Michael Maher, now of the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies; Jim McGrath of Begala McGrath. For this reason, we always take time to speak to budding entrepreneurs; those coffee shop conversations were priceless votes of confidence along a then-uncertain journey.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5340 Weslayan #25451
Houston, TX 77265 - Website: www.globalaffairsassociates.com
- Phone: 832-945-1503
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-affairs-associates/
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