Ellen Holder

Ellen is Managing Director in Frankfurt Germany, EMEA Lead Sustainability and member of the global ESG Steering Committee. In Germany, she leads the “Sustainability, Risk & Culture” Service Line. Her focus is on sustainability and risk, with extensive expertise in other areas such as program management, communication business-IT, performance improvement and GRC.

One topic of the service line is to support clients in the broad spectrum of sustainability issues, such as materiality assessment, sustainability strategy and roadmap development, ESG risk management, ESG audit, program management and sustainability culture. In addition, Ellen is responsible for the alignment of the sustainability service portfolio at Protiviti Germany, bringing together experts from different disciplines for the best client experience.

As a second topic, the service line provides services to coordinate the multiple control functions across all lines of defense, aiming for clear accountability, consistent processes and common data usage with minimized redundancies, appropriate tool support and a comprehensive risk view for a strengthened GRC culture.

Major Projects

• Program Manager for the “Risk Governance” program at a DAX40 (German stock index) listed financial service provider. The project focused on the enhancement of the current GRC methodologies, the implementation of a new common tool as one source of truth and the alignment of control functions in all lines of defense for a holistic view on risks and controls on all levels of the organization. 
• Preparatory study to establish a target operating model for TCFD and further ESG regulations for a German financial service provider resulting in a project for a holistic view for sustainability / ESG in the organization incl. overview of regulatory requirements, clear roles and responsibilities, a multi-year project plan, and the setup of a new team incl. an CSO for a strengthened collaboration in the group.
• Program management for the restructuring and process optimization of a financial shared service center supporting the central European operations (DACH region) for a global service provider. The main objectives were to develop and implement a target operating model to enable the company's targeted growth, manage risks and opportunities, improve the business and IT processes and structures while ensuring ongoing operations. 
• Sustainability strategy definition and implementation for a mid-sized service provider. This included leadership training,  stakeholder and materiality assessments,  the development of a sustainability strategy and its implementation incl. reporting.
• ESG audit at a financial service provider with the development of a sustainability/ESG audit program, including ESG Management, Risk Management, HR and Regulatory Overview, in close consultation with the client, as well as contact person for supporting the fieldwork as required.
• Design and performance of workshops and trainings in the area of sustainability / ESG for FSI and non-FSI companies, for example, with a focus on overall understanding, maturity assessment, risk identification, integration of ESG in internal audit, or development of a roadmap. 
• Development of an audit program for the corporate culture of a global service provider with focus on reputational and conduct risk. 
• Design and development of an internal control system for the information technology department of a Europe-wide food retailer.
• Risk Assessments, analysis and optimization of processes and controls as well as the assessment of the internal control system (Internal Audit) for companies in various industries, also in the field of factoring and financial services.

Areas of Expertise

• Sustainability & ESG
• Risk Governance
• (Risk) Culture
• Internal Audit
• Program & Project Management
• Communication Business – IT
• Change Management

Industry Expertise

• Service Provider
• Financial Services
• Industrial Products

Education

• Master of Science in Peace and Security Studies
• Magister of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy
• Intermediate Diploma in Economics

Professional Memberships and Certifications

• Project Management Professional PMP
• Professional Scrum Master I
• LUMA Certified Human-Centered Design Facilitator
• ITIL V3 Foundation
• ISO/IEC 27001 Foundation