Navigating accountability in 2025
The world of accountability for governments, corporations, and the business world’s elite is changing, and fast. From where I sit, some of the most shocking impacts are to mechanisms that address the intersection of corruption and financial crime with human rights abuses and environmental degradation. From the mass firings of independent inspectors general to orders to pause the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and now suspend enforcement of an important corporate ownership transparency law, the Corporate Transparency Act, it is overwhelming.
I slowly stopped working as a senior investigator and policy advisor for Global Witness’ anti-money laundering team in Washington, DC in early 2018, frankly because of exhaustion.
This isn’t my first rodeo watching a Trump Administration closely or advocating for corporate transparency and accountability in such a challenging environment.
At that time, we were at the forefront of exposing the Trump Organization’s dubious business dealings and the questions they raised about then-President Trump’s conflicts of interest in the White House and commitment to tackling crime and corruption as the president of the United States. We published in partnership with outlets including NBC News, On Assignment with Richard Engel, TODAY, Reuters, and ABC News.
That feels like such a long time ago, and like we’ve come so far – and now, maybe not in such a good way.
Good thing I’ve had seven years to regain my strength.
My consultancy, Sēk Strategies was conceived in 2019 and officially launched in 2021. Since then we have been honored to have provided investigative & research, corporate engagement, and strategic advising services to the media, and civil society and inter-governmental organizations, such as the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC), Open Ownership, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok.
Like many of my colleagues, we are considering how best to invest our time and experience working on issues of financial transparency and accountability. We have concluded that now it is more important than ever to double down on our expertise: follow the money, dissect corporate structures, map networks, and trace supply chains—the more complex the better to tell stories that change the corporate behavior and government policies and practices that are essential to making this a more just world.
To meet the challenges of this new world order, we must continue to evolve the ways we work. In 2025, my colleagues and I at Sēk Strategies aim to:
⮚ Innovate. Create and implement accountability strategies that meet the moment. Accountability mechanisms ranging from corporate due diligence and reporting directives which promote sustainable business practices to strategic litigation that challenges the ambition or implementation of a government’s overall climate policy and companies’ climate actions are inspirational examples. We seek motivation from these steps toward greater protection and respect for people and the planet and for expanding the realm of possibilities for further success.
⮚ Work collectively to deepen coalitions and movements across issues, actors, sectors, and geographies. Protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and women is crucial to tackling climate breakdown and mitigating against harms by industries that are the primary drivers of the earth’s destruction. Moreover, we can play the unique roles of connector and translator to strengthen and reinforce messaging and reach for greatest impact. This year also presents an unprecedented opportunity to help generate and direct critical funds required to do accountability work to drive that impact.
⮚ Deliver undeniable facts through moving storytelling. By leveraging data, we seek to better define the problems and therefore solutions necessary for greater accountability. To do this we are also developing relationships with storytellers who use visuals and sounds in innovative ways to deliver motivating messages with resonance.
This is a long-term investment in our expertise—supporting our clients’ efforts to reach decision makers with storytelling, data, and language that compels them to act, all while deepening mutual trust with our partners and clients. We continue to support opportunities that drive meaningful impact and if you think we may be able to support your organization, please reach out. Similarly, we recognize and see the incredibly talented individuals facing layoffs and furloughs. Should you be interested in exploring partnership opportunities to deliver our mission to connect investigative findings to practical strategies that drive change—transparency, accountability and the respect and protection of human rights and the environment, please also contact us at info@sekstrategies.com.