Our courses focus on compliance and organisational culture, but with an edge - the human edge.

You might be required to follow or implement rules at work, like codes of conduct, but not really believe in them.

So, in Simon Sinek's words, we Start With Why.

In each of our courses - leadership, ethics, bullying, sexual harassment, inclusivity, corruption - we start with the why.

If you come from compliance or HR, you would find this useful to emulate for your own training. And if you need extra support, then head over to Speak Up Academy where you will find likeminded change makers from all around the world, supported by our thought leaders.

If you are an employee or a freelancer, you may find our courses helpful as you navigate workplace culture.

Speak Up for Leaders


We firmly believe leaders intend to do the right thing. Yet business and stakeholder pressures can cause leaders to make decisions which don't always align with their values or behave in ways which are toxic to people around them.

Leaders' conduct and decisions are far reaching impacting the work culture - one that is open and healthy, or closed and fear-based.

We support leaders to address potential toxic behaviours and pressure through our courses and dialogues. The Authentic Leader's Journey is designed to help leaders address stress, chart challenging situations and communicate in a healthy way even while under severe pressure.

Speak Up for Change Makers and Compliance


If you’re in Legal, Audit, Risk, Ethics & Compliance, Finance, HR, HSE, QA, Security or similar function, you are the moral conscience of your organisation. You need to uphold the rules and walk the talk. But it’s not always easy when tension arises between compliance, business and operations.

In the Goldman Sachs talk below, Animah Kosai highlights how compliance people in two banks were sidelined, even seen as “overkill” in the interest of getting deals done, specifically ones which brought in high revenue.

With each talk Animah has given through the years, she has found herself surrounded by executives and heads of compliance functions, eager to share their own personal frustrations when they are trying to uphold ethics and anti-bribery policies. 

It’s exhausting, often lonely, and unable to fight every battle, most have to pick the ones they can win. The fear of retaliation is real and some have been fired.

Speak Up Circles

At Speak Up, we want to support you do your job. This is why we are introducing Speak Up Circles for the Compliance Community in the first quarter of 2021. 

Animah will facilitate the Circles for 8 x 90 minute sessions, held via zoom every two weeks. In each session, we will discuss an issue where you get to share your own experiences and explore solutions. Issues include normalisation of rule breaking, strategies in dealing with resistant decision makers and how to handle pressure and interference from above. Yes, you get to learn new concepts in the Circle, but most importantly, you will feel supported and energised, as you make meaningful change within your organisation. Register your interest here.

Goldman Sachs and 1MDB.... Compliance and Institutional Betrayal

Discover how a global investment bank enabled one of the world's biggest financial heists as compliance looked away. Goldman Sachs was penalised record fines in the US ($2.3B for FCPA violations) and record fines in Hong Kong and Singapore for failing to investigate clear red flags... from the Malaysian prime minister to Hollywood.

We can offer similar talks in-house to create awareness and facilitate discussion among your decision makers. Let us know here.

Speak Up for Employees

Our training courses aren't your ordinary HR or compliance based training. Like you, we want to see meaningful change and design our courses to shift perspectives.

Our courses for employees address:

  • Business ethics
  • Sexual harassment and other forms of harassment including workplace bullying

Enquire with us if you're interested in online training for your organisation by emailing [email protected]