GCD Coaching - Gabrielle Durisch | Keynote speaker, sustainability & risk expert and board advisory

I've spent more than 25 years inside global organisations, in finance, claims, underwriting and, most recently, sustainability leadership. Today I speak, advise and coach on the questions that keep leaders up at night: how to manage climate, sustainability and emerging risk, how to lead through change, and how to bring people with you.From the House of Insurance at COP30 in Belém to RIMS riskworld in Chicago, I help audiences see sustainability and emerging risks for what they really are: risk, opportunity and a test of leadership.

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Where I've spoken

A non-exhaustive selection of the keynotes, panels and workshops that I have participated in

On the record.

• “We have a moral obligation to increase resilience.” – COP30 keynote, Nov 2025 (translated from CNseg's Portuguese coverage)• “Brands can lose value overnight if they make a wrong move.” – On sustainability and D&O liability, Allianz Commercial, Feb 2025• “...we do not just cover risks for our clients but are actively supporting them in risk prevention and investment decisions." – Allianz Group Sustainability Highlights 2025• “You need to be more inclusive and have people with different opinions, different backgrounds, different experiences, and you need to make sure you’re listening to them.” - On diversity of thought needed within the workplace, Business Insurance Women to Watch panel, December 2024• “It’s not about forcing people to make changes; it’s about providing options.” – Zurich Sustainability Report 2021

Each topic works as a keynote, a moderated panel or a hands-on workshop for a leadership team.

• Climate and emerging risks, and the protection gap – where losses are rising, who is left uninsured, and what it means for economies and communities.• Sustainability is risk management – turning ESG from a reporting exercise into resilience and long-term value.• Boards, D&Os and accountability – what directors need to know about sustainability disclosure, liability and reputation.• Leading through change – career pivots, talent and being seen, drawing on my O.C.Me coaching framework.

• Discuss a speaking event

I bring a chartered accountant's rigour and 25 years in finance and insurance to the board table. That means I can talk risk scenarios, capital and culture in the same meeting, and translate between them.

• Non-executive and advisory – sustainability, risk and audit committees; insurance and financial services boards.• Fractional Chief Sustainability Officer – strategy, disclosure readiness, and turning sustainability into products and partnerships.• Governance experience – Board member of UNEP FI's Principles for Sustainable Insurance; Insurance Development Forum Operating Committee; Member of the Board of Trustees and Risk and Audit Committee for Humanity Insured (a UK-based charity that subsidises insurance to help close protection gaps).• Coaching – Leadership, board, one-to-one and team coaching through GCD Coaching and the O.C.Me framework.

• Discuss a board or fractional role

Planning an event, building a board or curious about coaching?Tell me about your audience, date and format, or the role you're filling, and I'll come back to you within two working days.

A note about coaching: Over the years I've spoken at town halls, client meetings and international conferences, and I've picked up a lot along the way about what helps a message land. That experience now runs through my coaching programmes, where I help leaders find their voice, structure what they want to say and walk into a room, or onto a stage, with confidence.Looking for a coach? Through GCD Coaching I work with senior leaders, ambitious professionals and people navigating big life changes, in Zurich, London and online.

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