Sarah-Jane Wakefield
Senior Director, Head of Employee Communication and Engagement
Sarah-Jane Wakefield leads our Employee Communication and Engagement practice at Hawthorn. She specialises in helping leaders and organisations across all sectors navigate the complex and rapidly changing nature of work while nurturing an engaging and productive environment for employees to thrive in.
With over 20 years of experience spanning complex and culturally diverse portfolios and organisations, Sarah-Jane is an experienced strategic and trusted c-suite advisor. She provides honest, constructive, and when needed challenging counsel, and works collaboratively and seamlessly with clients and their teams. With the use of data, insights, her knowledge, experience, and passion Sarah-Jane is committed to helping leaders and companies to thrive. Her focus is on enhancing brand and reputation from the inside out by driving employee engagement through trust, empowerment, inclusion, and communication.
Before joining Hawthorn, Sarah-Jane’s previous roles include Standard Chartered Bank, HM Treasury, and the Bank of England. She has advised FTSE 100 companies, multinationals, c-suites, Bank of England Governors, and government leaders across all aspects of corporate communications. She is a trusted expert for driving employee communication, empowering global large-scale employee engagement, organisational behaviour change, cultural transformation, leadership communications, and CEO transitions.
Sarah-Jane has a keen interest in leadership and believes strongly in professional development. She holds an MBA in Communications and Leadership from Quadriga University in Berlin, a Masters in Health Education and Promotion, and a BA in journalism. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communications and an Accredited Practitioner of the Chartered Institute of PR.
Outside of work, Sarah-Jane enjoys the great outdoors with George – her Miniature Schnauzer, strength training, travelling, and is a regular at her local cinema.
