Karen Hardy is currently the Director of Risk Management at the U.S. Department of Commerce where she oversees the implementation of the Department’s ERM and Audit Follow up programs.
Dr. Hardy is a known visionary, innovator and influencer for the advancement of Enterprise Risk Management in the Federal government sector. She played a role in the development of ERM in Government and was an architect of public policy, she contributed to authoring Section 270.25-29 “Enterprise Risk Management” in OMB Circular A-11 and language in OMB A-123 which officially introduced the ERM concept to the entire Federal government. Dr. Hardy found and Chaired the Federal government’s Interagency ERM Council, which forged collaborative working relationships across multiple agencies and OMB community. She is the first federal employee to serve as a member of the COSO ERM Advisory Council. Dr. Hardy has made many presentations including at the United Nations Undersecretary Management and served as Senior Advisor for risk management policy at the White House Office of Management and Budget in 2014. She is author of the seminal award-winning textbook “Enterprise Risk Management: A Guide for Government Professionals” (John Wiley & Sons 2014). Dr. Hardy is a founder of the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management and served as a Board Vice President. Dr. Hardy authored the first IBM report on ERM entitled “Managing Risk in Government: An Introduction to Enterprise Risk Management” Over 6,000+ copies of her report have been digitally downloaded. She is skilled at designing and implementing Risk Management frameworks and has done so impacting 39 agencies.