About
Rita Hausken is a strategic thinking partner, trusted advisor, and executive coach for women leading work that matters within complex systems.
She gives women carrying high-stakes responsibility a place to think beyond politics, beyond urgency, and into the long-term vision only they can see.
Who I Work With
Founder of Shestainability, Co-Founder of Lean In Equity & Sustainability, and Co-Founder of Women Sustainability Power List, Rita serves on advisory boards for organisations working across climate change, energy transition, and basic human needs.
She works with women in senior leadership - C-suite leaders, founders, and board members holding strategic accountability for organisations in motion. Her clients are navigating political tension, institutional inertia, growth and sales targets, and decisions that affect communities, infrastructure, and long-term impact.
She works across public institutions, global corporations, scale-ups, and early-stage ventures, including leaders connected to the United Nations.
Many carry revenue pressure, delivery expectations, and the responsibility of making the numbers work while still holding the future in view.
Why This Work Is Different
Her ability to influence without formal authority has been tested far beyond business.
She drove cross-system action across healthcare, media, and government, navigating resistance and cost barriers to secure Aldurazyme access in Norway and open treatment pathways for children with Hurler Syndrome.
She also secured life-saving treatment for a young boy with MPS1 in India when options were closing, navigating complex systems across cultures with life and death on the line.
She persuaded leading medical teams in Norway and the UK to attempt pioneering procedures that saved her son Benjamin's life. She also successfully challenged the Norwegian state in court, overturning UNE's decision and setting a humanitarian precedent for exceptional care circumstances.
Guiding Question
"What is this problem designed to solve?"
Recognition and Credentials
With more than three decades of experience across oil and gas, energy transition, and complex negotiation environments, Rita has been recognised among the Top 10 Global Entrepreneurs in Energy Transition and received the CEO Today Executive Coaching Award in 2022.
She is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation, SelectionF Board Certified in board readiness and strategic governance, and holds advanced certifications from iPEC, including Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner (ELI-MP) and COR.E Dynamics Specialist.
She has worked with UN leaders, global energy and technology companies, and women building ventures designed to address urgent global challenges.
The best work often begins with a real conversation.
Her work leaves women leaders clearer in their thinking, steadier under pressure, and more anchored in what matters - able to walk into any room and change the direction of the conversation.
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