‘Core’ is where you build resilience.

Context: Sustainability is no longer about goodwill - it is about resilience and business continuity. Environmental and social risks now directly affect asset protection, supply chains, and the ability to operate in a climate-disrupted world.

Why ‘core’: ‘Core’ refers to proactive risk management, accountability, strategic disclosures, strong governance, and focused operations. These are the building blocks upon which long-term resilience, sustainable value creation, and stakeholder trust are built. Companies that embed sustainability in the ‘core’ early, gain competitive advantage.

Race against time: Starting now means you are building adaptive capacity while you have options, resources, and time. Wait, and you will make desperate, expensive decisions under pressure with limited choices.

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Our Services

Strategic Foresight and Risk Management

Equipping teams with forward-looking insights on emerging risks and disruptions to strengthen governance, resilience, and long-term value creation.

  • Materiality insights shaping strategy

  • ESG global regulatory horizon scan

  • Pragmatic regulatory strategy & action plan

  • Beyond compliance & points of differentiation

  • Research and actionable insight into sustainability issues

  • Sustainability intelligence briefings

Sustainability Disclosures

Developing decision-useful, investor-ready and pragmatic disclosures. Turning complex datasets into impactful executive insights.

  • Disclosure strategy development

  • Reporting against ESG regulations and voluntary frameworks

  • Impact-led reports

  • Data quality and assurance preparation

  • Audit trails and evidence maps

  • Content and design principles for AI-ready disclosures

Corporate Governance and Accountability

Supporting teams in strengthening governance, oversight and accountability to enhance organisational integrity and stakeholder confidence.

  • Senior execs engagement

  • Governance Committees & Board preparation

  • Cross-functional ESG governance mechanisms

  • Executive briefings on regulatory trends

  • Stakeholder workshops

  • Sustainability governance roadmaps

Operationalising Sustainability

Embedding sustainability into governance and culture, ensuring it becomes an integral part of decision-making and business performance.

  • Translating technical compliance gaps into operational roadmaps

  • Practical controls & mitigations for IROs

  • Regulatory requirements - functional training

  • Anti-greenwashing - functional training

  • Benchmarking and defining ambition levels

  • Sustainability communication plans

Sustainability Readiness for SMEs

Helping SMEs build practical sustainability capabilities and meet evolving stakeholder expectations.

  • Awareness sessions

  • Sustainability maturity assessments

  • Setting the ESG basics: approach, governance, team, reporting

  • Practical KPI and data collection frameworks

  • Responding to supply chain requests

  • Responding to investor requests

  • First steps into ESG disclosures

Who We Are

20+ years

delivering sustainability globally

Sustainability is a rapidly evolving strategic priority. In a noisy environment, long-term success depends on strong fundamentals. A clearly defined ‘core’ provides direction, sharpens the focus, enables early risk identification, and turns theory into action. This is why CoreWorks was established - to help you focus on getting the foundations right.

Our Founder

edie Awards

led a two-time edie award-winning team

Our founder, Elena Zayakova, spent the last 20+ years future-proofing businesses at the intersection of strategy, sustainability, governance, and regulation. Her approach is focused, pragmatic, and proportionate.

Over the last two decades, Elena approached sustainability and business resilience from several different perspectives – as a researcher, as a management consultant, as a strategist, as an in-house expert in a FTSE 100 business.

She had worked from Bulgaria to UK, and from North America to multiple countries in the Middle East & North Africa, leading teams and award-winning work, and building a solid network of global sustainability experts.

Elena was named among the 50 Leading Bulgarians in the UK Tech Industry in 2025 – an initiative led by the Bulgarian Angels Club, Bulgarian British Chamber of Commerce, and the Embassy of Republic of Bulgaria in London.

FTSE100

leadership and C-suite engagement

Education and Certifications

Elena graduated from University of Leeds, UK with a MSc in Sustainability: Environment & Development, and from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski with MSc in Environmental Biotechnology and BSc in Ecology & Environmental Protection.

Certifications & memberships:

  • Member of the Sustainability Committee at the British Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce (BBCC)

  • Integrated Reporting, ACCA

  • AI for Business Transformation, Imperial College London

  • Oxford Women's Leadership Development Programme, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

International

client list

Clients Elena had worked with

Europe

A.P. Moller–Maersk, Allianz SE, AngloAmerican, Adidas, BSkyB, Coca-Cola Enterprises, De Beers, EY, Experian, GSK, Nestlé, Novartis, Phoenix Group, Sage Group, Sony, Santander, Tullow Oil, Tetra Laval

Middle East & North Africa (MENA)

Bank Muscat, Chalhoub Group, Kahramaa (Qatar’s General Electricity & Water Corporation), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

North America
Hasbro, PVH, P&G, Pfizer

Engagement models

Fractional Sustainability Leadership

Offering senior sustainability leadership on a fractional basis, integrating with executive and board structures to guide strategic direction, governance frameworks, performance oversight, and stakeholder reporting.

Senior Strategic Advisory

Providing trusted senior expertise to consulting firms requiring additional executive-level capacity for strategic client mandates. Supporting programme delivery and independent strategic reviews.

Hands-on Project Execution

Delivering hands-on senior programme leadership, taking full ownership of programme execution. Working across strategy, data and reporting architecture, governance, and organisational change to ensure measurable outcomes.

Technical Subject Matter Expert

Providing deep expertise in specific areas such as sustainability reporting and disclosures, ESG data readiness, sustainability assurance, communicating complex topics for internal and external audiences.

Critical Friend

Challenging assumptions, reviewing programmes and disclosures, conducting readiness assessments, and providing board-level second opinions before key decisions or external reporting.

What People Are Saying

“Working with Elena was invaluable in the development of our sustainability service offering. What sets Elena apart is her rare ability to combine thoughtful, strategic insight with a genuinely hands-on approach. She doesn’t just help her clients shape the vision and roadmap; she actively rolls up her sleeves to drive progress, solve problems, and ensure initiatives are delivered effectively.

Elena’s deep understanding of sustainability, coupled with a pragmatic and collaborative style, helps translate ambition into meaningful action.”

- Thom Newton, Global CEO,‍ ‍ Conran Design Group

“Some people are excellent listeners and some people are excellent at taking action. Elena is that rare type of person who combines both. She will listen deeply - noticing things said and unsaid - to fully understand what's needed, and then deliver it to a high standard time and time again. This is her superpower as both a leader and a strategist, and something that I've had the pleasure of witnessing every time I've been lucky enough to work with her.”

- Nicolas Heath, EMEA Partner, ERM

“I had the pleasure of working closely with Elena for several years at a sustainability consultancy in London. I can confidently say that she is one of the most knowledgeable sustainability professionals I’ve worked with. She combines deep technical expertise with strategic thinking and an exceptional level of diligence.  Her work is always thorough, well-considered, and delivered with total reliability. Beyond her professional strengths, she is a joy to work with - collaborative, thoughtful, and fun. ”

- Karen Deignan, Co-Founder, SustainabilityWorks

“Elena is a trusted sustainability advisor to senior leadership. She brings strong judgment on regulatory alignment and translates heavy data into disclosure that’s comprehensive and genuinely useful. Her commitment to rigour helped raise the quality of reporting at Sage and made for an Edie Award–winning sustainability report!”

-Rachel Madan, CEO, Megaphone & Quill, Former Executive Director for Sustainability & Impact, Luminous

Contact Us

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