Joan Walker brings more than 25 years of experience in major corporations, leading world-class communications and marketing functions, building reputation leadership and brand strength to drive corporate performance. She combines research, marketing, and strategic communications expertise and insights to support companies and their leadership teams through times of change, including M&A transactions, CEO transitions, and corporate crisis. 

Most recently, Joan served as EVP Corporate Relations and Interim CMO for The Allstate Corporation. There she developed and led the company's Reputation Leadership Strategy and Consumer-Focused Reinvention—initiatives that transformed the company into four distinct customer segments, each with a unique value proposition that achieved successful market outcomes. Prior to Allstate, Joan served as EVP at both Monsanto and Qwest Communications, where she helped her former Ameritech CEO lead the firm through a time of acute crisis. In addition to CEO roles in Public Relations and Advertising, she has served on the board of many civic and cultural institutions, including Chicago Public Television, Rutgers University, Northwestern Medill School of Journalism, American Advertising Federation, and The Ad Council.