Every company in 20 years, when folks of color are the majority of this country, if they do not have a plan to serve this audience with empathy, I believe that they will not exist.
Tristan Walker is the Founder & CEO of Walker & Company Brands. Walker also serves on the Foot Locker, Inc., Shake Shack, Inc., and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Board of Directors. Fortune Magazine named him as one out of 50 of the “World’s Greatest Leaders.” In 2018, Walker & Co. was acquired by Procter & Gamble. Walker became the first Black CEO under the Procter & Gamble umbrella in its 180-year history (founded 1837). His flagship brand Bevel also became a category leader with distribution in Target and Walmart stores across the nation.
Prior to his founding Walker & Company he was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Andreessen Horowitz. Prior to his time at Andreessen Horowitz, he was the Director of Business Development for foursquare, where he oversaw strategic partnerships and monetization. He has also been named a USA Today Person of the Year, TIME 100 Next, Ebony Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful People, Vanity Fair’s “Next Establishment,” Fortune Magazine’s “40 Under 40,” AdAge “Creative 50,” Black Enterprise’s “40 Next.” He is also the Founder of CODE2040, a program that matches high-performing Black and Latino undergraduate and graduate coders and software engineering students with Silicon Valley start-ups for summer internships.
Tristan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stony Brook University, where he graduated as valedictorian, and a MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He currently lives with his wife, Amoy, and two sons, Avery and August, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Yours to Create’s theme and interludes are by Maisie Bull. Yours to Create is produced by New England Innovation Academy.
R. ALLEN BABCOCK, DEAN OF COMMUNITY LIFE
R. Allen Babcock has taught at five boarding schools on three continents, in subjects including acting, directing, musical theater, and theory of knowledge. He is passionate about helping schools transition from diversity language to true cultural inclusion.