Rising Stars of the Profession 2021: Therese Walker

Therese Walker is an experienced management consultant with expertise in leading communication, public relations, strategic communication, and strategic planning projects for clients across the U.S. At Emergent Method, She has led the development and implementation of strategic communication campaigns for some of Louisiana's most visible and impactful infrastructure, environmental, and disaster recovery initiatives.

Currently, Therese serves as the communication director for the largest coastal restoration effort in the history of the U.S., encompassing two one-of-a-kind projects that represent a 3 billion dollar investment into saving coastal Louisiana from rapid land loss. Therese has navigated unprecedented, complex issues to develop effective public relations and communication campaigns that have generated positive press in national publications, improved public sentiment and trust, and developed strategies to help our nation's leaders prioritize funding and support for Louisiana's coastal issues. This unprecedented effort has become a model for other state programs in delivering outreach and communication support for complex infrastructure projects.

As the youngest manager at the firm, Therese has made impressive accomplishments and built extensive expertise in the strategic communication and environmental communication space in a short amount of time through developing multi-faceted communication campaigns and strategic planning for clients of all sizes, scales, and sectors. Notably, she has led the strategy and execution of the communication campaign for one of the country's first structured, voluntary community resettlements, by working with the technical team to develop strategy around community outreach, generating community trust, and working directly with community members to inform program policy. She also served as the communication team lead for several disaster recovery programs, including areas in the state of Texas' disaster recovery program for Hurricane Harvey resulted in nearly 5,000 homeowners receiving assistance.

Therese will tell you that the biggest factor of her success has been defined by her incredible mentors who have taken time to share their experiences with her, teach her, challenge and push her far beyond what she thought she was capable of. "These professionals, colleagues, and friends gave me invaluable career advice by being vulnerable and sharing their mistakes and lessons learned, as well as leading by example and teaching me the value of hard work and earning the respect and trust of a team. Sharing their knowledge and experiences with me has enabled me to be more strategic in how I tackle challenges, be more successful in my ability to deliver results, and instilled confidence in me to be a better leader."

"Every day is a new challenge. I am driven by solving problems for causes I care about and define success as leaving my clients, projects, team, and world better than I found it," notes Therese regarding what she enjoys most about her career in consulting.  "Consulting provides the unique opportunity to tackle complex challenges across sectors, industries, and places in the world that no other career can do. My consulting career challenges how I think forces innovation and pushes me towards continued professional growth. It drives a desire for relentless improvement for myself and my clients and inhibits accepting complacency. Simply put, no day is boring!"

She adds, "With a really small team, we tackle a really big issue. And leading the state and team through it has been the opportunity of a lifetime. Raising awareness to state and national officials, creating trust and transparency among constituencies, and navigating the complex challenges associated with implementing a one-of-a-kind infrastructure project is not something many people can say they've done; I feel really lucky and proud to work with the technical experts that are changing the way we protect and restore communities in our country."

When asked as to the best advice she has been given, Therese responds, "Don't be afraid to be wrong. In the consulting field, our clients expect us to have all the answers for them and to figure it all out…to be their problem solver. But my current manager and close friend once told me that the best solutions come from being vulnerable, welcoming challenge and feedback, and 'never being too smart to be schooled.' Solutions come from those who are willing to be wrong, open to using all the knowledge and resources available to them, and committed to learning from error and being better today than they were yesterday."

"For me, being recognized as a Consulting Rising Star is a shared recognition with the young professionals in this field. Consulting is hard work, and I'd bet most of us feel we lack experience or credentials to do the things that are asked of us. But in spite of that, young consultants continue to accomplish game-changing things every single day. This recognition really is a celebration of every twenty-something who is passionate about their job and stops at nothing to be the best they can be in their field."

What is your proudest achievement to date? "That would be managing one of Louisiana's largest public relations campaigns to address its largest problem: coastal land loss. Stakeholder engagement could not be more important, and developing successful messaging and measures that instill a sense of urgency and responsibility to prioritize protecting a place unlike anywhere else in the world is something I'm incredibly proud of."