Carla D. Walker is the President & CEO of think BIG strategies, llc, Strategic Advisor and Former Chief of Staff to Mayor Mallory of Cincinnati, Ohio. "Think big, follow-through" is the mantra Carla Walker lives by. She is not just an idealistic person. She has a passion for working on dynamic, game-changing initiatives and she has a reputation for success. She has spearheaded large scale civic engagement and public service initiatives at the local, state, national and international levels for more than 15 years. Her career spans nearly twenty years in the fields of government relations, communications, political strategy, stakeholder engagement, and project management. Most notable is her work on creating the U.S. community engagement and advocacy operation for ONE.org, the non-profit co-founded by global advocate and entertainer Bono.

As a member of ONE’s 2005 Live8 team, she organized and led a delegation of 100 U.S. advocates to Edinburgh, Scotland to participate in the actions leading to unprecedented global commitments at the 2005 Gleneagles G8 Summit. In 2004, that network encouraged the U.S. Congress to pass the largest increase in funding for Africa in 40 years. She resurrected that role in 2015, serving as the Senior Manager and Strategic Advisor for the Africa office spearheading Pan African campaigns towards the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. A veteran political strategist, Walker has advised three Mayors, a Caucus of 12 State Senators, held leadership positions in three U.S. presidential campaigns, and has led or advised principles on more than 100 advocacy or candidate campaigns.