Walker Sands Welcomes Three Agency Veterans as Newest Partners
Mike Santoro
2018 has been an incredible year of growth at Walker Sands. So far, we opened a brand-new office in Seattle, won multiple awards for client work and office culture and our headcount is quickly approaching 100 full-time digital and PR experts. With all of this exciting progress, we are thrilled to announce that our leadership team is growing once again with the appointment of three company veterans to partners!
Walker Sands’ newest partners are Chicago PR leaders Allison Ward and Erin Jordan, along with Seattle team lead Annie Gudorf. All three have given so much to the agency over the years and truly exemplify our core values of learning, supporting and getting things done.
At Walker Sands we are proud to have created a culture of constant learning where employees have numerous opportunities to advance their careers. Each with 5+ years of experience at the agency, these three incredible women have climbed the ranks – two from interns all the way to partners – to become true leaders in their respective practice areas.
Annie Gudorf joined Walker Sands in 2012 and worked her way up through media relations and account management roles before heading to San Francisco, then Seattle, to expand Walker Sands’ west coast presence. With client experience that includes CompTIA and Owler, Annie and her team are responsible for some of the agency’s best campaigns – work that regularly receives recognition from the Public Relations Society of America, among others.
Erin Jordan joined the firm in 2012 and has grown to lead the agency’s retail technology practice. In addition to her experience with brands including CloudCraze and Globant, Erin leads Walker Sands’ annual Future of Retail research, now in its fifth year. Erin is a board member at PRC Next, a small group of rising leaders within the PR Council.
Allison Ward joined Walker Sands in 2013 as an account manager after prior experience in both agency and in-house PR roles. As a senior account director managing a book of business across FinTech, electronics and other areas, Allison’s client experience includes work with Newark element14, Worldpay and Billtrust. She also serves as the PR partner for the Illinois Technology Association’s Women Influence Chicago initiative.
By including senior leaders in the agency partnership, we are excited to not only be investing in our employees, but also in the continued success of the company. We are so incredibly proud of these three partners and can’t wait to see where the future takes us!