The Directors to Watch: Racial & Ethnic Diversity Class of 2025 highlights 24 significant and diverse directors who have contributed to and will continue to expand ongoing dialogue on board best practices and corporate governance excellence.
Verdell Walker
Scholastic
Verdell Walker is a seasoned, consumer-oriented marketing and content professional. A master storyteller, she has a proven track record of developing and executing innovative strategies that achieve bottom-line growth and increase brand value.
Walker has held leadership roles at blue-chip brands like Spotify, Mattel and Sesame Workshop. She is regarded by her peers as a thought leader and someone who is highly effective in leading and working collaboratively with teams.
Walker serves on the board of Scholastic, where she sits on the nom/gov and technology, data and supply chain committees.
She received a master's of business administration from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in economics and international studies (Middle East) from Trinity College.
Cybersecurity is every director's responsibility. “All board members must take an active, informed approach to cybersecurity because of the immense enterprise risk involved. Boards play a vital role in working with management to establish an enterprise-wide cyber risk management framework with adequate staffing and funding. Digital security and digital resilience are two different things. Directors should be aware of their organization's capacity for countering cybersecurity incidents while also minimizing disruption to the core business. The board should receive regular updates on cybersecurity metrics, organizational readiness and the information security division's talent bench at all levels.”