Madalyn Klika

I grew up in Kentucky and started at the University of Kentucky studying organizational communication. During my undergrad, I was vice president of the Communication Honor Society and created a man-on-the-street documentary exploring how communication is essential to every job. I also completed an undergrad thesis on how cell phone usage influences effective communication. After studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain for 6 months, I pursued my master's at the University of Amsterdam, which was ranked number two globally for communication schools. I was one of four Americans in a program of 200 students from all over the world, and I completed a thesis on how cultural intelligence and cultural competence influence your ability to manage uncertainty through adapting your communication style. My career began at KFC during COVID, where I helped create KFC Strong, a Facebook group that now has 10,000 members connecting team members across the country. I then moved to Yum! Brands doing crisis communications, monitoring everything from protests in South Africa to salmonella outbreaks globally. I spent time at Edelman, the number one PR firm globally, doing executive communications for clients like PayPal, ServiceNow, and Liquid IV. I moved to Bentonville, Arkansas to be near my sister and joined Walmart's legal communications team, supporting our Chief Legal Officer and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. I helped celebrate the Act with Integrity Award, which honors employees who demonstrate exceptional ethical courage. I then moved to Walmart International sourcing communications, where I tell stories about our 22 sourcing offices worldwide. I've traveled to Costa Rica to pick bananas and cut pineapples, and to South Africa for our Growth Summit with small businesses from 13 African countries. I'm currently pursuing a master's degree at Georgetown in international business and policy while continuing my work at Walmart.