Dr. Patricia Walker is currently engaging urban high school students in service, advocacy and education through CASID-related programs. She is also an Adjunct Professor in U.S. Foreign Policy at Columbia College Chicago. Dr. Walker received her doctorate in international economic development from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts; a masters degree in economics from New York University and a masters degree in international relations from Schiller International University in Paris, France. At the Loyola University of Chicago she received a bachelors degree in history.

Her interest in global affairs began at an early age while growing up in her native Chicago. Working extensively in various parts of Africa, Dr. Walker created culturally appropriate surveys, designed and evaluated U.S. foreign assistance programs. She speaks French having lived and studied in Paris, France as well as in Rome, Italy.

Dr. Walker founded The Center for Art and Spirituality in International Development (CASID), a non-profit organization in 1999. CASID has conducted numerous workshops for staff at the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank. CASID uses art and innovative research to help international development professionals fully use their character, values and self-awareness to increase the effectiveness of foreign assistance programs.

In 2005, CASID launched Chicago Youth for the Millennium Development Goals (CYMDG) as one of its global education initiatives. The program has educated over 1000 Chicago Public High school students about poverty alleviation in developing countries. This program educates students about critical problems facing populations in the world's poorest countries. It gives students concrete opportunities to be advocates for change and social justice by engaging in a range of advocacy and artistic activities based on the issues addressed by the Millennium Development Goals.

As a research associate at the Harvard Business School, Dr. Walker co-authored a study on the global poverty sector and a study on marketing's role in addressing the poor as a customer. She co-authored an article entitled, Collaborating with Congregations: Opportunities for Financial Services in the Inner City� which was published in the Harvard Business Review.

In educating international professionals and students in the critical problems of extreme poverty, hunger, child deaths, environmental degradation to name a few, Dr. Walker strives to incorporate art to raise awareness. She has performed professionally on stage and television in the United States and Italy. She serves as a consultant to Chicago-area arts organizations. She presented in Aviles, Spain to at the Aspen Institute's conference on cultural diplomacy. In April 2007, Dr. Walker produced, Artists of Foreign Policy, a show at Columbia College Chicago that presented and addressed foreign policy issues through multidisciplinary art forms.

Dr. Walker received the distinguished, Chicago Foundation for Women 2011 Impact Award. Dr. Walker is the recipient of the Board of Governors Federal Reserve System Fellowship and the National Science Foundation Fellowship. She is a member of the Blue Key Honor Society and Phi Alpha Theta. She has given presentations at the Ford Foundation West Africa Bureau, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, American University, and Northwestern University Graduate School of Business Administration. She has facilitated workshops for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank and provided training to entrepreneurs in Benin, West Africa and to UNDP staff in St. Lucia, West Indies. Dr. Walker volunteers with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Sister Cities International Program. She is an active participant in the Alumni admissions program at her Alma Mater University and serves as a Chicago Ambassador for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.