Tonya Walley

SVP Field Operations and Vendor Management

Tonya Walley is an accomplished executive leader, keynote speaker, and author whose career stands as a powerful example of resilience, transformation, and purpose-driven leadership. As a first-generation college graduate, she understands what it means to build success without a clear blueprint and has spent her career helping others navigate their own path to growth and impact.

Tonya’s leadership journey began on the front lines of the telecommunications industry, where she worked as a field technician climbing poles, troubleshooting network issues, and serving customers directly. In an industry where few women occupied technical field roles, she earned her place through perseverance, expertise, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Over the course of more than 30 years, she advanced through increasingly complex leadership roles, ultimately rising to Senior Vice President, overseeing large-scale operations, multimillion-dollar budgets, and thousands of employees across the United States.

Known for driving transformational business results, Tonya has led enterprise-wide operational improvements, digital transformation initiatives, workforce modernization efforts, and customer experience enhancements across telecommunications, technology, media, and nonprofit organizations. Her leadership philosophy centers on the belief that leadership begins long before a title is earned. It is built through character, courage, resilience, and the willingness to grow through uncertainty.

In her debut book, Built to Climb: Claiming Your Voice, Power, and Path, Tonya shares lessons learned from her extraordinary journey, offering practical insights on leadership, self-belief, personal growth, and navigating change with confidence.

A recipient of the Most Powerful Women Award, Luminary Award, and other leadership recognitions, Tonya is widely respected for her ability to combine strategic vision with authentic leadership. Today, she speaks to audiences around the world on leadership, resilience, career growth, and personal transformation, empowering individuals to claim their voice, own their path, and build lives and careers with intention.