Kiah Calmese Walker

Senior Vice President, Change Management Service Line Lead

With three decades in the healthcare industry, Kiah Calmese Walker brings Jarrard clients deep experience in enterprise transformation.

A proven “problem solver” with specialized knowledge in hospital operations, human resources, learning and development, cultural development and systemic alignment, Calmese Walker has earned a track record helping healthcare organizations design and deploy change management solutions to drive advancement, agility and adaptability.

Before joining the firm in 2024, Calmese Walker held various change agent roles at UW Health in Wisconsin, where she first developed a unique skillset for leading organizational development and transformation initiatives through human resources training and education. There, she played an integral role in advancing EHR platform implementations, patient experience frameworks, onboarding and enculturation and work management system deployments. Upon transitioning into leadership, Calmese Walker applied her systems-thinking, experience-based design approach to launching UW Health’s East Madison community hospital. As part of the senior leadership team, she led support services departments and partnered with physician leaders to establish an award-winning patient-centered culture.

Since 2018, Calmese Walker’s work advanced the joint operating agreement (JOA) between UW Health and UnityPoint Health-Meriter. During the pandemic, she simultaneously served as operations director for both supply chain divisions, managing shortages, supplier conversions and workstream alignment redesigns. Based on her success leading recovery efforts and restructuring in matrixed environments, she was recruited by UPH-Meriter to help operationalize their HR Modernization strategy.

Calmese Walker earned her bachelor’s in Sociology/Anthropology from Carleton College, focusing on the impact of medical mistrust dynamics on marginalized patient populations. She holds an Executive MHA from the University of Minnesota and has served on local Accountable Care and Service Organization boards.

Worth Knowing:

1. Sang with Lyle Lovett on stage – not once, but twice
2. Capable of holding entire conversations referencing favorite movie quotes
3. Loves ALL things Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars