Daria Torres

Daria Torres is a tech-savvy, proven strategist with over 20 years of global, cross-sector executive experience. As founder and managing partner of Walls Torres Group, Daria has led her firm in serving an extensive portfolio of over 100 esteemed clients, including blue chip Fortune 500 businesses, pioneering technology companies, multi-national philanthropic organizations, and leading academic institutions. Across her consulting career, which began at McKinsey & Company, Daria has played a defining role in a host of ground-breaking deals and market advancements, primarily within the most heavily regulated sectors of the economy. As a former Lockheed Martin Systems Engineer with Top Secret SCI Clearance, Daria also has signature strengths in digital transformation, cyber/information security (DDN certified), supply chain, and risk management. Altogether, Daria is known for channeling vast interdisciplinary expertise to foster sustainable growth and value creation across an extraordinary range of industries and contexts.

As a valued member of the Audit, Risk, Nominations & Governance, and Technology committees, Daria serves on the board of Columbia Bank and its parent company Columbia Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLBK), and she is one of the earliest NACD Certified Directors in the nation. A trusted private company director as well, Daria advises Red Fox Coffee Merchants, a family-run global purveyor of fine coffees from rare origins in South America and East Africa; and previously, Daria was a member of the advisory board at Roshni Rides, a technology driven transportation services platform operating in Karachi, Pakistan. She counseled the co-founders through successive rounds of the Hult Prize competition in which they ultimately prevailed over 50,000 teams from more than 100 countries, securing the seven-figure top prize presented by President Clinton at the United Nations. With a potent mix of technical and business acumen, Daria is also a former Independent Director with Human Resolution Technologies, a privately-held venture specializing in patent-protected health devices. Her guidance helped the company navigate the tumult of COVID-19 and pivot into digital spirometry with zero investor attrition.

Daria translates research and practice into knowledge as a top-rated, award-winning faculty member affiliated with multiple universities. At the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, she has consistently garnered impeccable reviews while lecturing in progressively more advanced levels of the program. During her 10-year tenure with the Rutgers University School of Business at Camden, she was twice recognized at Commencement with a Teaching Excellence commendation, an extremely rare honor for adjunct professors. In similar fashion, courses Daria has designed for the EMBA program at Drexel University and the Executive Education program at UVA are repeatedly among the most popular and highest ranked across the curricula.

A recognized expert on strategy, leadership and governance, Daria has been featured in a number of business podcasts as well as in TV and radio interviews. She also has advised scores of fast-track leaders, entrepreneurs, and start-ups through cohort-based programs convened by Goldman Sachs, Cornell Tech, Camelback Ventures, The Enterprise Center, Philanthropy Network of Greater Philadelphia, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow. Always generous with her counsel, Daria enjoys mentoring rising professionals through her lifetime affiliations with Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Girl Scouts of the USA, University of Virginia Alumni Association, Mensa International, National Black MBA Association, and the National Society of Black Engineers.

Daria has a deeply rooted spirit of social responsibility and is an engaged contributor to individuals, organizations, and communities. She is the Board Chair of Giving Cycle, an innovative experiential youth philanthropy program, and for the University of Virginia Engineering School Board Daria serves on the Finance Committee (Chair/Treasurer, FY24-26). She has also invigorated growth and strengthened impact during her service on the boards of the NACD Philadelphia Chapter, Wharton Black MBA Alumni Association, University of Virginia IDEA Fund, Camden Dream Center, and Holland Scholars Program.

At the University of Virginia, Daria earned high honors and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Systems Engineering, with a double major in Economics. She also holds a Master’s in Systems Engineering with a specialization in Telecommunications from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA in Operations and Information Management from The Wharton School, where she graduated with Director’s List distinction. With a personal mantra of “when is the last time we did something for the first time,” Daria is intrinsically wired for learning and adventure and treasures time with her loving family and many circles of friends.