{"id":4317,"date":"2025-03-28T06:53:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T10:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/speakers\/tracy-walder\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T22:47:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T02:47:55","slug":"tracy-walder","status":"publish","type":"speaker","link":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder","title":{"rendered":"Tracy Walder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tracy Walder shares her incredible true story of a young woman who went straight from her college sorority to the CIA where, as a covert operative for CIA\u2019s Counterterrorism Center, she assumed aliases, thwarted terrorist attacks, and debriefed terrorists at black sites. After the CIA, she went on to become one of the few women to work both at the CIA and FBI, serving as a Special Agent at the FBI&#8217;s Los Angeles Field Office and specializing in Chinese counterintelligence operations. Walder details her riveting journey with audiences, offering her unique perspective of a woman in the male-dominated field of special operations. A TED speaker, Walder expertly discusses a range of topics including national security, foreign policy, education, and the role of women in law enforcement and intelligence and shares her impactful message: don&#8217;t try to change who you are to fit what you think the job wants you to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tracy Walder shares her incredible true story of a young woman who went straight from her college sorority to the CIA where, as a covert [&#8230;] <br \/><a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1709,"featured_media":5738,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"continent":[19093],"gender":[372],"hidden-keyword":[],"location":[174],"topic":[41,56,19096,71,76,78],"speaker-type":[],"class_list":["post-4317","speaker","type-speaker","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","continent-north-america","gender-female-int","location-tx","topic-crisis-management","topic-geopolitics","topic-inspiration-motivation","topic-national-security","topic-resilience-overcoming-adversity","topic-risk-takers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Speaker: Tracy Walder, Former CIA Officer, FBI Special Agent, Educator, and Author | Leading Authorities Speakers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former CIA officer and FBI special agent Tracy Walder shares riveting stories from her life in espionage \u2014 from tracking terrorists to dismantling spy rings. She delivers powerful insights on leadership, resilience, and national security. Book Tracy Walder today for an unforgettable event.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tracy Walder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former CIA officer and FBI special agent Tracy Walder shares riveting stories from her life in espionage \u2014 from tracking terrorists to dismantling spy rings. She delivers powerful insights on leadership, resilience, and national security. Book Tracy Walder today for an unforgettable event.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LAI Speakers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LeadingAuthorities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T02:47:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/walder-tracy-speaker.original.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LAIspeakers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\\\/speakers\\\/tracy-walder\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\\\/speakers\\\/tracy-walder\",\"name\":\"Speaker: Tracy Walder, Former CIA Officer, FBI Special Agent, Educator, and Author | Leading Authorities Speakers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\\\/speakers\\\/tracy-walder#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\\\/speakers\\\/tracy-walder#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/walder-tracy-speaker.original.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-28T10:53:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-23T02:47:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"Former CIA officer and FBI special agent Tracy Walder shares riveting stories from her life in espionage \u2014 from tracking terrorists to dismantling spy rings. She delivers powerful insights on leadership, resilience, and national security. Book Tracy Walder today for an unforgettable event.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\\\/speakers\\\/tracy-walder#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\\\/speakers\\\/tracy-walder\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\\\/speakers\\\/tracy-walder#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/walder-tracy-speaker.original.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/walder-tracy-speaker.original.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\\\/speakers\\\/tracy-walder#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tracy Walder\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\",\"name\":\"LAI Speakers\",\"description\":\"Keynote Speakers Bureau\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk#organization\",\"name\":\"LAI Speakers\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/favicon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/favicon.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"LAI Speakers\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leadingauthorities.com\\\/uk#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/LeadingAuthorities\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/LAIspeakers\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/leading-authorities-inc-speakers-bureau\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/leadingauthorities\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@LeadingAuthoritiesInc\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Speaker: Tracy Walder, Former CIA Officer, FBI Special Agent, Educator, and Author | Leading Authorities Speakers","description":"Former CIA officer and FBI special agent Tracy Walder shares riveting stories from her life in espionage \u2014 from tracking terrorists to dismantling spy rings. She delivers powerful insights on leadership, resilience, and national security. Book Tracy Walder today for an unforgettable event.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tracy Walder","og_description":"Former CIA officer and FBI special agent Tracy Walder shares riveting stories from her life in espionage \u2014 from tracking terrorists to dismantling spy rings. She delivers powerful insights on leadership, resilience, and national security. Book Tracy Walder today for an unforgettable event.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder","og_site_name":"LAI Speakers","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LeadingAuthorities\/","article_modified_time":"2026-06-23T02:47:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/walder-tracy-speaker.original.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@LAIspeakers","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder","url":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder","name":"Speaker: Tracy Walder, Former CIA Officer, FBI Special Agent, Educator, and Author | Leading Authorities Speakers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/walder-tracy-speaker.original.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-28T10:53:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-23T02:47:55+00:00","description":"Former CIA officer and FBI special agent Tracy Walder shares riveting stories from her life in espionage \u2014 from tracking terrorists to dismantling spy rings. She delivers powerful insights on leadership, resilience, and national security. Book Tracy Walder today for an unforgettable event.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/walder-tracy-speaker.original.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/walder-tracy-speaker.original.jpg","width":600,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/speakers\/tracy-walder#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tracy Walder"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk#website","url":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk","name":"LAI Speakers","description":"Keynote Speakers Bureau","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk#organization","name":"LAI Speakers","url":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/favicon.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"LAI Speakers"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LeadingAuthorities\/","https:\/\/x.com\/LAIspeakers","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/leading-authorities-inc-speakers-bureau\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/leadingauthorities\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LeadingAuthoritiesInc"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker\/4317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/speaker"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"continent","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/continent?post=4317"},{"taxonomy":"gender","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gender?post=4317"},{"taxonomy":"hidden-keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hidden-keyword?post=4317"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=4317"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=4317"},{"taxonomy":"speaker-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadingauthorities.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker-type?post=4317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}