# Andrew Cross

> Andrew Cross is the Chicago-based co-CEO of Walker Sands, where he rose from an entry-level public relations role and employee No. 13 to leading the agency's client-facing services. His career joins an old-school belief in hard work and long relationships with a current focus on integrated B2B growth, AI-era discoverability, and connected go-to-market systems.

- **Role:** Co-CEO at Walker Sands
- **Organizations:** Walker Sands, PROI Worldwide, Vistage, Techstars Chicago, Illinois State University
- **Education:** B.A. in Public Relations, Illinois State University
- **Known for:** Rose from an entry-level PR role and employee No. 13 to co-CEO of Walker Sands., Led Walker Sands' largest department before taking responsibility for all client-facing service teams as president., Worked with clients including Grubhub, Sprout Social, Worldpay, Hyperwallet and Oak Street Health.

## Career timeline

- **2010** — Graduated from Illinois State University in three years with a 4.0 major GPA; he was a Presidential Scholar.
- **2011** — Joined Walker Sands in an entry-level public relations role as employee No. 13.
- **2013** — Served as an account director, including work on technology client campaigns.
- **2014** — Named a Walker Sands partner while serving as a senior account director.
- **2016** — Advanced to vice president and partner; began serving as a PROI Worldwide member and ambassador.
- **2019** — Promoted to senior vice president of public relations after overseeing strategy and growth for the Chicago PR group.
- **2021** — Became executive vice president and partner, with broader responsibility across agency services.
- **2022** — Named president of Walker Sands, leading service teams across PR, branding, creative, demand generation, strategy and web.
- **2023** — Appointed co-CEO alongside Dave Parro in a planned leadership transition.
- **2025** — Walker Sands partnered with Mountaingate Capital; Cross also promoted the AI Domain Impact Index as a new approach to earned-media measurement.
- **2026** — Marked 15 years at Walker Sands and led the integration story after the agency joined forces with RevPartners.

## Achievements

- Rose from an entry-level PR role and employee No. 13 to co-CEO of Walker Sands.
- Led Walker Sands' largest department before taking responsibility for all client-facing service teams as president.
- Worked with clients including Grubhub, Sprout Social, Worldpay, Hyperwallet and Oak Street Health.
- Helped oversee PR growth that included a 43 percent revenue increase from 2017 to 2018.
- Was part of leadership during a year when Walker Sands reported more than 40 percent growth and moved from No. 29 to No. 7 on O'Dwyer's technology PR ranking.
- Has spoken at PRSA Chicago, American Marketing Association Connex, Illinois State University's COM Week and CNP Expo.
- Served as a Techstars Chicago public relations mentor from 2013 to 2016.
- Acts as an ambassador to PROI Worldwide, a global network of independent communications agencies.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Shared Walker Sands' 2026 B2B Growth Maturity Assessment, emphasizing alignment among marketing, sales and executive teams.
- **2026-07** — Published a one-month reflection on Walker Sands joining forces with RevPartners, framing the combination around a connected go-to-market operating model.
- **2026-01** — Marked 15 years at Walker Sands and reflected publicly on the three-year commitment that became a long-term career.
- **2025-12** — Announced digital marketing executive George Gallate's appointment to the Walker Sands board after the firm's October 2025 partnership with Mountaingate Capital.
- **2025-07** — Introduced the AI Domain Impact Index publicly as a 0-to-100 framework for estimating earned media influence in generative AI responses.

## Links

- Website: https://www.walkersands.com/about/our-team/andrew-cross/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewinchicago

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/andrew-cross
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-22