About
Who’s Who
Wilda M. Torres, PhD is an organizational psychologist, executive coach, and President of Evvolution Consulting. With nearly 20 years of leadership experience across global organizations including Procter & Gamble, Merck, St. Jude Medical, and Eli Lilly and Company, she specializes in helping technical and manufacturing leaders transition into senior executive roles. Wilda blends industrial-organizational psychology with practical business insight to strengthen executive presence, influence, and cross-functional leadership. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Universidad Albizu, shaping the next generation of organizational leaders.
Growing up in Puerto Rico, Wilda M. Torres, PhD observed leadership long before she had language for it. She noticed how different styles shaped confidence, motivation, and belonging. Some leaders relied on authority to drive results, while others created environments where people felt seen and capable. The contrast left a lasting impression. It taught her that outcomes could be achieved in many ways, but how leaders guided people toward those outcomes mattered even more. As she would later articulate in her own words, “Leadership meets a human need before it moves a result.” That early awareness became the foundation of a career devoted to understanding leadership as a human experience.
Roots in Curiosity and Community
Wilda’s upbringing in Puerto Rico immersed her in a culture where relationships, resilience, and community are woven into everyday life. Those values naturally aligned with her curiosity about human behavior and performance at work. Drawn to psychology, she pursued formal training in industrial and organizational psychology, eventually earning both her master’s degree and doctorate from Universidad Albizu with academic distinction.
Even as a student, Wilda was less interested in abstract theory and more focused on practical impact. She paid close attention to how leaders influenced confidence, engagement, and belief systems in others. Reflecting on those early observations, she often returns to a guiding belief: “Results can be achieved in many ways, but how we lead people to those results matters even more.” Although she did not initially set out to become a leadership coach, her ability to observe the effect leaders had on people was already shaping her professional path.
From Early Promise to Global Leadership Roles
Wilda’s professional journey began with a defining moment. On her first day as an intern at Procter & Gamble, she felt a deep sense of pride and responsibility. The opportunity felt like a vote of confidence she was determined to honor. She approached the role with consistency, discipline, and care, which ultimately led to her recruitment as a full time employee. That experience reinforced a belief she still shares with leaders today: “People want to do meaningful work and to feel that their contribution matters, regardless of title.”
From there, Wilda built a career across several multinational organizations, including Merck, St. Jude Medical, and Eli Lilly and Company. Over nearly two decades in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors, she held leadership roles in organizational development, talent management, and training. She partnered closely with senior leaders, supported large scale change initiatives, and designed leadership programs that aligned business strategy with people development.
It was during these years that Wilda experienced a pivotal shift in her own leadership. Early on, she believed that delivering excellent results would naturally lead to advancement. Instead, she discovered a harder truth, one she now shares openly with her clients: “Results get you noticed, but influence gets you promoted.” That realization reshaped how she approached leadership and ultimately how she would later support others navigating similar transitions.
Helping Leaders Shift How They Show Up
After 18 years inside global organizations, Wilda transitioned into consulting and executive coaching. Today, she is the president and senior consultant of Evvolution Consulting, where she works primarily with manufacturing and technical leaders preparing for director level and senior roles. Her focus is not on asking leaders to work harder, but on helping them shift how they show up.
Her work is grounded in three core dimensions: clarity, confidence, and connection. She helps leaders simplify complexity without losing substance, communicate decisions with context and intent, and build trust across functions. As she often reminds leaders, “Executive presence isn’t about being right. It’s about being received.” By blending organizational psychology with real world leadership demands, she helps clients move from execution into influence.
The impact of her work is reflected in the words of those she has coached and partnered with. Clients consistently describe her as strategic, deeply attentive, and practical. One former client shared that her coaching created clearer awareness of strengths and blind spots, while another senior leader emphasized her ability to elevate teams through trust, integrity, and thoughtful guidance. These perspectives reinforce Wilda’s belief that influence is not control, but trust in motion.
In parallel with her consulting work, Wilda serves as adjunct faculty at Universidad Albizu, teaching industrial organizational psychology and supervising practicum students. In the classroom, she reinforces the same principle she brings to executive teams: “Leadership is not about changing who you are. It’s about becoming intentional about how you show up.”
Voice and Vision: Leadership as Responsibility
Across her writing, speaking, and coaching, Wilda consistently emphasizes that leadership begins long before a conversation takes place. Understanding context, pressures, and human dynamics is as important as having the right answer. She often summarizes this philosophy simply: “Influence starts before you speak.”
One quote that deeply resonates with her current mission comes from Simon Sinek: “Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.” For Wilda, this idea is not abstract. It is a practical standard that guides how leaders communicate, make decisions, and build credibility. She teaches influence as a skill rooted in awareness, empathy, and strategic intent, rather than authority alone.
A central part of her work involves helping experienced leaders unlearn habits that once drove success but now limit growth. She encourages leaders to practice new behaviors in everyday moments, reinforcing her belief that “Leadership doesn’t change in big moments. It changes in the small, quiet ones.”
Looking Ahead: A Leadership Legacy Built on Intention
Today, Wilda’s work spans executive coaching, organizational consulting, and speaking engagements across the United States and Puerto Rico. Her current focus is on helping leaders and organizations move from theory to practice, strengthening leadership capability, collaboration, and sustainable results. Her vision is clear: to help leaders create environments where people want to contribute, grow, and perform at their best.
To the next generation of leaders, including Gen Z professionals entering the workforce, her guidance is both grounded and forward-looking. Build your technical expertise, but do not underestimate the power of self-awareness, communication, and influence. As she often tells emerging leaders, “Leadership is not a position. It is a practice.”
Editorial Note
Wilda M. Torres, PhD represents a modern model of leadership grounded in clarity, confidence, and connection. Her journey reminds us that influence is built through intention, presence, and care for others. In an era defined by complexity and change, her work offers a compelling invitation to leaders everywhere. Lead with awareness. Practice influence daily. Create the conditions where people and organizations can truly thrive.
