I value relationships and building them. That’ s where my strength is
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Change in retail never shows up neatly. Labor availability fluctuates, policies shift with little warning, and decisions ripple across thousands of stores at lightning speed. Legal teams are right in the thick of it. They turn uncertainty into guidance, helping the business take action while staying aware of risk. At The Kroger Co., Anitra Walden-Jacobs steps into that space, where workforce realities meet legal insight.
As corporate counsel, Anitra is part of a sixattorney team supporting labor and employment matters for more than 400,000 associates across the entire company. Anitra also supports the Company’ s immigration compliance efforts and offers guidance on loyalty and rewards programs.
“ I’ m a people person. I love interacting with people. That’ s where I fill my cup, feeling like I’ m helping others,” she shares. Legal guidance needs to work in real situations, not just in theory.
Unexpected path
Anitra never set out to become a lawyer. She started college aiming to be a veterinarian, but the demands of pre-veterinary courses- especially the heavy math- made her rethink her plans.“ I don’ t think I’ ve ever worked so hard for a C minus in my entire life. I realized I might end up hurting more animals than I helped if I kept going,” she admits.
I value relationships and building them. That’ s where my strength is
As she weighed her options, her mother, a lifelong educator who always encouraged Anitra to choose her own path, made one thing clear: she didn’ t recommend teaching. That was enough.“ Out of sheer fear, I just said, I think I’ ll go to law school,” Anitra recalls.
She attended Wittenberg University and Tulane Law School, finishing her degree at the University of Cincinnati. Early on, she dove into workers’ compensation litigation, taking the lead in hearings while most young attorneys were still watching from the sidelines.“ You get in there right away. You are immediately doing hearings, which are like mini trials,” she explains. That experience shaped her approach, demanding quick thinking and firsthand problem-solving.
Mentors soon steered her toward labor and employment law. The shift matched her instincts and values.“ It is very important to me to feel like I can navigate that field, making sure that I’ m not seeing people being marginalized and trying to help,” she shares. At Jackson Lewis, her work expanded in scope and intricacy, bringing a wider range of clients and regulatory challenges.
She next moved in-house at Speedway, shifting from external counsel to direct business involvement and forging internal partnerships.“ I value relationships and building them. That’ s where my strength is,” she says. Her position
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