Jotaka L. Eaddy is the founder and CEO of Full Circle Strategies, LLC - a social impact consulting firm committed to advancing transformative change and global impact.
Described as the “Olivia Pope of Silicon Valley” by Forbes Magazine, Jotaka is a dedicated and seasoned strategist with more than 20 years of experience in policy, advocacy, and movement building.
Within her current practice, Jotaka works with clients including corporate, non-profit, foundations, technology and government organizations seeking to advance policy, ideas, and change. Jotaka has led regulatory, legislative, and social impact initiatives at the federal and state level for leading non- profits and within the C-Suite of leading technology companies, helping to bridge the gap between Washington DC and Silicon Valley.
Most recently Jotaka served as Vice President of Policy; Strategic Engagement, and Impact for LendUp. Within her capacity, Eaddy served as a member of LendUp’s Executive Management team and represented LendUp's regulatory, legislative, and social impact initiatives at the federal and state level. Eaddy's team was responsible for measuring how LendUp's products benefited consumers, such as saving customers more than $200 million in fees and interest, and creating a series of financial education courses that have been viewed more than 2.1 million times.
As one of the few black women that has served in the C-Suite of a Silicon Valley based company, Jotaka is a passionate advocate for increased diversity and impact metrics in the tech sector. Committed to social impact and social justice; Jotaka serves as a board advisor to several tech start-up companies including Maker’s Row, Inc.; Gauge, Inc., Tech Dojo, and Hustle, Inc. From 2009-2014, Eaddy served as Senior Advisor to the President and CEO and Senior Director for Voting Rights for the NAACP. Within that capacity she directed external affairs and strategic initiatives on behalf of the Office of the President and CEO and led the NAACP’s strategy to defend and expand voting rights. Under Jotaka’s leadership – the NAACP played a pivotal role in a wide array of voting rights initiatives including: changing the Delaware State Constitution to expand voting rights to people with felony convictions, stopping the spread of voter suppression laws such as photo id, and secure the voting rights of more than 300,000 citizens with felony convictions in the state of Virginia through an executive order signed by the Governor.
In addition to domestic advocacy, Jotaka has lobbied within various international forums including the United Nations Human Rights Council, African Union, the Organization of American States, and Council of Europe, among others.
In 2004, Jotaka directed the national lobby and international advocacy campaign against the juvenile death penalty in the United States. Those efforts contributed to the 2005 landmark US Supreme Court decision Roper v. Simmons which abolished the juvenile death penalty in the United States and was supported by an amicus brief signed by more than 50 nations.
A noted speaker and advocate, Jotaka has traveled extensively, serving as a guest lecturer and strategist on human rights and social impact at various institutions and universities covering 49 states and 25 countries.
As a student at the University of South Carolina, Ms. Eaddy served in a number of leadership capacities, including tenure as student representative on the University’s Board of Trustees. As a student senator, she authored legislation and coordinated strategies that resulted in the passage of the University of South Carolina’s student resolution calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House Dome. Most notably, Ms. Eaddy was elected Student Body President, becoming the first black woman to be elected to the position in the University of South Carolina’s 213-year history and the first black woman elected to such a position in the state of South Carolina.
Eaddy is the receipt of several honors and awards including: SF Times Bay Area Most Influential Women in Business, 40 under 40 Silicon Valley Tech Diversity, Rainbow Push Outstanding Public Service Award, Root 100 Most influential African Americans, Essence Magazine Woman to Watch, My Carolina Association Outstanding Black Alumni, Midwest Academy Heather Award, Empower Magazine Political Rising Star, University of South Carolina College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Young Alumni, among others.
She serves on several boards including: University of South Carolina Alumni Association (Board of Governors), Marijuana Policy Project, and Board Advisor to Gauge, Inc., Makers Row, and Hustle, Inc.
Jotaka’s work has been highlighted in several publications including: Forbes Magazine, TechCrunch, Inc., Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Guardian, Essence Magazine, Fortune Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine, Root 100 Most Influential African Americans, Politics365.com, MSNBC, CNN, Al Jazeera America, Aspire Network, Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, BET, The Nation Magazine, Democracy Now, the Art of Activism, Black America Web.com, the American Prospect, among others.
