Aerica Shimizu Banks (she/her) is a strategist, policy expert, and advocate with twenty years of experience advancing intersectional equity in nonprofit, government, and the private sector. As Director of Intersections of Our Lives, she leads the collaborative’s work to advance reproductive justice through policy advocacy, narrative change, and power-building.
Previously, Aerica founded Shiso Consulting, an intersectional equity consulting firm. She was also a political appointee in the Obama Administration and led equity and social impact initiatives at Google and Pinterest, where she led federal affairs and later became a tech whistleblower. Working in coalition, her advocacy helped pass California’s Silenced No More Act, inform the Algorithmic Accountability Act, and contributed to President Biden’s First 100 Days agenda. A Truman, Udall, and Weidenfeld Scholar, Aerica has been named a Forbes Under 30, a Washingtonian Tech Titan, and to The Root 100. She holds an MSc in Environmental Policy from Oxford University and a BA from Seattle University.