Aerica Banks is the Public Policy & Social Impact Manager for Pinterest, where she leads federal public policy. Previously, she served on the patent strategy team in Google’s DC office, where she monitored the legislative and legal patent landscape and integrated diversity and equity initiatives into Google’s legal and patent strategy. She was named a 2017 Tech Titan by Washingtonian Magazine and joined the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Social Entrepreneurs. She is a cofounder of BEACON: The DC Women Founders Initiative.

She has also served as Google DC’s black small business liaison, a political appointee in the Obama Administration, worked in government relations for The Pew Charitable Trusts, and advanced environmental justice policies in Washington state. She holds a MSc in Environmental Policy from Oxford University and a BA in Environmental Studies and Public Affairs from Seattle University