Edda Collins Coleman

Edda Collins Coleman serves on BPC Action’s Board of Directors and is a trusted advisor and corporate communicator, specializing in executive-level communications and crisis counsel as Principal at Axiom Advisors. Edda brings an extensive media, policy and technology background, previously serving as Managing Director at Cogent Strategies, where she led client development and strategic communications across fintech, energy tech, film, tv & the entertainment sectors.

With more than 20 years of experience as an expert in crisis and policy communications, corporate affairs, and media innovation, Edda creates strategic alliances to advance public policies and impactful initiatives for businesses, NGOs, executive teams and boards of directors. 

Edda is also co-founder of the All In Together Campaign, a non-partisan women’s organization committed to closing the gaps in politics, delivering cross-sector, innovative solutions to advance the progress of women’s political, civic and professional leadership in the United States. 

Her substantial political background includes serving on the staff of Virginia Governor Mark Warner, the Democratic National Committee, America’s Health Insurance Plans, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Polsinelli Law Firm, where she focused on engaging the U.S. Congress via communications campaigns, building healthcare advocacy groups and partnership development. 

An award-winning strategist, Edda has been recognized by ESSENCE Magazine, received the 2016 BMW and MADE Magazine Pay it 4Ward Award, is a 2014 Northern Virginia Alumni of Hampton University 35 for 35 Award recipient, a 2014 RollingOut Magazine’s Female Success Factor, a 2014 Hello Beautiful 25 Women to Know: Crusaders in Healthcare honoree, and she received the Women in Government Relations 2014 and 2013 Co-Chair Recognition Award for Outstanding Leadership. 

A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and the Links, Incorporated, Edda has participated in giving back to her community and civic engagement her entire life. Edda served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth as Board Trustee for a decade and was appointed by Governors Mark Warner (D), Tim Kaine (D) and Bob McDonnell (R), respectively. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America and Women in Government Relations. In addition to BPC Action, Edda is currently a Board Director of Facing History & Ourselves, as well as an elected official serving as Board Trustee of the Orinda Union School District. 

In addition to keynote presentations at Yahoo!, Uber, Lyft, James Madison University, American University, the Mom2.0 Summit, and the Virginia Women’s Conference, Edda’s work has been highlighted in the Washington Post, NPR, Forbes and FORTUNE. A former adjunct professor in the School of Communication at American University, Edda holds a B.A. in Political Science from Hampton University, a Master’s in Communications from Georgetown University and she is a graduate of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. Edda lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children.