Erica Elliott Richardson is the Chief of Staff to ICI President and CEO Eric J. Pan, as well as the Chief Strategic Communications Officer of the Investment Company Institute. Before joining ICI, Richardson served as a managing director at FTI Consulting, where she led the financial services public affairs practice. Previously, Richardson served as the director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where she was responsible for strategic communications and brand management. Richardson began her career in Washington on Capitol Hill as a communications director with the House Financial Services Committee during the 2007–2009 financial crisis and Dodd-Frank legislative process, prior to serving as the top spokesperson for the Office of the Majority Whip in the House of Representatives. Richardson holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Auburn University and a doctorate in law and policy from Northeastern University; she wrote her doctoral thesis on the potential legislative and regulatory frameworks for virtual currency in the United States.