Brownstein Welcomes Adama Iwu to its State Government Relations Team

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is pleased to announce Adama Iwu has joined the firm as a policy director in the State Government Relations Group. She will be based in the Washington, D.C., office.

“We are delighted to welcome Adama to the firm,” said Doug Friednash, chair of Brownstein’s State Government Relations team. “She brings a unique blend of policy expertise and strategic thinking that will be a tremendous asset to our clients navigating the complexities of state and federal government. Her contributions will be key to strengthening our 50-state approach.”

Iwu most recently served as vice president for political strategy and external partnerships at Visa Inc., where she oversaw the Visa Political Action Committee and worked with internal and external stakeholders to develop and implement Visa’s legislative priorities at the federal and state levels. She previously held roles at Visa in government engagement, emerging payments solutions, Visa Government Solutions and Visa Business Solutions.

Iwu also worked at Farmers Insurance, where she served as head of California government affairs and managed the company’s political, legislative and regulatory agenda. She also has experience with Advance America, California Assn. of Physicians Groups and the State of California. She began her career as a fellow in the Schwarzenegger administration working on health care policy.

In October of 2017, the Los Angeles Times published an open letter—led by Iwu and signed by over 140 women—on the pervasive culture of sexual harassment, discrimination and assault in politics. This resulted in the creation of the We Said Enough Foundation, whose mission is to eliminate bullying, harassment and assault in the workplace. In December of 2017, Time magazine recognized Iwu as a Silence Breaker and featured her on the cover of its People of the Year edition.

Iwu earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego.