#39 – From the Trenches: Policy, People & Care (Erica Shoemate)

This episode brings together policy, intelligence, technology, and lived experience. Josh Peterson sits down with Erica L. Shoemate, MPA, a national security and AI policy strategist whose work spans the FBI, the U.S. Intelligence Community, Big Tech, and frontline maternal health advocacy. Erica offers a rare look at how systems are built — and rebuilt — to protect people, strengthen trust, and ensure equity in both public institutions and emerging technologies.   Her journey from intelligence leadership to AI ethics and maternal health policy reveals the complexity of designing systems that keep humanity at the center. For leaders navigating policy, innovation, or advocacy, this conversation provides clarity, urgency, and a blueprint for responsible impact. 🎙 What We Cover in This Episode   • How national security, AI policy, and ethics intersect • What Erica learned leading intelligence work within the FBI and U.S. Intelligence Community • The reality of shaping trust and safety and digital risk policy inside Big Tech (Twitter, Amazon, Meta) • Why ethical frameworks and human-centered innovation matter now more than ever • How lived experience as a high-risk mom drives Erica’s maternal health advocacy • The mission and impact of the Maternal and Infant Health Equity Coalition with March of Dimes • Systems thinking: translating complexity into clarity and chaos into strategy • Building safety, equity, and trust in emerging technologies 👤 Guest Bio — Erica L. Shoemate, MPA   Erica L. Shoemate, MPA, is a national security and AI policy strategist — a systems builder for safety, equity, and trust. A former intelligence leader with the FBI and across the U.S. Intelligence Community, she later shaped digital risk, trust & safety, and regulatory policy across Big Tech, including Twitter, Amazon, and Meta.   Now, as Founder & Principal of The EN Strategy Group, Erica helps mission-driven organizations design ethical frameworks that keep humanity at the center of innovation. A Global AI Policy Fellow with the AI 2030 Institute and policy architect behind ChatBlackGPT’s MVP, she bridges the worlds of technology, equity, and advocacy — translating complexity into clarity and chaos into strategy.   She’s also a nationally recognized maternal health advocate, serving as Ambassador and Maternal Health Policy Co-Chair (VA Lead) for the Maternal and Infant Health Equity Coalition in partnership with March of Dimes. Her lived experience as a high-risk mom fuels her fight for systems that protect people — not just products.   She leads with empathy, precision, and a futurist lens — turning lived experience into systems-level change. 👤 Guest Links   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-nicole-shoemate/ The EN Strategy Group: https://www.enstrategygroup.com 🚀 Subscribe & Follow BMK Vision   YouTube (Video Podcast): https://www.youtube.com/@beringmckinleyvision?sub_confirmation=1   Learn More About the Vision Platform: https://beringmckinley.com/vision   Apply to Be a Guest: https://beringmckinley.com/bering-mckinley-podcast-blog