Etoy Ridgnal is a respected Social Impact Strategist, Advisor and Investor with a 20-year history of developing, advising on and leading large-scale social impact initiatives for some of the nation’s largest companies, organizations, influencers and leaders.
Through her social impact agency, Community Advocacy Partners (CAP), she has developed and led social action marketing campaigns for mission-driven film/TV projects like Concussion starring Will Smith (Sony Pictures), Oprah Winfrey’s Belief Series (OWN), Ava DuVernay’s Selma (Paramount) and Half the Picture featuring Ava DuVernay. She has also led civic engagement initiatives for national organizations such as Enroll America, AFL-CIO, the DNC, the DCCC, and Stand for Children.
She currently serves as the Global Head of Strategy & Partnerships for the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation (WJSFF) where she develops social impact strategy and global initiatives for the Smith family in the areas of Arts & Education, Sustainability, Health & Wellness, and Social Empowerment. Since 2016, Etoy has cultivated hundreds of relationships for the Smith Family with foundations, media companies, corporations, NGOs and civic leaders. Generating over $1 million to support the WJSFF’s programs and initiatives.
In 2018, she built strategic partnerships around #WillSmithTheJump which resulted in over $500 million being raised for charity partner Education Cannot Wait through Global Citizen partner country commitments and an Omaze campaign. In 2016, she co-developed and launched the WJSFF Careers in Entertainment Initiative (CIE), which seeks to build a pipeline of the next generation of entertainment leaders by providing access, opportunity, and inclusion to young people from traditionally underrepresented communities.
Etoy currently leads strategy and partnerships on several social impact initiatives within the Smith Family Foundation:
#TOGETHERFUND x WJSFF – a global fundraising campaign to support organizations engaged in critical racial justice work that aligns with the UN Global Goals 10: Reduced Inequalities and 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions and global COVID-19 relief work. LFYTUp x WJSFF – a national initiative to provide free and reduced rides to those impacted by COVID-19 and recent uprisings to jobs and grocery stores in cities with the highest rate of unemployment for African Americans.
I LOVE YOU Restaurant, an initiative to spread love to communities experiencing food and/or housing insecurity by monthly offering items of need, sustainably sourced water, and fresh, high-quality and delicious vegan meals. Since July 2019, I LOVE YOU Restaurant has organized 11 service events on Skid Row and in NYC resulting in the donation of over 160,000 boxes of water in partnership with JUST Water; 10,000 fresh, high-quality, and delicious vegan meals in partnership with Impossible Foods; 1,000 pairs of shoes in partnership with New Balance; 1,000 PPE masks in partnership with New Balance and thousands of clothing items in partnership with MSFTSRep, LEVI’s and Stance.
She also advises on the 501cthree initiative which seeks to provide clean water and climate solutions globally. In 2018, 501cthree launched The Water Box, a mobile water filtration system that uses proven methods to reduce heavy metals like lead and eliminate harmful bacteria from contaminated water producing ten gallons a minute. To date, 4 water boxes have been deployed to Flint, MI with plans to launch its first off-road water box in Uganda in 2020.
A graduate of Scripps College of the Claremont Colleges with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and African-American Studies. Etoy is a student of life and an avid believer in the power of the collective to create the world we want to live in.
She divides her time between Laguna Beach and London with her two amazing children, Truth and Mercy.
