Lobbying World

• LendUp, an online company that bills itself as an alternative to payday loans, added two members to its staff: Jesse Silverman as head regulatory counsel and Jotaka Eaddy as the company’s new head of government affairs. Silverman most recently worked as an attorney in the enforcement division of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he focused on small-dollar regulations. Eaddy previously served as senior adviser to the president and CEO of the NAACP and coordinated efforts with outside partners.

• The Financial Services Roundtable brought on Adam Rice as communications director and Jon Evans as senior manager of digital strategy. Rice had worked as the communications director to Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas). Evans formerly served as a digital strategist at GOP ad firm Targeted Victory and worked on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign as deputy director of content.

{mosads}• Podesta Group has promoted David Marin to managing principal of the firm’s growing PR practice, where he will lead strategic communications efforts for clients. The firm also hired Hastie Afkhami, a former senior vice president of the global strategy team for Social@Ogilvy, to serve as a senior vice president and director of digital. 

• Carla Koppell has been named the vice president of the Center for Applied Conflict Transformation at the U.S. Institute of Peace. The center is “focused on the resolution and transformation of violent conflict in fragile states.” She previously worked as the chief strategy officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development and as the USAID’s first senior coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.

• Holland & Knight brought on Nicole Elliott, a former Internal Revenue Service senior adviser for the Affordable Care Act, to serve as a partner in its public policy and regulation group. Elliott was the top official responsible for overseeing ObamaCare implementation at the agency, after having helped negotiate various parts of healthcare reform as the bill moved through Congress.