HIT Strategies is a millennial- and ethnic-minority-focused public opinion research firm based in Washington, D.C. HIT Strategies specializes in polling and developing messaging for controversial left-of-center issues, most notably critical race theory and the “defund the police” movement. ¹

Founding

HIT Strategies was founded in 2019 by Terrance Woodbury and Roshni Nedungadi, coworkers at the now-defunct Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies. Like HIT Strategies’ current mission, Brilliant Corners focused on polling and developing marketing strategy to African American communities. ²

Activities

HIT Strategies offers polling, analytics, and messaging services to primarily left-of-center companies and organizations. HIT Strategies’ services have been utilized by numerous Democratic campaigns and organizations, such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and businessman Tom Steyer’s failed 2020 presidential bid. ³ HIT Strategies claims that its messaging to African-American voters caused Tom Steyer’s surprise third-place finishes in South Carolina and Nevada. ⁴

As of February 2022, HIT Strategies has been hired by four Democratic campaigns for the 2022 midterm elections: South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mia McLeod, Maryland gubernatorial candidate Mike Rosenbaum, Arkansas Gubernatorial Candidate Chris Jones, and Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin. ⁵

It also provides polling and market research services for left-of-center nonprofits, corporations, and campaigns to include Black Lives Matter, the SEIU, the Human Rights Campaign, Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight, the Sierra Club, Amazon, and Ben and Jerry’s. ⁶

On its website, HIT Strategies also publishes its monthly “BlackTrack” report, a monthly survey of Black Americans and their opinions on political and social current events. ⁷ Its “FutureTrack” report is still listed on the website, but it has not been updated since February 2021. ⁸

Leadership

The CEO and founding partner of HIT Strategies is Terrance Woodbury. Prior to founding HIT Strategies, Woodbury worked at Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies and was a program coordinator at the Brookings Institution. ⁹

Woodbury’s biography on the HIT Strategies website claims that he has worked “numerous campaigns at the local, state, national, and international level, holding every position on a campaign except the candidate.” ¹⁰ On his resume, however, it appears that his domestic campaign work was limited to his time as a volunteer student organizer at Morehouse College; the bulk of his work was abroad, as he consulted for a year with the Democratic National Alliance political party in the Bahamas. ¹¹

In an interview with entertainment magazine Upscale, Woodbury likened the backlash to the results of the 2020 presidential election with “the Ku Klux Klan” and Jim Crow laws. ¹²

1. ^[1] Caslin, Yvette. “Hit Strategies Millennial CEO Terrance Woodbury Reimagines Political Dynamics and Research.” Upscale Magazine, November 12, 2021. https://upscalemagazine.com/hit-strategies-millennial-ceo-terrance-woodbury-reimagines-political-dynamics-and-research/
2. “Hit Strategies -Shaking up the Political Industry.” Heart & Soul, August 12, 2021. http://www.heartandsoul.com/politics/hit-strategies-shaking-up-the-political-industry/.
3. “Our Clients.” Hit Strategies. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://hitstrat.com/our-clients/.
4. “HIT Strategies .” Hit Strategies. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://hitstrat.com/.
5. Caslin, Yvette. “Hit Strategies Millennial CEO Terrance Woodbury Reimagines Political Dynamics and Research.” Upscale Magazine, November 12, 2021. https://upscalemagazine.com/hit-strategies-millennial-ceo-terrance-woodbury-reimagines-political-dynamics-and-research/.
6. “Our Clients.” Hit Strategies. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://hitstrat.com/our-clients/.
7. ^[1] “Blacktrack.” Hit Strategies. Accessed February 9, 2022. https://hitstrat.com/blacktrack/.
8. “Futuretrack.” Hit Strategies. Accessed February 9, 2022. https://hitstrat.com/futuretrack/.
9. Woodbury, Terrance. “Terrance Woodbury – Linkedin.” Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrance-woodbury-614b7bb4.
10. “Terrance Woodbury.” Hit Strategies. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://hitstrat.com/member/terrance-woodbury/.
11. Woodbury, Terrance. “Terrance Woodbury – Linkedin.” Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrance-woodbury-614b7bb4.
12. Caslin, Yvette. “Hit Strategies Millennial CEO Terrance Woodbury Reimagines Political Dynamics and Research.” Upscale Magazine, November 12, 2021. https://upscalemagazine.com/hit-strategies-millennial-ceo-terrance-woodbury-reimagines-political-dynamics-and-research/.