Programs

Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett represents the at-large district of the U.S. Virgin Islands in the United States House of Representatives. Plaskett is best known for her understanding of economic development and public-private partnerships. She previously worked at the Justice Department as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division, where she worked on initiatives to increase the number of minority and women attorneys at the Justice Department. She relocated to her ancestral home of the United States Virgin Islands and worked with the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA). At VIEDA, she worked on tax incentive programs and [...]

Edwin Aoki is a PayPal Technology Fellow and the CTO of the PayPal’s Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies (BCDC) unit, where he is responsible for driving sustained growth and innovation in digital asset technology. Previously, he spent nearly a decade as the company’s Chief Architect, tasked with defining the company’s long-term technical roadmap and architecture and advancing the technologies and technologists that have enabled PayPal to become a fintech leader. Before joining PayPal in 2010, Edwin was at Netscape and AOL for more than 13 years as Technology Fellow and Chief Architect, overseeing the architecture and technology strategy for [...]

Anoop Nannra is the Global Blockchain Segment Leader in AWS’ Partner Organization. Anoop is focused on identifying disruptive technologies and accelerating their adoption through business incubation via co-development, co-innovation, and partnerships. Anoop has a proven track record of leadership in corporations and start-ups, delivering world-class innovations in security, optics, media and entertainment, communications, IoT, and blockchain. As AWS’s Global Blockchain Segment Leader, Anoop is responsible for strategy and execution of growing the blockchain partner business with AWS’ global and regional partners. Anoop is also the Chair and Co-Founder of the Open Sustainability Collaborative, a people focused non-profit enabling [...]

Catherine Coley is the CEO of Binance.US, a digital asset marketplace built for easy and secure access to buy, trade, and stake digital assets in America. As a seasoned fintech veteran, Coley comes to Binance.US with combined experience at the crossroads of global capital and cryptocurrency markets. She brings over five years of sales & trading experience from Morgan Stanley Foreign Exchange in Hong Kong and London, combined with her treasury management and cross-border payments experience, growing fast-paced global companies like Silicon Valley Bank and Ripple.   Coley holds a BSBA in Global Business and a minor in Asian studies from the University of [...]

Cuy Sheffield is the Head of Crypto at Visa, leading the global crypto product team within the fintech product organization. Cuy is a fellow at the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute, a co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cryptocurrencies and a member of the advisory group for the Digital Dollar Project. Before Visa, Cuy worked on business development and partnerships for TrialPay, a fintech startup that Visa acquired in 2015. With a career that covers both media and technology, Donald Hawkins applies a diverse mixture of skills to his role as Founder & Chief Executive [...]

Dr. Oriol Caudevilla works as a Management Consultant at AirHelp, Advisor for a Hong Kong-based FinTech company, ixFintech, Strategic Advisor at a Hong Kong-based WealthTech company, ETFCool, Strategic Advisor at Alpha Bright Asset Management (Hong Kong) Strategic Advisor at ScallopX, Scientific Advisor at the Israeli Blockchain Association, Mentor at R3 (Singapore), Mentor at Cyberport (Hong Kong), FinTech Mentor at F10 Incubator & Accelerator (Singapore), Blockchain Mentor at Tribe (Singapore) and also FinTech Mentor at Rise by Barclays (London and Mumbai). Oriol is member of the Blockchain, Digital Banking and Greater Bay Area Committees at [...]

The Center for the Study of Blockchain and Financial Technology (The FinTech Center) at Morgan State University wants you to join us for  the (Virtual) HBCU Blockchain Research and Innovation Conference 2020 on Friday, November 13th, 2020 from 9:30am to 2:00pm and Saturday, November 14th, 2020 from 10am-2pm. The Virtual HBCU Blockchain Research and Innovation Conference, November 13-14, 2020 will provide a forum for the faculty, students, and administrators in the FinTech Center’s HBCU Consortium to hear and discuss the findings of sponsored research and outcomes of sponsored innovative blockchain projects at various HBCUs, such as a podcast series, blockchain [...]

Craig Fischer is an Innovation Program Manager within the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service who is mainly focused on understanding the impact emerging trends and technologies will have on government finance. Craig leads the agency’s blockchain work where he and his team have carried out three proofs of concept over the past three years. Prior to FIT, Craig held positions with a “Big Four” consulting firm, the Chief Financial Officer’s (CFO) Council, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

From biased algorithms and cloaked websites to digital redlining and pay-to-play advertising, today’s internet has not only left behind but further oppressed already marginalized communities. What was once a collaborative ecosystem full of possibility has evolved into a network controlled by tech monopolies that benefits only a fraction of the population. In building the Internet Computer — a nonproprietary, decentralized computing platform — the DFINITY Foundation is dedicated to making it approachable and accessible to all. We invite you to learn more about how the Internet Computer enables the next generation of builders to reboot the internet and champion web-based systems [...]