Speakers & Presenters
Invited Speakers
Ashley N. Scott
Ashley N. Scott is a lawyer and public policy professional specializing in regulatory and legislative frameworks for emerging technologies. At Circle, she works with policymakers and other stakeholders across the political spectrum to advance policies supporting the responsible growth of blockchain technology and digital assets. Before joining Circle, Scott led global policy at Lime, the micromobility company. Her responsibilities covered regulatory frameworks and operations in more than 150 jurisdictions across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. She previously served as an attorney for the City of Atlanta. She holds a law degree from Emory University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida. Washingtonian named Scott to its 2026 Tech Titans list, which recognized her work in digital asset policy.
Ebony M. Thompson
Ebony M. Thompson is Baltimore’s first woman and first openly gay City Solicitor, unanimously confirmed by City Council. She leads the nation’s first municipal initiative to apply blockchain to land records and vacant-property disposition, and advises on tokenization, real-world assets, and public-sector FinTech governance. Under her leadership of the Law Department, Baltimore secured $668M+ in opioid recoveries, a $62M verdict against a ghost-gun dealer, and a precedent-setting Polymer80 settlement. Former Interim Chief of Staff to the Mayor, Thompson also authored local consumer-protection reforms. A Brown University Economics alum and USMC Reserve veteran, she brings cross-sector expertise spanning finance, technology, and urban revitalization.
Cleve Mesidor
Cleve Mesidor is Executive Director of Blockchain Foundation, a nonprofit leading an industry-wide education campaign, and a Forbes contributor. A blockchain and digital assets expert, she previously served as Public Policy Advisor to Blockchain Association and is a Mayoral appointee to the DC Innovation and Technology Inclusion Council. She speaks at major technology conferences worldwide, including Money20/20, SXSW, and CES, and was featured in the PBS documentary Crypto Decoded. Mesidor served in the Obama Administration as Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Economic Development Administration, advancing economic programs and public-private partnerships supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. She also held senior communications roles in Congress. She is the author of THE CLEVOLUTION: My Quest for Justice in Politics & Crypto, holds a master’s degree from Howard University, and began her broadcasting career at CNN’s Washington Bureau.
Presenters
Tawfiq M. Abu-Raqabeh, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Alcorn State University with more than 25 years of higher education experience. He holds a Ph.D. in Accounting, a master’s degree in accounting, and a Bachelor of Commerce degree. His scholarship examines contemporary issues in accounting, financial reporting, auditing, taxation, cryptocurrency, corporate bankruptcy, and business management. Dr. Abu-Raqabeh is an accomplished researcher, conference presenter, and award-winning educator committed to academic excellence and student success.
Paper: Using Artificial Intelligence in Accounting: Transformations, Challenges, and Future Direction
Michael Anton is CEO & AI Research Lead at Midas Invest LLC. He architects enterprise-grade AI inference infrastructure, multi-LLM consensus evaluation systems, and quantitative trading frameworks. His research spans AI evaluation design, perceptual intelligence (SPI), and FinTech signal generation. He holds MBAs in Auditing, Banking & Securities Law, and International Marketing, plus FINRA Series 57, 63, SIE, and NFA Swaps Proficiency licenses.
Paper: Ensemble LLM Consensus Architectures for Deterministic Trade Signal Generation: An Empirical Study of Multi-Persona AI Panels in Retail FinTech Applications
Akash Dania, Ph.D., is Professor of Finance at Delaware State University, specializing in AI and FinTech, real estate finance, data analytics, and quantitative methods. His experience spans academic leadership, program development, grant and contract evaluation, applied analytics, and project consulting, complemented by extensive teaching, research, and peer-reviewed publications.
Paper: Can Artificial Intelligence Improve Credit Decisions? Evidence from Large-Scale Lending Data
Dr. Weizheng Gao is a faculty member in the Department of Business and Technology at Elizabeth City State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics. His research focuses on artificial intelligence, FinTech, cybersecurity, and pedagogy, emphasizing interdisciplinary technology integration to advance institutional financial resilience and student success.
Paper: Engaging HBCU Students in Active Learning for Blockchain, FinTech, and Generative AI: A Human-Centered Pedagogical Framework
Dr. Chibuike Chiedozie Ibebuchi is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Morgan State University, with a joint appointment at the Center for Urban and Coastal Climate Science Research. His research focuses on machine learning, explainable artificial intelligence, probabilistic forecasting, and data-driven decision-support systems for financial, climate, and environmental applications.
Paper: StockForecastGenie Pro: A Volatility-Aware Machine Learning Decision-Support System for Short-Horizon Equity Index Forecasting
Dominique Jones is an MBA student at Alabama A&M University, specializing in strategic management and emerging technologies. She has presented at numerous academic conferences, and looks forward to presenting at the HBCU Blockchain & FinTech Conference as she continues advancing research that supports innovation and representation in technology‑driven fields.
Paper: Financial Inclusion in the Age of AI: Opportunities and Risks for Underserved Communities
Imran Jahid Khan is an M.S. student in Information Systems and Computer Security at Tuskegee University and a Graduate Research Assistant studying reinforcement learning, AI security, and blockchain-anchored resilience for cyber-physical systems. His recent work appears in the ICICT and AIIoT 2026 proceedings, and he plans to pursue doctoral research on resilient cyber-physical systems.
Paper: Blockchain-Anchored Detection and Recovery for Resilient Reinforcement Learning-Based Cyber-Physical Systems
Raymond Mbam is a doctoral student and a graduate researcher in the Department of Computer Science at Morgan State University. His research focuses on explainable and interpretable AI and human-centered design, with applications in finance and healthcare. He holds a master’s in Interaction Design from George Washington University and brings interdisciplinary experience across AI and design.
Paper: Making Monetary Transactions Feel like Natural Conversations: A Conversation Design Framework for Banking UX
Triet M. Phan, Ph.D., is a researcher affiliated with North Carolina A&T State University, specializing in artificial intelligence, financial technology, predictive analytics, and intelligent decision-support systems. Her academic and professional experience spans AI-driven financial forecasting, accounting and finance, technology management, and the development of browser-based analytical platforms.
Paper: AI-Powered Comparative Analysis of the Top Five Cryptocurrency Assets Using Real-Time Market Data
Dr. Abena C. Primo is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Huston-Tillotson University. Her research applies artificial intelligence to cybersecurity, privacy-preserving machine learning, behavioral biometrics, and financial technology. An IEEE Senior Member, she has led blockchain and FinTech education initiatives supported by Morgan State University’s FinTech Center.
Paper: The Safety Exposure Paradox: How Frontier Al Safety Research May Amplify Cyber Risk in Financial Infrastructure
Dr. Mohammad Abdus Salam serves as the Chairperson of the Department of Computing, Information and Mathematical Sciences, and Technology (CIMST) at Chicago State University (CSU). His research expertise spans wireless sensor networks, wireless communication, information and coding theory, data visualization, machine learning, and cybersecurity. He has taught a wide array of computer science and engineering courses and has contributed significantly to scholarly literature, authoring numerous journal articles and conference proceedings. He is a member of ACM and a senior member of IEEE.
Paper: Integrating Blockchain and AI for Secure and Scalable Financial Transaction Monitoring
Dr. Vojislav Stojkovic is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Morgan State University. His recent research focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) specifically Generative AI, AI Agents, and Agentic AI. With 40+ years of academic and research experience, he has published extensively and earned many awards, grants, and professional recognition.
Paper: A Unified System for Intelligent Financial Fraud Detection
Rezoan Sultan is a graduate researcher in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Morgan State University. His work spans explainable AI, algorithmic fairness, financial inclusion, and cybersecurity, with recent projects on fairness-aware credit-risk modeling and on the trustworthiness of AI explanations in security applications.
Paper: Engineering Trust in Algorithmic Lending: Explainable, Fairness-Aware Credit Risk Modeling for Financial Inclusion
Arthur Wharton is an Associate Professor of Accounting & Finance at the Reginald F. Lewis College of Business at Virginia State University. His research interests are securitizations and accounting disclosures.
Paper: Corporate Crypto-Asset Disclosures and Liquidity Policy: Evidence from SEC 10-K Filings
Rofiah Omolara Akanni is a Graduate Assistant and MSc. Data Analytics and Visualization student at Morgan State University’s Graves School of Business. With over four years of experience in data analytics and fintech, her research focuses on data-driven financial personalization, governance frameworks, and generative AI in financial services.
Presenting: Emerging Research “Lightning Talk”: Leveraging Data Analysis for Personalized Financial Services
Dr. Mojeed Olamide Bello is an engineer and researcher affiliated with Morgan State University. His research focuses on smart grids, renewable energy, power systems, resilience, cybersecurity, machine learning, blockchain analysis, and emergency management. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer and Electrical Systems Engineering and has extensive experience in engineering research, teaching, and STEM education.
Presenting: Emerging Research “Lightning Talk”: Adv-Mitigation Strategies of False Data-Intrusion Injection Attacks on Loadflow-Smartgrids Via The Blockchain
Dr. Karlisha Booze-Cutts is an Assistant Professor of Marketing and Marketing Coordinator at Fort Valley State University. A journalist, researcher, and entrepreneur, she brings over a decade of higher education experience and expertise in business, media, AI, FinTech, blockchain, and emerging technologies shaping today’s financial services workforce.
Presenting: Emerging Research “Lightning Talk”: Evolving Compliance and Using Artificial Intelligence in Business Organizations: Insights for HBCU Colleges and Universities
Israel Carter is a second-year Finance student at Morgan State University, an AltFinance Fellow, and the founder of Project Primacy Foundation. She is passionate about finance and is researching how technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence could be used to expand access to wealth management and investing, among other things.
Presenting: Emerging Research “Lightning Talk”: The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain in Expanding Financial Inclusion for HBCU Students and Underserved Communities