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Building the decentralized future together

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Board of Directors

BIO Tasker Grey v2
Tasker GeneresVice President, Vision & Innovation, ServiceNow
BIO Pradeep Grey
Pradeep IyerFounder, Satvatma LLC representing atma.io & Avery Dennison
BIO Brian Grey
Brian P. JeffordsInformation Technology Director, Boeing Information Technology
Hh Headshot Brett
Brett McDowellPresident & Chair
BIO Monique Grey v2
Monique J. MorrowPresident & Co-founder, The Humanized Internet
BIO Shyam Grey v2
Shyam NagarajanExecutive Partner, Web3.0 & Sustainability, IBM Consulting
BIO Putter Grey v2
Ian PutterHead Blockchain Center of Excellence, Standard Bank Group
BIO Scott Grey
Scott ThielFounder & Entrepreneur-in-Residence, TOKO by DLA Piper
BIO Tasker Grey v2

Tasker Generes

Vice President, Vision & Innovation, ServiceNow

As a driven digital transformation leader, I developed value added business and technology experiences that delivered measurable revenues as well as savings and ROI. Did this repeatedly for the companies I worked for as well as my customers. I modernized IT and Enterprise infrastructures, optimized processes, maximized resources, and elevated service delivery in complex global environments. I have also been successful in financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and distribution. I hold an MC in Project Management from George Washington University, and a BA in Economics from the University of California San Diego. I am consistently recognized by employers and clients for exceeding expectations. You will also find I excel in translating complex ideas to diverse, non-technical audiences with ease. I was a previous board member of the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) which is very similar to the Hedera consortium and is made up of all the travel and hospitality providers (Hertz, Marriott, Lufthansa, Delta, HP, IBM, Amtrak, and many more.)

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BIO Pradeep Grey

Pradeep Iyer

Founder, Satvatma LLC representing atma.io & Avery Dennison

Dr. Pradeep Iyer currently serves as an executive board member while also representing Avery Dennison’s interest as a council member at Hedera. Particularly in the last 5+ years, he helped shepherd Avery Dennison to embrace Open Innovation, co-created ADventures and co-founded his second “startup”, atma.io, in 2020 – a unique CVC initiative focused on affording every physical item a digital soul to enable a sustainable life cycle. He has been an inventor, innovator and entrepreneur for over 4 decades, co-authoring scores of patents & peer reviewed publications, leveraging his Material Science roots at University of Southern California (USC) as a student of Chemistry Nobel laureate George Olah. Besides serving on various academic advisory boards, his recent energy morphed from “chemistry to crypto” – lured especially by the promise of a digital trust layer leading him to his current board role at Hedera.

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BIO Brian Grey

Brian P. Jeffords

Information Technology Director, Boeing Information Technology

Brian Jeffords is the senior director of Identity & Access Management for the Boeing Company. In this role Brian is responsible for strengthening enterprise access controls and improving credential management capabilities. Brian also leads the cryptographic controls organization (PKI) at Boeing. Brian has over 18 years of experience in Boeing Information Technology and previously led the Cyber Intelligence Tools organization where he was responsible for developing and deploying cyber threat detection tools to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks. Prior to that Brian was the Chief of Staff to the CIO. In this position he was responsible for the overall health of the IT organization specifically focusing on strategic planning and execution. Brian started working at Boeing in 2000 as a developer and has served in various roles throughout IT such as IT program manager for the business partner’s organization to GS&S and the manager for various application development groups. Brian holds bachelors’ degrees in organizational leadership and business administration from Illinois State University. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis.

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Hh Headshot Brett

Brett McDowell

President & Chair

Brett brings over 20 years of IT industry coalition experience, and is the President & Chair of the Hedera Governing Council. He has had founding executive roles at the Kantara Initiative, IDESG, DMARC.org, and FIDO Alliance. In addition, he has extensive multi-stakeholder governance experience, having served on the board or advisory board of MAAWG, NCSA, StopBadWare, and PCI SSC, among other industry coalitions. Brett is a former fellow at the UMASS Center for Digital Government, a former member of the US Federal Reserve Bank's Mobile Payments Industry Working Group and a recipient of the 2019 Top 50 Tech Leaders award from InterCon.

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BIO Monique Grey v2

Monique J. Morrow

President & Co-founder, The Humanized Internet

With over 25 years’ experience as a global technology leader, Monique Morrow is the President & Co-founder of The Humanized Internet, a Swiss based non-profit with a focus on digital identity and ethics in technology. Previously, Monique was the Senior Distinguished Architect for emerging technologies at Syniverse Technologies, where her main role and responsibilities were to provide thought leadership and to develop the strategic direction and vision for Syniverse's emerging technologies across the company, partners, and industry forum. Monique's expertise is in cybersecurity, privacy, mobile payments, ethics in extended reality, and distributed ledger technologies, for example, blockchain. She has worked across the industry including AMD, Ascom Hasler, Swisscom, and Cisco, and has been active in the start-up community. She is also an active member of the IEEE Ethics in Action Executive Committee, as well as Co-Chair of the IEEE Ethics in Action Extended Reality Committee.

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BIO Shyam Grey v2

Shyam Nagarajan

Executive Partner, Web3.0 & Sustainability, IBM Consulting

Shyam Nagarajan, Executive Partner, IBM Web 3.0 and Sustainability currently leads Web 3.0 led transformation efforts for clients across all industries globally. He brings deep expertise in driving business and process transformation for clients. Shyam was one of the early team members that incubated Blockchain within IBM that led to setting up of Hyperledger foundation. Shyam is responsible for growing IBM’s Blockchain networks in core areas such as supply chain, banking, insurance, trading, payments (corporate, retail, healthcare) through disruptive business models, intelligent automation addressing both revenue and cost drivers while helping financial institutions shift towards the new digital age. Shyam has been a featured speaker at World Economic Forum Davos 2022, Consensus 2019-2020 and other Blockchain / Web3 forums. He is also an active advisor to number of Web3 / Blockchain/ Metaverse startups.

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BIO Putter Grey v2

Ian Putter

Head Blockchain Center of Excellence, Standard Bank Group

With over 26 years’ experience in the banking industry and over 5 years’ experience working and collaborating with blockchain companies around the world, Ian brings an immense blockchain knowledge and expert guidance to the team. Ian holds a Master’s Degree in Banking and Economics from the University of Pretoria and a Honours and CTA from University of Johannesburg and is also a qualified Chartered Accountant. Ian Putter is a future-focused Executive at Standard Bank, the largest financial institution in Africa, where he heads up Blockchain focusing on multiple use cases and platforms some in production and some starting - working and collaborating with local and global experts.

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BIO Scott Grey

Scott Thiel

Founder & Entrepreneur-in-Residence, TOKO by DLA Piper

Scott Thiel is the founder and entrepreneur-in-residence of TOKO, an enterprise-grade tokenisation engine and digital asset management platform. Scott advises clients around the world on all aspects of tokenisation and its application in digital capital markets; and was responsible for helping TOKO to structure the first debt tokenisation transaction in Asia. Scott was formerly Asia Head of DLA Piper’s Global Technology and FinTech sector initiative; and was a leader within DLA Piper’s recently launched “Blockchain and Digital Assets” practice group. He is also the firm’s representative on the Hedera Hashgraph Governing Council – a next generation public distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure through which DLA Piper is hosting a node. Scott is also a non-executive director of the Blockchain Think Lab, Hedera Hashgraph, and the HBAR Foundation.

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Meet the team

HH Headshot NK Background
Andrew AitkenChief Open Source Officer
Chava Headshot
Salvador AveldañoFinance & Business Intelligence Lead
Kate headshot
Kate BallDirector of Legal Operations & Senior Counsel
Betsabe please replace current one on website
Betsabe BotaitisChief Financial Officer & Treasurer
Hh Headshot Sam Background V2
Sam BrylskiChief Regulatory Counsel and Compliance Officer
Mikecave Headshot
Mike CaveDirector of Technical Programs
Alvaro Headshot
Alvaro EscobedoJunior Financial Controller
TEAM Alex
Alex PopowyczChief Information & Chief Information Security Officer
Nilmini Headshot please replace one on website
Nilmini RubinChief Policy Officer
Jenna
Jenna SalterOperations Manager
Gregory Schneider Headshot
Gregory SchneiderDeputy General Counsel
TEAM Tom
Tom SylvesterGeneral Counsel & Secretary
HH Headshot Ian Background
Ian UtileChief of Staff
Vanessa Headshot
Vanessa ValentineManager of Committee Operations
Brad Headshot
Brad WellsDirector of Risk & Compliance
HH Headshot NK Background

Andrew Aitken

Chief Open Source Officer

Andrew Aitken is a veteran in the open-source sector, having served as an open-source adviser to the White House, guest lecturer for Stanford’s Entrepreneur Program and founder of the industry’s only open-source think tank, and acts as the Chief Open Source Officer of Hedera. Most recently, Andrew was the global open-source leader at Wipro Technologies, championing open-source adoption for enterprises and delivering business value through open-source services and solutions. Aitken is an elected member of the Board of the Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS) and previously served as Wipro Board Adviser at the Open Source Security Foundation and the Linux Foundation Networking project. He was also on the board of OSEHRA, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating open-source health reporting. Andrew helped many of the industry's leading OEMs and ISVs develop their open-source strategies along with numerous startups and enterprises.

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Chava Headshot

Salvador Aveldaño

Finance & Business Intelligence Lead

Salvador is a finance professional specializing in the convergence of finance, blockchain, and data science, and is the Finance & Business Intelligence Lead at Hedera. His job at Hedera entails leveraging financial analysis to fiat and on-chain data. One of his primary responsibilities is to assist the CFO and the CoinCom Committee in modeling and providing analytics to aid in long-term planning and network sustainability, contributing to Hedera's Token Economics. He collaborates closely with the leadership and engineering teams to enhance data reporting and analysis, ensuring internal stakeholders can easily consume complex information and facilitate decision-making. Salvador is a Finance and Systems Management graduate from the University of Guadalajara. He specialized in Financial Econometrics and earned multiple scholarships to study at the University of Melbourne to expand his expertise and global perspective. Before joining Hedera, Salvador spent four years in the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and Fintech sectors, working with Uplift in the U.S. and Kueski in Mexico. These experiences honed his business modeling, unit economics, data analysis, and forecasting skills. Salvador's diverse backgrounds give him a unique perspective and problem-solving abilities he now brings to Hedera.

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Kate headshot

Kate Ball

Director of Legal Operations & Senior Counsel

Kate is a corporate and technology attorney with a background in venture capital and entrepreneurship law, and is the Director of Legal Operations & Senior Counsel at Hedera. Drawing from her experience helping companies build and scale, Kate directs the legal operations function at Hedera and serves as Senior Counsel with a focus on governance and transparency. Personally, Kate is active in her local entrepreneurial community. She has organized Startup Week events, judged Startup Weekend, guest lectured at university business law clinics, advised a state tech transfer initiative, and served as a mentor and speaker for various startup programs. Kate enjoys building with visual development platforms and has built several web applications to experiment with productizing and scaling legal services. Prior to joining Hedera, Kate worked as an associate at Latham & Watkins in Washington D.C., completed two federal clerkships in the Southern District of Ohio, and practiced law with a small startup boutique. Kate earned her JD in 2009 from Notre Dame Law School, where she was voted “best sense of humor” in her graduating class.

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Betsabe please replace current one on website

Betsabe Botaitis

Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Betsabe is an internationally accomplished strategist and fintech executive with over 15 years of experience ranging from large financial institutions to blockchain and cryptocurrency startups, and acts as both the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Hedera. Prior to joining Hedera, she held various senior positions at renowned and leading-edge companies including Uplift (leading Buy-Now-Pay-Later ("BNPL") in travel), Kueski (Mexico’s largest BNPL), Lending Club, and Citigroup. Betsabe has developed a clear vision and roadmap for digital transformation in Finance and Accounting and has led this digital journey at several companies. She also served on the advisory board of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, is a fellow for the British America Project, and is a member of Hipower, a network of executive women leaders in Silicon Valley. Above all, Betsabe is a passionate advocate for economic equality. Her interest and work in blockchain started in 2016. It was the perfect evolution of her quest to find technologies that help advance financial inclusion and create market efficiencies.

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Hh Headshot Sam Background V2

Sam Brylski

Chief Regulatory Counsel and Compliance Officer

Sam Brylski has a decade of experience counseling digital asset and distributed ledger technology companies across all legal areas, with a focus on the novel application of existing regulations and the rapidly developing regulatory frameworks designed for new, innovative business models and activities, and acts as the Chief Regulatory Counsel and Compliance Officer for Hedera, advising on regulatory risk, engaging in strategic planning, implementing compliance programs, and contributing to public policy efforts across the globe. Sam has influenced and implemented a culture of compliance in previous roles, including as the General Counsel at ShapeShift, a global digital asset exchange. Prior to that, he developed compliance policies and procedures in the Investment Banking Division of Cantor Fitzgerald. Sam earned his BA in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and his JD from the University of Minnesota Law School.

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Mikecave Headshot

Mike Cave

Director of Technical Programs

Mike brings over two decades of experience in leading technology-driven organizations of diverse sizes, ranging from co-founding a tech startup, to mid-size blockchain scale-ups, to large established investment banks, and is the Director of Technical Programs at Hedera. He has played a wide range of integral roles on derivative trading floors at four tier-one investment banks, involving interest rate trading, software engineering, and program and product management. Mike holds the title of a Chartered Financial Analyst and a postgraduate degree in Computer Science. He places great emphasis on iterative agile project management methodologies and continuous improvement strategies. At Hedera, Mike is involved in delivering numerous technical programs, as well as playing a key role in both the Technical Committee (which steers the underlying product - Hedera), and the Corporate Utilization Committee (which steers applications built on Hedera).

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Alvaro Headshot

Alvaro Escobedo

Junior Financial Controller

With an extensive background spanning more than a decade, Alvaro has cultivated expertise in accounting practices within the Mexican context, and acts as the Junior Financial Controller at Hedera. Alvaro provides essential assistance to the VP of Finance and the CFO by overseeing daily accounting tasks and facilitating the reporting of pertinent information. He has assumed roles of responsibility encompassing general accounting, tax compliance, payroll administration, and audit coordination. Notably, he has actively contributed to the implementation of various systems such as payroll software, Microsoft Dynamics, Odoo, and comprehensive reporting tools tailored for effective financial management.

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TEAM Alex

Alex Popowycz

Chief Information & Chief Information Security Officer

Alex is the Chief Information Officer of Hedera and is charged with the technical operations of the network in close partnership with Hedera's member operators, ensuring the sustainable evolution of capabilities to the network while maintaining its core attributes of speed, fairness, and security. Prior to joining Hedera, Alex was the CIO at Health First, a multi-hospital integrated health system. He previously held several technology leadership positions at Fidelity Investments, with primary responsibility for cybersecurity and standards. Among his industry leadership roles, he chaired the technology working group of the Financial Services Roundtable, was appointed to the federal government’s Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board where he was a key contributor to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and was instrumental in the development of the SAML 2.0 and DMARC standards frameworks. Alex began his career as an Air Force officer, is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, and holds an MBA from Bentley University and several patents for cybersecurity technologies.

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Nilmini Headshot please replace one on website

Nilmini Rubin

Chief Policy Officer

Nilmini Rubin has over 20 years of experience in international technology, energy, and democracy policy and acts as the Chief Policy Officer at Hedera. Previously, she lobbied on cybersecurity for the Information Technology Industry Council and contributed to Meta’s policy programs team. Nilmini led Tetra Tech’s global division implementing energy and internet projects that resulted in millions of people gaining access to electricity for the first time. She served as a senior aide at both the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee where she spearheaded the passage of legislation to provide electricity access in Africa, increase global internet access, and reduce corruption through transparency. As a Director at the White House’s National Security Council, Nilmini helped secure agreements on non-proliferation, international health, and foreign aid. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an advisor to the Women's Democracy Network.

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Jenna

Jenna Salter

Operations Manager

With 14 years of experience assisting high-level executives in their endeavors to transform start-ups into thriving, well-functioning enterprises, Jenna has accumulated a wealth of expertise within executive support, and acts as the Operations Manager at Hedera. She supports the Chief of Staff in running day-to-day operations, event management, HR Functions and the project management office. Fueled by her love for writing, Jenna earned a Journalism and PR degree from University of West London, UK. Jenna further enhanced her knowledge with diplomas in Global Business Management, Project Management, and Operations Management. Her passion for blockchain earned her a certificate in Decentralized Finance at Duke University.

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Gregory Schneider Headshot

Gregory Schneider

Deputy General Counsel

Gregory is a crypto attorney focused on furthering individual freedom and human rights in the digital world, and acts as the Deputy General Counsel at Hedera. He previously served as Deputy General Counsel for Desert Financial Credit Union, the largest credit union in Arizona. Before that, he was a Senior Associate at Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, where he was co-lead counsel for two jury trials, and successfully defended a $200+ million defamation case involving one of the U.S.'s largest self-regulatory organizations from the trial court through the Supreme Court. He spends his free time writing theCod3x.com, a free crypto law treatise. Gregory received a BA in English from Grinnell College and a JD from the University of Arizona.

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TEAM Tom

Tom Sylvester

General Counsel & Secretary

Tom was previously the Senior Director of Policy & Strategy at Tamkeen, a company that plans, develops, and delivers education projects–including New York University Abu Dhabi–on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi, and acts as both the General Counsel and Secretary of Hedera. Before that, he was an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York, where his practice focused on M&A, private investment funds, and general corporate matters. Tom also currently serves as the chair of the board of directors for Braver Angels, a non-profit organization that brings liberals and conservatives together to reduce polarization. Tom received a BA in Social Studies from Harvard University and a JD from Yale Law School.

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HH Headshot Ian Background

Ian Utile

Chief of Staff

Ian is a seasoned leader with a mission to drive the development of innovative technologies with an ambition to influence billions of people, and acts as the Chief of Staff of Hedera. He derives fulfillment from supporting dynamic teams that transform tech concepts into tangible solutions. His enthusiasm for technology's potential is infectious, inspiring those around him. His unique blend of strategic practicality and passionate vision garners respect from his colleagues and makes him an effective leader. With a track record of co-founding eight ventures and being an entrepreneur in residence four times, his entrepreneurial spirit is unquestionable. Beyond his corporate commitments, Ian imparts knowledge as a guest lecturer at several colleges and co-produces influential tech events like NFT.NYC, VOICE of AI, and CES. Over time, he's fostered a vast global network through delivering passionate keynotes and interviewing more than a thousand AI and Web3 industry leaders. A ten-generation resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, with his ancestor Lt. Moraga founding San Jose in 1777, Ian's Silicon Valley roots run deep.

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Vanessa Headshot

Vanessa Valentine

Manager of Committee Operations

Vanessa is an accomplished professional with a proven track record in senior executive assistant roles, supporting C-level executives at renowned organizations such as Hedera, Swirlds Labs, Raley's, and Mercedes, and acts as the Manager of Committee Operations at Hedera. With over 14 years of experience, Vanessa's expertise lies in operations, project management, and administration, where she excels in driving efficiency, process improvement, and meticulous attention to detail. Her wealth of knowledge stems from working closely with esteemed executives, gaining invaluable insights and honing her skills. Vanessa holds a degree in Business from APUS, an Associates degree from Sierra College, and a Project Management certificate, demonstrating her commitment to professional growth. With her exceptional skills in operations and keen eye for detail, Vanessa is a valuable asset in ensuring seamless committee operations and driving operational excellence.

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Brad Headshot

Brad Wells

Director of Risk & Compliance

Brad is responsible for the risk and compliance program for Hedera and throughout its ecosystem, and acts as the Director of Risk and Compliance at Hedera. Brad is a risk and compliance professional with over 15 years of experience leading internal and external programs supporting risk management, compliance operations, physical security and due diligence. Prior to joining Hedera, he spent the majority of his career supporting various startups and financial sector companies managing compliance operations across North America, Latin America, and Europe building processes, leading special projects/programs, enhancing procedures, and leading teams across various operational functions. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, Brad was introduced to the cryptocurrency and the blockchain industry in 2011 and has advocated support for the industry since its early days.

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