The Global Blockchain Business Council Expands Global Reach to 76 Jurisdictions and Disciplines with the Appointment of 2021 Ambassadors

Geneva, Switzerland, 17 February 2021

The Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), the leading industry association for the blockchain technology ecosystem, is proud to announce the appointment of its 2021 Ambassadors, officially expanding the organization’s global reach to 76 jurisdictions and disciplines. 

The group of GBBC Ambassadors is an exceptional collection of super-connectors, innovators, and changemakers hailing from diverse backgrounds – with an emphasis on technology, governance, law, finance, civil society, and academia. Since its inception, the GBBC has relied on its global Ambassador network to expand the organization’s global community, presence, and impact. GBBC Ambassadors act as trusted advisors to the GBBC’s leadership and members, providing invaluable guidance and assistance on how to engage with diverse global communities to carry out the GBBC’s mission to the highest of standards.

The 130 GBBC Ambassadors span 6 continents, 68 jurisdictions, and include subject matter experts in the fields of Art, Music, and Entertainment, Science and Technology, Environment, Education, Healthcare, and Data Security. With the inclusion of several first-time Ambassador appointees, the GBBC’s global presence will grow to include 18 new jurisdictions: The Bahamas, Balkans, Bangladesh, Colombia, Cyprus, Ghana, Gibraltar, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Luxembourg, Morocco, Niger, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Serbia, Spain, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

For an overview of GBBC’s activities and membership, read GBBC’s newly released 2021 Annual Report.

Sandra Ro, CEO, Global Blockchain Business Council, said: “Blockchain technology’s development and progress is rooted in mass, global collaboration. As such, the GBBC has worked tirelessly, since its inception four years ago, to grow and develop a diverse network of builders, leaders, and pioneers who represent some of the top talents in their respective jurisdictions and areas of expertise.

Our 2021 cohort of Ambassadors is a culmination of these efforts, and exemplifies the global community required to develop the next multi-trillion-dollar industry and build more secure, equitable, and functional societies, during this watershed moment in history. The GBBC is honored and humbled to work with such a diverse group of luminaries.” 

GBBC Ambassadors by Jurisdiction and Discipline:

1. Afghanistan: Roya Mahboob, President, Digital Citizen Fund

2. Art, Music & Entertainment: Travis Cloyd, CEO of Worldwide XR; Futurist in Residence and the Director of iSTAR (Immersive Studio for Altered Reality) at Florida International University

3. Art, Music & Entertainment: Matt Sorum, Co-Founder, STHORM; Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Grammy Award Winning Musician; Former Drummer, Guns N’ Roses

4. Australia: Michael Casey, Chief Content Officer, CoinDesk; Senior Advisor, MIT Media Lab on the Digital Currency Initiative; Co-Founder and Chair, Streambed Media

5. Australia: Dr. Jemma Green, Co-Founder and Chair, Power Ledger

6. Australia: Leanne Kemp, Founder and CEO, Everledger

7. Australia: Paula Taylor, Co-Founder, West Tech Fest

8. Austria: Astrid Schober, Chief Information Officer, Wien Energie GmbH

9. Bahamas: Michael Clare, Economist, The Ministry of Finance of The Bahamas

10. Bahrain: Sheikh Mohamed Al-Khalifa, Sector Head, ICT, Bahrain Economic Development Board

11. Bahrain: Tala Fakhro, Chief Project Officer, Bahrain Economic Development Board

12. Balkans: Maya Vujinovic, Managing Director, OGroupLLC

13. Bangladesh: Brigadier General Md Nasim Parvez, Director General of System & Services Division of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) 

14. Barbados: Gabriel Abed, Founder, Abed Ventures; Founder, Bitt

15. Belgium: Sebastian Vos, Partner and Chair of Global Public Policy, Covington & Burling LLP

16. Bermuda: The Honorable E. David G. Burt, JP, MP, Premier, The Government of Bermuda

17. Bermuda: Denis E. Pitcher, Chief Fintech Advisor to the Premier of Bermuda

18. Bolivia: Karen Korponai, Founder, Korponai Consulting

19. Brazil: Fernando Carvalho, CEO, QR Capital

20. Brazil: Paula Guedes, Founder and CEO, Jobzi

21. Brazil: Veronica Allende Serra, Founding Partner, Innova Capital

22. Bulgaria: Talimka Yordanova, CEO, Global Citizen Forum

23. Canada: Tanya Stephens, Senior Innovation & Technolgy Leader, Procter & Gamble (P&G)

24. China: Yifan He, Founder and CEO, Red Date Technology; Executive Director, BSN Development Association

25. China: Dr. Michael Sung, Chair, CarbonBlue Innovations; Founder and Co-Director, Fudan Fanhai Fintech Research Center (FFFRC)

26. Colombia: Mario Castaño Gonzalez, Technical Director, CINTEL

27. Cyprus: Antonis Polemitis, CEO, University of Nicosia

28. Data Security: Noah Baalessanvu, Founder and Head of Technology Business, CryptoSavannah

29. Data Security: Tarique Barkatullah, Director, Bangladesh Computer Council

30. Denmark: Michel Avital, Professor, Copenhagen Business School

31. Ecuador: Ernesto Kruger, Founder and CEO, Kruger Corporation

32. Education: Dr. Aisha Bushager, Chairperson, Computer Engineering Department, University of Bahrain

33. Education: Dr. Mohd Hwaidi, Lecturer in Law, University of Dundee

34. Education: Locknie Hsu, Professor of Law, Singapore Management University

35. Education: Dr. Sanjeev Khagram, Director General and Dean, Thunderbird School of Global Management

36. Education: Robert Sicina, Professor and Co-Director, Kogod’s Blockchain Hub, American University

37. Environment: Captain Don Walsh, Ocean Elder; Founder, International Maritime Inc.

38. Environment: Gigi Brisson, Founder and CEO, Ocean Elders; Co-Founder and Partner, Attractor Ventures;

39. Estonia: President Toomas Henrik Ilves, Former President of Estonia

40. Estonia: Kalle Palling, Co-Founder and COO, Cachet; Former MP and Chair of European Union Affairs Committee, The Parliament of Estonia

41. France: Mariana Dahan, Founder and CEO, World Identity Network

42. France: Vanessa Grellet, Executive Director, Global Partnerships and Alliances, ConsenSys

43. Georgia: George Kikvadze, Executive Vice Chairman, The Bitfury Group

44. Germany: Bernhard Kowatsch, Head of Innovation Accelerator, United Nations World Food Programme (UN WFP)

45. Ghana: Seth Akumani, Head of Exploration, Ghana Accelerator Lab, United Nations Development Programme

46. Gibraltar: The Honorable Albert Isola MP, Gibraltar Minister for Digital and Financial Services

47. Greece: The Honorable Eva Kaili, Member of European Parliament; Chair, Centre for Artificial Intelligence; Chair, Science & Technology (STOA)

48. Global Standards Mapping Initiative (GSMI): Sumedha Deshmukh, Platform Curator, Blockchain and Digital Assets, World Economic Forum (WEF)

49. Global Standards Mapping Initiative (GSMI): Justin Herzig, Global Blockchain Research Lead, Accenture

50. Global Standards Mapping Initiative (GSMI): Benjamin Nadareski, Global Corporate and Business Development, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX)

51. Haiti: Jean Philippe Innocent, Former Conseiller Spécial Blockchain for Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI)

52. Healthcare: Darryl Burton, Policy and Product Lead, Affordable Care Act at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

53. Healthcare: Dr. Esper Kallas, Infectious Diseases Specialist and Full Professor of Medicine, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

54. Healthcare: Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia on Public Health

55. Healthcare: Dr. Jamie Wells, Director, Research Science Institute (RSI); Founder and Chair, Yale Alumni Health Network (YAHN)

56. Hong Kong: Etelka Bogardi, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright

57. Hong Kong: Richard Byworth, CEO, Diginex; CEO, EQUOS

58. Hong Kong: Nydia Zhang, Co-Founder and Chair, Social Alpha Foundation; Chair, Advisory Council, The Good Food Institute APAC

59. India: Keerthi Lal Kala, Vice President, New Technologies, SUN Group Global; Senior Advisor, The Global Education & Leadership Foundation (tGELF)

60. India: Santosh Misra, CEO, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency; Commissioner of e-Governacne, Government of Tamil Nadu

61. India: Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) Departments, Government of Telangana

62. Ireland: Dr. Piyush Verma, Senior Energy Markey Analyst, International Energy Research Centre; Vice Chair, Energy Efficiency Expert Group, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

63. Ireland: Bea O’Carroll, CEO, NautilusTech

64. Israel: Netta Korin, Co-Founder, Orbs; Founder, Hexa Foundation

65. Italy: Gladys H. Morales, Senior Innovation Consultant, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

66. Ivory Coast: Fancho Hermann Traore, Director of the Department, Studies, Strategy and Development at Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM)

67. Jamaica: Alexandra Chong, Founder and CEO, Jacana

68. Japan: Makoto Takemiya, CEO, Soramitsu

69. Kazakhstan: Governor Kairat Kelimbetov, Astana International Financial Centre; Former Governor, National Bank of Kazakhstan

70. Kenya: Josephine Kamantha Ndambuki, Manager, Economic Development, Partnerships & Resource Mobilization, Konza Technopolis Development Authority

71. Latvia: Valery Vavilov, Founder and CEO, The Bitfury Group

72. Luxembourg: Ambre Soubiran, CEO, Kaiko

73. Media: Jane King, Co-Founder and CEO, LilaMax Media

74. Media: Angie Lau, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Forkast.News

75. Mongolia: Saruul Ganbaatar, CEO, Bogd Bank

76. Morocco: Ridouane Azagrouze, Chief Information Officer, MAROCLEAR

77. The Netherlands: Ton van’t Noordende, Founder, PHX

78. The Netherlands: Dennis Post, Partner Tax, Global Leader Blockchain Tax Services, EY

79. The Netherlands: Peter Verkoulen, Chairman, unLock Foundation; Manager, Dutch Blockchain Coalition

80. New Zealand: Chris O’Neill, Sales Manager, CreativeHQ

81. Niger: Minister Ibrahima Guimba-Saïdou, Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Niger; CEO, National Agency of Information Society (ANSI)

82. Nigeria: Patricia Nwobodo, CEO, Rowet Group

83. Nigeria: Aisha Oyebode, Founder and CEO, Murtala Muhammed Foundation

84. North Macedonia: Sasha Grujevski, State Counselor, Cabinet of the Prime Minister, Government of the Republic of North Macedonia

85. Pakistan: Dr. Shakil Muhammad, Chair, RNS Solutions; Founder and CEO, Antlia

86. Palau: Jennifer Koskelin, Co-Founder, Palau Pledge

87. Peru: Rossana Polastri, Director, Latin America and the Caribbean Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

88. Peru: Hernando de Soto, President, Institute for Liberty & Democracy; Author, “The Mystery of Capital” and “The Other Path”

89. Philippines: David Lighton, Founder and CEO, SendFriend

90. Puerto Rico: Dante Disparte, Executive Vice President, Policy and Social Impact, Diem Association; Chair, Risk Cooperative

91. Russia: Alexey Blagirev, Chief Information Officer and Head of Investor Relations, Sensorium Corporation

92. Russia: Tom O’Brien, Head of International Sales, Moscow Exchange

93. Rwanda: Norbert Haguma, Co-Founder, AfricaGen; Country Manager, SPENN

94. Science & Technology: Juan Benet, Founder and CEO, Protocol Labs

95. Science & Technology: Joe Lubin, Co-Founder, Ethereum; Founder and CEO, ConsenSys

96. Serbia: Dr. Nebojša Stanković, Founder and Principal, Stanković & Partners

97. Singapore: Arnaud Brolly, Global Blockchain Lead, SITA

98. Singapore: Alistair Duff, Head of APAC, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX)

99. Singapore: Greg Li, Head of Asia Pacific, The Bitfury Group

100. Singapore: Yew Kiat Phang, Chair of the Board, Chuan Holdings Ltd.

101. Singapore: Cristina Ventura, Founder, VenturaXVentures

102. South Africa: Tanya Knowles, Business Manager, Adhara; Chairperson, South African Financial Blockchain Consortium; Former Managing Executive, Strate (Pty) Ltd

103. South Africa: Vinny Lingham, Co-Founder and CEO, Civic Technologies

104. South Africa: Nasia Seria, General Manager: Mobile Financial Services, Fintech Risk & Compliance, MTN

105. South Korea: Dr. Kibae Kim, Principal Researcher, Fourth Industrial Revolution Intelligence Center and the Korea Policy Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution of KAIST

106. South Korea: Junhaeng Lee, Co-Founder and CEO, Streami

107. Spain: Irene Arias, CEO, IDB Lab, Inter-American Development Bank Group

108. Spain: Victoria Gago, Co-Founder, European Blockchain Convention; Co-Founder, Beginny

109. Sub-Saharan Africa: Michelle Chivunga N., Founder and CEO, Global Policy House (GPH)

110. Sub-Saharan Africa: Philip Thigo, Senior Director for Africa, Thunderbird School for Global Management

111. Switzerland: Catrina Luchsinger Gähwiler, Partner, Froriep

112. Switzerland: Daniel Gasteiger, Founder and CEO, Procivis AG

113. Switzerland: Amitabh Singh, Field CTO EMEA, Palo Alto Networks

114. Taiwan: Jason Hsu, Venture Partner, Outliers Fund; Fmr. Legislator & Member of Parliament, Taiwan

115. Tunisia: Dr. Sami Ben Jamaa, Managing Executive Officer – Global Chief Information & Digital Officer, JERA

116. Turkey: Mustafa Baltaci, Co-Founder, KOOPHub; Co-Founder, Istanbul Fintech Week

117. Turkey: Muhammed Yesilhark, Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Q2Q Capital

118. Turkey: Demet Zubeyiroglu, Chair, Financial Innovation and Technologies Association; Managing Director and Co-Founder, KOOPHub

119. Uganda: Dr. Cornelius Kalenzi, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Fourth Industry Revolution Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

120. Ukraine: Mark Ginzburg, President, Ukrainian Federation of Robotics

121. United Arab Emirates: Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan

122. United Kingdom: Glenn Hall, Partner, Head of Government Relations & Public Policy, Norton Rose Fulbright

123. United Kingdom: Duncan Johnston-Watt, Co-Founder and CEO, Blockchain Technology Partners (BTP)

124. United Kingdom: Hannah Meakin, Partner, Financial Services, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP

125. United Kingdom: Lawrence Wintermeyer, Executive Co-Chair, Global Digital Finance; Former CEO, Innovate Finance

126. United States: Rod Beckstrom, Former President and CEO of ICANN

127. United States: Jim Newsome, Founding Partner, Delta Strategy Group; Former Chair, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission

128. United States: Bill Tai, Board Chair, ACTAI Global; Venture Capitalist

129. United States: Jason Weinstein, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP; Former, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)

130. Vanuatu: Sandra Uwantege Hart, Pacific Cash & Livelihoods Lead, Oxfam

Visit the GBBC About page for additional information about the GBBC and our Ambassadors: https://gbbcouncil.org/about/

For Additional Information, Contact:

Global Blockchain Business Council

Sofia Arend, Communications and Content Lead

Email: media@gbbcoucil.org