Brian Forde has spent more than a decade at the nexus of technology, entrepreneurship, and public policy. He was the Founding Director of Digital Currency at the MIT Media Lab where he led efforts to mainstream digital currencies like Bitcoin through research, and incubation of high-impact applications of the emerging technology. Before MIT he was the Senior Advisor for Mobile and Data Innovation at the White House where he spearheaded efforts to leverage emerging technologies to address the President’s most critical national priorities. Prior to his work at the White House, Brian founded one of the largest phone companies in Nicaragua after serving as a business and technology volunteer in the Peace Corps. In recognition of his work, Brian was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of the ten most influential people in bitcoin and blockchain.

Brian graduated with a B.A. in Sociology from University of California at Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from London Business School.

Cristy Stiles was the DCI’s communications project coordinator from 2021 to 2024. In addition to her extensive experience working in communications and operations for NGOs, she is also a published literary translator, grant writer, and ESOL instructor. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Mills College, and in her free time enjoys cycling, hiking, reading, and playing cello.”

During his time at the DCI Alex made technical contributions to PArSEC, openCBDC and project Hamilton, while also contributing to research in cross-border remittances and Interoperability.

Prior to joining the Digital Currency Institute, Alex headed quantitative equity investment strategy groups serving institutional investors. In addition to his role as a software engineer, Alex has made contributions as a portfolio manager, trader and researcher in the quantitative investment management space.

Shira supported the MIT DCI's strategy and growth from 2020 - 2023. Working closely with DCI's Director Neha Narula, Shira raised foundational multi-year funding for Bitcoin research and development as well as both technical and user research related to central bank digital currency. For the past 20 years, Shira has worked at the intersection of money and power. Initially, through philanthropy, she worked to redirect resources to those most in need. Later, as Deputy Director for J Street, she partnered with the Obama Administration to transform US policy in the Middle East and pave a pathway for the Iran Nuclear Agreement. After decades nudging existing financial and political systems, she saw in emerging technologies a way to fundamentally re-architect these systems. Digital currency has the potential to redefine both money and power. Just as easily, it could reinforce the flaws of our existing systems. In response, Shira formed the research lab Maiden in 2017 to make money good, by bringing people into the formative technology and policy decisions essential to the design of future financial protocols.

A creator of the Lightning Network, one of the most promising Bitcoin scaling solutions, Tadge Dryja led DCI research focused on the scaling and interoperability of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. Follow @tdryja on Twitter.

Spencer Connaughton is an experienced rapid prototyper and interdiciplinary technology project leader. He joined us from X, where he contributed to innovations related capturing, codifying, and optimizing the flows of commercial goods.

Spencer holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.S. in Mathematics from Southern Methodist University.

Althea Pieters is a mid-career financial sector expert, with over two decades of central banking, bank supervision, policy development and crisis management experience. Althea is currently a candidate for the Masters in Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School and a Mason Fellow. She is a Lead Financial Institution Policy Analyst at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where she plays an integral role in shaping U.S. banking regulations. Althea also serves as an instructor on the Federal Reserve's Technical Assistant program where she provides training to bank examiners from developing countries.

Althea previously served as a U.S. foreign banking expert to the Single Supervisory Mechanism, European Central Bank where she assisted in developing banking supervisory policies for the eurozone banks in response to Brexit. Althea was a commissioned financial institution examiner with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and a bank examiner with the New York State Division of Financial Services. In these roles, she led onsite supervisory examinations of U.S. domestic banks and the U.S. operations of foreign banks. Prior to migrating to the U.S., Althea worked at the Central Bank of Guyana where she was responsible for assessing the impact, applicability, and application of various international regulatory standards issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

Althea holds a BSc. (Economics – Distinction) from the University of Guyana and a M.A. (Economics and Finance) from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. Althea's research interest includes climate change and its impact on financial stability, financial innovation, private-public partnerships, and corporate social responsibility.

Julie joined the DCI in 2020 to research central bank digital currency projects. She is currently a student at Harvard Kennedy School, having recently graduated from MIT Sloan. Prior to MIT, Julie held a number of private sector roles in finance and entrepreneurship. Most recently she served as COO at Medici Land Governance, a private social benefit corporation that has partnered with the World Bank to build technology to support property rights and land administration in developing countries. Before that, she served as Director of Research at Medici Ventures, a corporate VC focused on applications of blockchain technology to capital markets, voting systems, identity, and banking. Prior to Medici, Julie spent three years in sales and trading at Morgan Stanley where she worked on the U.S. equities desk. She received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University where she was on the varsity swimming and rowing teams.

Gary Gensler is Professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management, MIT Sloan School of Management, Senior Advisor to the Director, MIT Media Lab, & Co-Director of MIT’s Fintech@CSAIL. He advises both the Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative and the Ethics and Governance of AI project. Gensler conducts research and teaches on blockchain technology, digital currencies, financial technology & public policy. He won the MIT Sloan Outstanding Teacher Award based upon student nominations for the 2018-19 academic year.

Formerly Gensler was chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, leading the Obama Administration’s reform of the $400 trillion swaps market. He also was senior advisor to US Senator Paul Sarbanes in writing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) and was Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton Administration. In recognition for his service, he was awarded Treasury’s highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton Award. He is a recipient of the 2014 Frankel Fiduciary Prize.

Gensler is currently a member of the New York Fed Fintech Advisory Group and was chairman of the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission (2017-2019). He has worked on various political campaigns, most recently as CFO for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, as a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign, and subsequently as an economic advisor for the Obama 2008 campaign.

Gensler coauthored a book presenting common sense investing advice for middle income Americans, The Great Mutual Fund Trap, (Broadway Books, 2002). He has appeared regularly on national television commenting on the economy and politics. In 2016, Politico Magazine, included him in their list of the 50 ‘Thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics.’

Prior to his public service, Gensler worked at Goldman Sachs (1979-1997), having become a partner in the Mergers & Acquisition department, headed the firm’s Media Group, led fixed income & currency trading in Asia, and lastly co-headed Finance, being responsible for the firm's worldwide Controllers and Treasury efforts.

A runner, Gensler has completed nine marathons and the JFK 50-mile race. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics in 1978 and his MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1979. He has three daughters, and is from Baltimore, Maryland.

Gert-Jaap is a self-employed software developer from The Netherlands, focusing solely on blockchain technology.

He worked for the DCI as a software developer, realizing prototypes and proof-of-concepts for research projects.

Joining the DCI in the spring of 2018, Gert-Jaap has worked on implementing prototypes for Layer 2 solutions such as Discreet Log Contracts and the Lightning Network (LIT). Contributed as a developer to DCI projects B_Verify and ZKLedger.

Gert-Jaap's most recent DCI work included collaborating on a research project on proof-of-work mining and mining pools.

https://gertjaap.org

Robleh Ali is a Research Scientist, his main focus was on central bank digital currency (CBDC). The overall aim of the work is fundamentally reforming how money works by creating an open infrastructure for CBDC akin to the internet.

Michael J. Casey is a Senior Advisor at DCI. A former Wall Street Journal writer and accomplished author, Michael has written several critically acclaimed books including The Age of Cryptocurrency and The Unfair Trade. Follow @mikejcasey on Twitter.

Rhys Lindmark is focused on positively shaping our exponential, fragile, and abundant context. Within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, he’s focused on facilitating cross-project collaboration and stewarding a more compassionate culture. He also donates a percentage of his income to charity and is writing a book about how blockchain technology will change society. Follow @RhysLindmark on Twitter.

Alin headed strategic partnerships for the Digital Currency Initiative, and also led product management for the DCI's efforts on Layer 2 solutions for scaling public blockchains. Before MIT, he was a vice president at First Data Corporation, leading a family of products for banking the unbanked. In this role, he was responsible for a $200M P&L and an organization of ~200 employees. He also spent three years in the startup world, raising seed funds, scaling up business models and managing a post-acquisition integration. Alin holds an MBA from University of Arkansas and an MS from MIT.

Christian is a professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is one of the principal investigators of the MIT Digital Currencies Research Study, which gave access to all MIT undergraduate students to Bitcoin in the Fall of 2014. He is currently on leave from MIT as a co-creator of Libra and Head Economist at Cailbra.

Joichi "Joi" Ito has been recognized for his work as an activist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and advocate of emergent democracy, privacy, and internet freedom. As Media Lab Director, he is currently exploring how radical new approaches to science and technology can transform society in substantial and positive ways. Follow @Joi on Twitter.

Sam has a background in tech, law, and project management. She helps coordinate a variety of DCI projects including the MIT cryptocurrency journal.

Sophie works on the application of zkLedger and zero-knowledge proofs to the world of Finance. Her primary focus is on the securitization market and the ability for investors to get anonymized performance analytics about their investments in near-real time. Sophie holds a Master of Science in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and a Master of Business Administration from MIT Sloan School of Management.

A Media Lab alumnus and former head of social innovation for the DCI, Chelsea focuses on the intersection of technology and civil society. Living between Kenya and Cambridge, she now works for the MIT Media Lab's Artificial Intelligence Initiative.