Advisors

Bio coming soon.

Alka Gupta is tech entrepreneur, fortune 500 former exec, and advisor with experience in digital transformations, fintech, identity, and globalization.  She has been at the early stages of significant disruptions including ecommerce, payments, and blockchain globally.

Alka is Co-Founder and Board Director at globaliD, an identity platform leveraging the blockchain.  She is currently an Advising Partner at HardYaka Ventures.  Prior, Alka was with eBay/PayPal as head of strategy for Marketplaces defining new markets and growth strategies. Before eBay, Alka was VP of Business Development at Retrevo (acq. By BN) where she built strategic partnerships to generate early revenue. Earlier, she spent eight years at Lycos (NASDAQ: LCOS; acq. by Telefonica), the first search engine to IPO, initially as a product manager, eventually as GM running a global suite of products, and then as VP Corporate Development and Strategy.

Ms. Gupta holds an MBA from The Wharton School and B.S. (cum laude) from Case Western Reserve University. She is a Board Director at globaliD, Digital Frontiers, and Fintel Labs and Board Advisor at Rova, Inc. and Women in Identity.  She serves on the Finance and Audit Board Committee, MPCSD; World Economic Forum Digital Advisory Council; a Distinguished Wharton Women in Business Alumna Award Nominee; past member of the Wharton Alumni Admissions Committee; past Board of Director and President of Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation; Former Charter Member and Chair of Mentoring Program at TiE; early Advisory Board Member Women 2.0.

David G.W Birch is an author, advisor and commentator on digital financial services. He is Global Ambassador for Consult Hyperion (the secure electronic transactions consultancy that he helped to found), Technology Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (the London-based think tank), a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey Business School and holds a number of board-level advistory roles. Before helping to found Consult Hyperion in 1986, he spent several years working as a consultant in Europe, the Far East and North America. He graduated from the University of Southampton with a B.Sc (Hons.) in Physics.

Dave was named one of the global top 15 favourite sources of business information (Wired magazine) and one of the top ten most influential voices in banking (Financial Brand); created one of the top 25 “must read’ financial IT blogs; was found to be one of the top ten Twitter accounts followed by innovators, along with Bill Gates and Richard Branson (PR Daily); was ranked in the top three most influential people in London’s FinTech community (City A.M.), was voted one of the European “Top 40” people in digital financial services (Financial News), was listed of the world’s top 100 most influential FinTech leaders (Hot Topics), rated Europe’s most influential commentator on emerging payments (Total Payments) and was awarded Contributor of the Year 2018 by the Emerging Payments Association.

Genevieve is the Principal Founder of AgriLedger, a FinTech venture aiming to empower agricultural producers by democratizing their access to financial services and improving the transparency of the supply chain.

Genevieve is leading the collaboraton of AgriLedger with the Haiti Ministry of Commerce and Industry and other local partner ESIH for the  delivery of a DLT Pilot sponsored by the World Bank.  The solution is addressing the Haitian fruit farmers, their customers and families who can look forward to this year’s harvest and to reaping the benefits of market inclusion and improved food security.

Ken Banks, Head of Social Purpose at Yoti, is a British award-winning social entrepreneur, mobile technology and global development expert with an undergraduate major in Social Anthropology with Development Studies. He is best known for developing FrontlineSMS, a mobile messaging platform used today by non-profits in over 190 countries around the world. He is a PopTech Fellow, a Tech Awards Laureate, an Ashoka Fellow and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. In 2013 he was nominated for the TED Prize. In recognition of his pioneering work, he was presented with the 2017 Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science by the Association for Computing Machinery in the USA, and in 2018 appointed Visiting Fellow at the prestigious Judge Business School in Cambridge.

Ken is also a published author. His first edited book, The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator, was self-published in late 2013 and came with a Foreword from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A follow-up, Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, published by Kogan Page, was released in March 2016. In addition to his pioneering work with mobile technology, Ken is a keynote speaker, thought-leader, innovator and mentor.

In April 2018 Ken closed down kiwanja.net to take on a full time role as Head of Social Purpose at Yoti, a London-based startup developing innovative digital identity solutions.

Leda is CEO of 11:FS Foundry, a modular, fully digital core built with banks and for banks to enable the creation of fully digital propositions.

Prior to joining 11:FS Leda served as Chief Innovation Officer at QNB and held a series of roles in IT innovation and operations and BNY Mellon.

Leda is an unreformed geek and recovering banker, a renowned speaker, writer (#LedaWrites every Thursday), and academic in the banking and FinTech ecosystem.

Rosemarie Wilson is a Speaker, Mentor and Mindset & Leadership Coach. She is the founder of Pragmatica Coaching, a Coaching and Training Company providing customised practical solutions through programs and workshops focused on Mindset, Emotional Intelligence and Leaderships skills.

Promoting and nurturing Mental Wellbeing is a factor in all she does.

Rosemarie’s background stems from Energy (Oil & Gas) working in FinTech and Change Management spanning over 20 years. She now works with individuals and organisations who are committed to investing in and nurturing their talent, who also support a culture of diversity and belonging.

Wincie Wong uses her background at the leading edge of creative and disruptive innovation in the banking industry to break down barriers and tap the huge unrealised economic potential of female entrepreneurs by making the UK one of the best countries in the world for women to start and grow a new business as recommended in the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship. An international speaker and a digital evangelist, she is passionate about spearheading the growth of a diverse technology workforce as co-founder of the NatWest Girls Can Code network and founding member of Tech She Can, an organisation of 140 corporates working together to increase the number of women in technology roles in the UK through education. She is also co-host of the NatWest Technically Speaking podcast series discussing current topics in the evolving world of tech. A serial entrepreneur herself, she has been featured in Season 2 of BBC’s My Million Pound Menu with host Fred Siriex for her business running Burmese supper clubs – now available on Netflix globally. In 2019, she was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential BAME Leaders in UK Tech by Inclusive Boards & the Financial Times. Having grown up in New York City, she’s spent the last 10 years across the pond in London where she is passionate about making innovation useful for customers.