ABOUT US

Leadership

At the Crypto Council for Innovation, our team brings together seasoned experts from government, finance, tech and law to shape the future of digital assets. With deep policy insight and a commitment to innovation, we champion responsible growth for digital assets around the globe.

ABOUT US

Leadership

At the Crypto Council for Innovation, our team brings together seasoned experts from government, finance, tech and law to shape the future of digital assets. With deep policy insight and a commitment to innovation, we champion responsible growth for digital assets around the globe.

Ji Kim

President and Acting Chief Executive Officer

Ji Kim is the President and Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Crypto Council for Innovation – the premier global alliance for advancing the promise of this new technology through research, education and advocacy. Prior to this role, he served as the Chief Legal & Policy Officer for CCI.

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Annie Dizon

Chief Operations Officer

With more than 20 years of tech, operations, and marketing experience; Annie has held several senior executive positions at the global social impact nonprofit TechSoup; most recently serving as Vice President of Customer Experience where she had strategic oversight over global marketing, communications, and content and community teams.

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Alison Mangiero

Senior Director, Staking Policy and Industry Affairs

Alison Mangiero is the Executive Director of Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), a CCI project that advocates for clear and forward-thinking public policies that foster innovation in the rapidly growing, sustainable, multi-billion dollar staking industry.

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Patrick Kirby

Policy Counsel

Patrick is joining CCI as Policy Counsel, and brings considerable experience engaging with policymakers on emerging technology and financial services issues. Before joining CCI, he worked as an attorney in the US Policy & Government Relations group at the law firms Dentons and Squire Patton Boggs.

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Rashan Colbert

Rashan A. Colbert

Director, U.S. Policy

Rashan A. Colbert is the US Policy Director for the Crypto Council for Innovation. A seasoned policy leader with extensive experience in government, politics, and the crypto industry, he has served as a senior legislative advisor in the U.S. Senate, led policy efforts for a cutting-edge DeFi protocol, and has amassed a high-powered network across the public and private sectors.

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Yaya J. Fanusie

Director, Policy, AML & Cyber Risk

Yaya is a former CIA economic and counterterrorism analyst and focuses on risks and policies around money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanction evasion. In 2016, he began tracking the illicit use of crypto and wrote some of the first public analysis on a terrorist crypto crowdfunding campaign.

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Ryan Eagan

Associate Director, Federal Affairs

With nearly 10 years of experience working for Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Ryan advised the Leader on a wide array of banking policies and housing priorities.
He worked with members in the House and Senate and the relevant Committees to advance legislative priorities and advised on executive action.

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Peter Herzog

Associate Director,
State Government Affairs

Peter Herzog is a dedicated government affairs professional, specializing in issues impacting emerging financial technologies. As the Associate Director of State and Local Government Affairs at the Crypto Council for Innovation, Peter oversees initiatives to advance responsible regulation for the digital asset industry across state and local governments.

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Mark Foster

EU Policy Lead

Mark has over 20 years of experience advising public and private sector entities on EU politics and policy. He started his public sector career in Brussels in the European Parliament (2003 to 2007) before being recruited by the British Government to develop expertise in EU financial services as a Senior Official in the UK Permanent Representation (2007-2011).

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Laura Navaratnam

UK Policy Lead

Laura is a digital assets policy expert, and serves as the UK Policy Lead for CCI. Laura is a fintech policy expert, specializing in digital assets. Laura has worked in financial services policy for over 15 years. She worked at the UK Financial Conduct Authority for 7 years where she ultimately served as the Head of the FCA’s Innovate function, which included all aspects of cryptoasset policy and fintech.

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Giles Swan

European Public Policy Advisor

Giles has been a regulator, policymaker, the policy lead of a major digital asset service provider and the global policy director of a leading investment fund trade association. Giles advises trade associations, investment funds and asset managers, and web3 and crypto firms, on public policy, licensing, regulation and advocacy.

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Amanda Russo

Director of Communications

She led C-suite media relations and content for IHS Markit research divisions across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As a strategic communications advisor to CEOs, heads of state, and policymakers, Amanda worked on the World Economic Forum’s Public Engagement leadership as Head of Media Content. Amanda started her career as a terrorism and intelligence analyst.

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Cameron Jones

Director, Strategic Initiatives

Cameron has over 30 years of experience in technology, philanthropy, and civil society sectors. She worked in the nonprofit and private sectors in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

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Renee Barton

Director, Impact Research

Renée Barton leads Impact Research at CCI, documenting real world Web3 use cases to create shared understandings of how Web3 technologies are shaping the future for people and communities.

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Emily Ekshian

Communications Specialist

Emily Ekshian is the Communications Lead at CCI, working closely with the communications team on branding, marketing and publicity efforts.
She holds a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, with concentrations in Finance, Technology, and Human Rights.

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Krisina Antonio

Office Manager
/ Administrative Assistant

Krisina Antonio is the Executive Assistant to the CEO and DC Office Manager at CCI. Prior to joining CCI, Krisina has led executive offices in education and finance. She also worked within the pro-sports sales and marketing space for teams within the NFL, MLS, and Minor League Baseball.

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Saskia Seidel

Policy Fellow

Saskia Seidel is the Policy Fellow at CCI, conducting legal and policy analysis on crypto regulations and legislative developments across key jurisdictions. She examines bills and regulatory proposals as well as case decisions, providing insights into the evolving landscape of digital assets policy.

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Advisors

Senator Cory Gardner

Senior Political Advisor

Senator Gardner honorably represented the state of Colorado from 2015 to 2021 after two terms in the United States House of Representatives. During his tenure, Cory was consistently recognized as one of the most bi-partisan members of the Senate, sponsoring and passing milestone legislations.

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Sheila Warren

Senior Global Policy Advisor

In 2023, Sheila was voted one of the most influential women in DC by the Washingtonian. Prior to the Crypto Council, she founded the World Economic Forum’s blockchain and digital assets team and was a member of the Executive Leadership Team. She oversaw tech policy strategy across 14 countries and regularly briefed ministers, CEOs of the Fortune 100 and Heads of State.

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Sean Lee

Senior APAC Advisor

Sean is an advisor and entrepreneur in Web3 and FinTech, and has been frequently quoted in Reuters, Forbes, Bloomberg, CoinDesk, among others. Sean was previously the CEO of the Algorand Foundation, an MIT incubated Layer-1 blockchain protocol that reached top-10 by network valuation during his tenure.

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Matt Homer

Senior Advisor

Matthew Homer is the Founder & General Partner of The Venture Dept. Previously, he was an investor at Nyca Partners, a $1B+ AUM fintech VC firm, where he remains involved as an Operating Partner in an advisory capacity. Before venture investing, he was Executive Deputy Superintendent at the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

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