Judges

Ashlyn’s expertise lies in building partnerships between fintech startups and Fortune 100 companies, helping to drive innovation and growth for both parties. Her ability to identify opportunities for collaboration and drive meaningful relationships has made her a valuable asset to her organisations.

She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in anthropology and entrepreneurship. Since then, she has spent five years working in large financial services institutions across life insurance and banking.

Outside of her corporate work, Ashlyn is deeply involved in the fintech community. She serves as a mentor for both Queen City Fintech and Holt Xchange, helping to guide and support early-stage startups. Additionally, she is the community manager for Women in Banking, Finance and Fintech, where she helps to foster connections and promote diversity and inclusion in the industry.

David is an insurtech community leader, public speaker, and insurtech adviser. He has been featured and recognised in insurance media including Carrier Management, Digital Insurance, IIR, AM Best TV, and Insurance Journal. David is the co-founder of InsurTech NY, an accelerator and global hub for the insurtech community. David also serves as a strategic adviser to high-growth insurtechs to help them go from concept to scale.

Previously, David has served as director of innovation for the Silicon Valley Insurance Accelerator (SVIA) and has led product at Zero, a behavioural safety-focused insurtech acquired by EverestRe. He holds a JD from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and business and industrial engineering degrees from Lehigh University.

Debjani is a product lead at Stripe, where she’s been responsible for key product lines, next-generation infrastructure, go-to-market strategies and P&L. Debjani has more than 8 years of experience launching and scaling high-impact products at Stripe and prior to that at Microsoft. Debjani brings a depth of expertise in the financial services industry across payments, global money movement, foreign exchange, risk and the many challenges and opportunities in the space. At Microsoft, Debjani built products for the enterprise and education segments.

Diljot Mutti is a visionary technologist and entrepreneur with deep expertise in financial services, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cloud computing. As the chief technology officer and co-founder of ForwardAI, he drives the development of cutting-edge technology solutions for SMBs, accountants, and fintechs. With a robust background in enterprise software development, SAAS, and startups, Diljot has successfully built and scaled teams across USA, Canada and India.

Passionate about leveraging data and AI to transform financial services, Diljot focuses on streamlining complex workflows and enhancing customer experiences. His mission is to simplify life for SMBs through innovative, user-centric technology. His dedication to building transformative tech products is evident in his contributions to fintech, edtech, and enterprise solutions, where his expertise continues to shape the future of these industries.

Elizabeth Thomas is the Program Director at the Mass Fintech Hub. Elizabeth works with a team of over 30 executive leaders in MA fintech and financial services to create a hub that supports the growth of the MA fintech ecosystem. In 2022, the Mass Fintech Hub delivered impactful fintech education programming for a community of over 1000 fintech enthusiasts.

Elizabeth’s previous experience was in international economic development working for the Australian and UK federal agencies. Elizabeth has supported countless companies by facilitating their international expansion journey. Elizabeth has a graduate degree in International Development from the University of Edinburgh. She is a Massachusetts native whose love of travel has taken her to over 50 countries on 6 continents.

Howard Greenberg serves as the president and co-founder of the American Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association (ABCA), a membership-driven 501(c)(6) nonprofit in Washington DC which aims to advance a vision for how distributed technologies and cross-border innovations – such as cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies – can lead to sound markets and the more efficient delivery of services. The ABCA focuses primarily on education, networking, and encouraging community development amongst public- and private-sector entities who are exploring various potential applications for distributed ledger tech, digital currencies, decentralized finance (defi), smart contracts, and other emerging use cases. Mr. Greenberg is certified in Blockchain Systems Architecture and is a member of The Advanced Technology Academic Research Center’s (ATARC) Security Blockchain Working Group, a working group of subject matter experts and practitioners who are currently looking at a blockchain solutions to address voting in the United States.

In addition to this executive role leading the ABCA, Mr. Greenberg also serves as director of digital assets & education for Quasar Markets Inc., a fintech and AI platform revolutionizing the way you encounter blockchain, finance and knowledge.  He leads the companies blockchain and digital asset initiatives along with overseeing the financial service educational component on the platform. He had previously been the senior cryptocurrency educator for Prosper Trading Academy, a leading educational service for retail traders.  Mr. Greenberg has been involved in cryptocurrency investing since 2013 and is a regularly featured cryptocurrency expert for Schwab Network along with Coindesk TV’s all about bitcoin.  He is a sought-after speaker on a wide variety of topics, from data center workshops and crypto mining to applications for smart cities and uses of blockchain to encourage the forthcoming “Internet of Things” (IoT). Mr. Greenberg has attended bootcamps sponsored by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and has provided feedback and written opinions to draft papers and guidance from the SEC, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

As a member of the investment community since 1991, Lisa’s experience and focus are on global market standards and efficiency gains within front, back and middle office operations and technology.  

Lisa joined WisdomTree transfers in April 2023. She is an active member of WisdomTree’s DEI and WIN Employee Resource Groups. Prior to joining WisdomTree, Lisa was the director of operations for the Digital Transfer Agent at Securrency. Lisa worked at InvestCloud (formerly Fiserv and Tegra118) for 11 years, Columbia Investment Operations at Bank of America as vice president of Global Wealth Investment Management and as vice president of Investment Operations at Eaton Vance Management. 

Lisa is heavily involved with ISITC North America. In 2015, Lisa was elected to ISITC’s Board of Directors, and from 2019 through 2021, she was the Chair of the Board. Lisa was responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the independent non-profit financial services organization. Since 2021 Lisa has been the chair of the Finance Committee for Accredited Standards Committee, X9 Inc, and in 2023 Lisa has served as the Americas Director for Securities Market Practice Group (SMPG) and the Advisory Board for the Tokenized Commodities Council (TCC). 

Among her accomplishments, Lisa earned the designation of Securities Industry Professional (SIP) through the Securities Operations Forum, a division of the Summit Group in July 2012. She completed the Securities Industry Institute (SII) program at The Wharton School through SIFMA in March 2014. Lisa also earned her FINRA SIE designation in 2023. 

Lisa received her undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire. She is a graduate of Harvard University with an advanced degree in Business Management and Administration with a concentration in Finance. She has certificates from Cornell in Women in Leadership and Executive Leadership and from the MIT Sloan School of Management’s Executive Program, Blockchain Technologies: Business Innovation and Application. 

Matt Denham is the co-founder and chief product officer at Prizeout, an ad-tech startup with fintech behavior that works within the finance, gaming, crypto, gig economy & payroll industries to turn consumer funds into a growth solution for e-commerce & retail businesses. After 8+ years in banking where he helped build & grow Australia’s largest Neobank, he transitioned to director of product at DraftKings where he launched the first online sportsbook in New Jersey in August 2018 and the DraftKings iGaming product later that year.

In 2019 he co-founded Prizeout and oversees building the right products for each vertical. Matt is currently focused on building CashBack+, a rewards program for financial institutions that will give bank customers and Credit Union members up to 20% instant cash back when they shop with digital gift cards, help financial institutions earn more noninterest income and provide up-leveled exposure and support for local community merchants. Personally, he enjoys sports, real estate investing, and travel.

Nick Chandi is a co-chair of the BC Tech CEO Scale C-Council, a non-profit that helps tech companies to grow in British Columbia, and a regular contributor to the Forbes Finance Council. Chandi is also the chief executive officer and co-founder of ForwardAI, as well as a serial entrepreneur. Prior to ForwardAI, he built and exited multiple successful businesses during his two decades in accounting technology and finance

Patricia (Pat) is the vice president – payment processing for YoungWilliams, a company dedicated to providing government agencies with the tools and technologies needed to modernise their services.   

Pat’s career spans multiple disciplines and includes experience in government health and human services delivery, banking, technology, business operations, marketing, and sales. Previous positions and duties include senior vice president, where she led an initiative to create industry-specific payment solutions with a focus on the public sector. She also served as managing director at one of the nation’s largest financial institutions. There, she was responsible for public sector business development, financial services solution development across multiple industries and international cash management solutions. 

She is a long-time member of the board of directors of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association (EFTA) and served as chair from 2015 – 2020.  She is an active podcaster and conference presenter. Additionally, Pat participated in an executive education symposium: Women and Power: Leadership in a New World facilitated by the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government. The program focused on effective leadership strategies that include, but are not limited to, the skills necessary to analyse political and strategic management issues, understand women in the workplace, negotiation, coalition-building, communication capabilities, and how to build a diverse network of women leaders. This group convenes annually to continue the educational process augmented by shared experiences of the symposium participants. 

Penny is a seasoned business, political, and communications leader. She has worked extensively in the public and private sectors, advising Fortune 500 companies and political candidates and operating venture-backed companies and mission-driven organisations.

Currently, Penny is CEO of the Financial Technology Association (FTA), a Washington, DC-based trade association representing some of the leading global fintech companies.  Before joining FTA, Penny led the public affairs practice group at Invariant, a leading bipartisan government relations and strategic communications firm.

Additionally, her prior roles include chief strategy officer at 1776, a Washington, DC-based tech incubator, senior adviser to US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and communications director for Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell.

In 2013, Penny co-founded and chaired an angel investment group, K Street Capital, and currently serves on the board of Black Girl Ventures, an organisation dedicated to providing support and capital to Black and Brown female-identifying founders.

Lee holds a BA with a double major in journalism and political science from Baylor University.

Sujata brings 17 years of experience and expertise in financial services and technology, across asset management, investment management, digital banking and innovation at multinational banks and startups. Sujata led teams across the UK and US in investment, strategy, product, sales, digital and innovation at HSBC and fintech startups to modernise technology and enhance revenue. As founder and chief executive officer she launched future of work marketplace You’ve Got This. She has an MBA from the London Business School and an Innovative Technology Leader certificate from Stanford. She was awarded the TIE London Intrapreneur of the Year Award in 2018 and finalist at the Women in Investment Awards in 2019 and the Women in Finance Awards 2019.

Sujata is an advisory board member and judge for the Money2020 Rise Up Leadership program. She is an active investor in fintech and has chaired and participated in industry round tables on AI in financial services and U.K. India Tech. Sujata has spoken at international conferences on entrepreneurship, innovation strategy, remote leadership, future of work, digital banking, finances and fintech including Money20/20, Finimize, Pay360, PayExpo, London & Partners Business Growth Program, Oxford University, Women in Climate Tech, Smart Energy GB and Facebook She Means Business.