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CHAIR--Practice Manager, EFI-AFR2-GOV-FM & PS-2, World Bank

Founder, The Peace Coalition

Michael Cholod is a technology leader, decentralist and humanitarian. As Executive Director of the Peer Social Foundation, a Vancouver-based non-profit software development company, Michael is dedicated to developing decentralized internet architectures and technologies that promote privacy and self-attested digital identity for everyone. The Peer Social Foundation is a founding member of The Peace Coalition, an international, non-profit association of NGOs, academic institutions and independent experts in HLP restitution developing a comprehensive package of policy technology and practical guidance aimed at preserving Peace by putting a price on War in the hopes of preventing future conflict.

Professor of Geography, McGill University

Jon Unruh is a professor of geography at McGill University in Canada. He has over 30 years¡¯ experience in developing and implementing research, policy and practice on war-affected housing, land and property rights systems and has published widely on these topics. He has worked with a variety of international agencies, governments and donors on the establishment of restitution/compensation programmes for housing, land and property in war-affected countries, including: UN agencies, NATO, ľ¹ÏÓ°Ôº, OSCE, USAID, UK-DFID, US State Department, Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, The Japanese Global Infrastructure Foundation, The US Institute of Peace, the UK Overseas Development Institute, US Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, US Office of the Coordinator of Reconstruction and Stabilization, the Canadian Peace-building Coordinating Committee, and Danish Demining Group, among others.

Dr. Unruh has conducted research, policy and implementation work in: Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Darfur, Liberia, Somalia, Mozambique, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Madagascar, Cambodia, Angola, Cameroon, Jordan, Colombia, Peru, Zanzibar, Kenya and Saudi Arabia.

Professor, Archival Science, The University of British Columbia

Victoria Lemieux is a Professor of Archival Science at the University of British Columbia¡¯s School of Information where she is founder and lead of Blockchain@UBC, the University of British Columbia¡¯s multidisciplinary blockchain research cluster now ranked #1 in Canada for blockchain education. Victoria also currently sits on the International Standards Organization¡¯s Technical Committee 307 (blockchains and distribution ledgers). She holds a doctorate from University College London (Archival Studies, 2002) and, since 2005, has been a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). In 2015, while serving as a Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank, she received a World Bank Big Data Innovation Award and in 2020, she received a Blockchain Ecosystem Leadership Award and was named one of Canada¡¯s Top 20 women in IT Security.

She is the author and editor of award-winning articles and books, including Building Decentralized Trust ¨C Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Design of Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers (Springer, 2020) and Searching for Trust: Blockchain Technology in an Age of Disinformation (Cambridge University Press, 2022). 

Lecturer in Financial Computing, University College London

Geoffrey Goodell is a Lecturer in Financial Computing at University College London whose work focuses on socio-technical systems in financial services.  He is a member of the Bank of England CBDC Technology Forum and an associate of the Systemic Risk Centre of the London School of Economics.  He is Convenor of two ISO working groups on distributed ledger technologies and an ISO advisory group on digital currency.  He serves on the product advisory committee of the Digital Token Identifier Foundation and is advisor to two European industry groups that focus on digital assets.  Dr Goodell is a CFA charter holder and has roughly a decade of experience in the financial industry as a strategist at Goldman, Sachs & Co and later as a partner and chief investment officer at a boutique asset management firm.  His research contributes to knowledge and policy at the intersection of finance, technology, and regulation. 

Senior Public Sector Specialist, GP, World Bank

Lead Governance Specialist, Governance GP, World Bank