Innovative Technology and Green Finance panels and speakers

Jon Down is a recognized thought leader in the field of AI, having spent much of the past 10 years thinking deeply about the exponential growth trajectory of AI capabilities. Jon evenly splits his time between a University of Portland Professor of Entrepreneurship & AI, and working with companies to responsibly leverage the power of AI through his consulting company, Gen AI Corp. He has a PhD in business strategy from University of Washington, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an engineering degree from Oregon State University.

Josh Cole leads business operations at Modernist Financial, a B Corp wealth management firm that helps people structure their wealth around their values. He supports the firm’s growth strategy, with much of his work focusing on refining operations systems to better serve both the team and clients, while ensuring the company remains a human centered enterprise. As AI becomes more prevalent, a key area of Josh’s work is carefully considering AI integration and new technology solutions into the workplace without sacrificing the human touch. Previously, Josh founded and served as executive director of a non-profit supporting Oregon’s food service and agricultural workers in crisis, an experience that continues to inform his efforts to ensure our collective needs are met today while we invest in our common future. Josh received his undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon and his Masters from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Kirsten Anderson joined the Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities (DFCS) in 1999 after a few years practicing law for Oregon Legal Services through AmeriCorps and then in private practice. Following a series of different positions with the division, she is currently the deputy administrator of the Division of Financial Regulation, the successor of DFCS, where her portfolio includes oversight of sections that regulate our state chartered banks, credit unions, non-depository institutions, securities and insurance companies as well as managing the division’s operations section. After receiving the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators’ 2014 Distinguished Service Award, she was elected to the board of directors in April, 2015 and is currently the President. In 2019, she joined the board of the Money Transmitter Regulators Association and is currently the Treasurer. In 2021, she joined the board of the State Regulatory Registry LLC, the organization that oversees the NMLS. She also serves on a number of committees, task forces and working groups, including NMLS Policy Committee and the State Coordinating Committee and Non-Depository Supervisory Committee.

Alex Murray, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of management at the University of Oregon where he serves as director of the Intelligent Futures Lab and faculty advisor to the Oregon Blockchain Group. He teaches courses in entrepreneurship and technology innovation. His research examines how emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) impact organizations and society. Alex’s research has been published in several scholarly outlets including Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Perspectives, Academy of Management Review, Business Horizons, and Organization Science. Previously, Alex was a senior researcher at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington. He co-founded Forza Financial, worked as an analyst with Grameen Foundation’s impact investment team, and worked with an agricultural technology start-up in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mike Zajko is the co-founder and managing partner at Lattice, an early-stage venture fund focused on digital assets. A pioneer in the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) sector, Mike has made notable seed investments in projects like DIMO, Blockcast, and Daylight. At the intersection of decentralized networks and green finance, he has led investments in solar protocol Glow and the distributed energy resources network Daylight. Before founding Lattice, Mike headed new token listings at CoinList, a spin-out of AngelList's startup financing platform. Earlier in his career, he served as a director on Facebook's marketing solutions team, managing top-tier clients such as Google, GoPro, and Beats by Dre

Brooke Pollack is the founder and managing partner of Hutt Capital, a blockchain venture capital fund of funds platform. Prior to Hutt Capital, Brooke spent a decade investing across private fund, secondary and direct strategies with leading global investment firms. Most recently, he spent more than four years with Greenspring Associates, a venture capital platform with more than $17 billion under management where he worked on transactions representing over $750 million of invested or committed capital, and spearheaded their blockchain and crypto efforts. Earlier in his career, Brooke was at Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ: HLNE), a global private equity advisory and asset management firm, where he focused on private equity secondary transactions. Prior, he was at CTC Consulting, an investment consulting firm for ultra-high net worth individuals and families, where he focused on sourcing, diligence and monitoring of fund investments across a wide range of private market strategies. Brooke received his undergraduate degree from Oregon State University and is Certified Financial Analyst.