David Ritter is the CEO of Penta. Receiving his degree in financial and sociopolitical history from USC, Mr. Ritter served as Project Director of DGI, managing projects with a portfolio value of more than USD$1 billion. David also has managed a Hollywood P&A Fund in partnership with major studios. As Penta CEO, in 2018 Mr. Ritter was invited by MIT as the blockchain expert for its Global Startup Workshop forum. David is also an active philanthropist and community advocate.

Dr. Melnikoff is chief scientist, and with David Ritter co-founder of Penta. He has degrees in physics and mathematics from MIT, receiving his PhD in physics from UC Riverside. Starting at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Steve has continued a career in information physics with domain expertise in large-scale, web-based data systems. He has worked on advanced government related projects in both the public and private technology sectors, as well as in university research.

Dr. Ed Kazmierczak holds a PhD in computer science and has served both as researcher and professor at the University of Melbourne. His area is software engineering for large-scale distributed high integrity systems. Projects include partnerships with the Australian Defence Sciences and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and in-depth physiological modelling of the human kidney. Recently Ed has been involved in the design of in-ground sensor networks for crop monitoring and multispectral image data integration.

Lucia Galladro is a Honduran entrepreneur and the Founder & CEO of Emerge. Focussing on technology for social impact, she is currently nominated for the 2018 Global SDG Awards and Newsweek’s 2019 Blockchain Impact Awards. Prior to Emerge Lucia co-founded Dona un Libro, Cambia una Mente, an education centered non-profit and 2016 recipient of President Obama’s Young Leaders of the Americas Fellowship. Among her many awards is the 2017 Venture for Canada Fellowship. She has experience in both public and private sectors: from immigration and trade relations on diplomatic missions, to mobile tech and early-stage investments.

Joel is a highly sought-after legal advisor in the fintech space. Joel brings more than 30 years of legal experience in a career that includes time as an AmLaw 100 partner, the former U.S. general counsel of a global financial institution and a venture capitalist. Joel leads policy initiatives on global regulatory issues on behalf of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Joel was named as one of the Top 6 Fintech Leading Lawyers in the United States in The Legal 500 U.S. 2019 Edition; and one of the top 10 Fintech attorneys in America for 2019 by Chambers & Partners.