MEET OUR BOARD
Experience Board Members from Diverse Background
Olayinka Odeniran
Founder and Chairwoman of Black Women Blockchain Council with over 16 years of experience in compliance helping financial firms navigate through domestic and international regulations, Ms. Odeniran is a highly respected compliance, cyber security and risk management expert. A graduate of Boston University, Ms. Odeniran went on to get her M.S. in Cybersecurity Management and Policy from UMGC. Her education and many years of experience in the financial industry helps her maneuver comfortably through the ever expanding blockchain landscape in which she provides information assurance to others. For her ever growing presence and efforts in blockchain, Ms. Odeniran has been featured on Yahoo Finance, The Roots, Forbes, Essence, BET and CNBC. She has also been listed as one of the top 10 Women Who Used Crypto To Make A Difference In 2021 by CoinTelegraph and listed as one of the Top 10 Influential African Women in Blockchain, by IT New Africa. Adding to her experience, for many years she oversaw the regulatory and compliance framework for a global corporate governance and responsible investment firm in her role as the Chief Compliance Officer. In 2019 she started her own Cybersecurity firm CybSecWatch which provides compliance, infosec educational tools and cybersecurity consulting. Ms. Odeniran is driven by her desire to make all sectors of Tech inclusive and diverse. Ms. Odeniran is also the Executive Director of BWBC 501(c)3 Foundation.
Najah Roberts
Founder, CEO, and Chief Visionary Officer of the only African American owned brick and mortar cryptocurrency exchanges in the country -Crypto Blockchain Plug located in Inglewood, CA. Mrs. Roberts has spent 10+ years counseling thousands of inner-city youth, business professionals, athletes, and families in the cryptocurrency and financial education space. Mrs. Roberts strives to live a life of relevancy and purpose through service to others, and has quickly become a revered figure in online communities like Clubhouse and her daily radio show on Tavis Smiley's KBLA 1580 Talk Radio. Mrs. Roberts has now expanded her reach by Creating Crypto Kids Camp, Co-Founding The Black Wall Street Wallet alongside actor Hill Harper, as well as Founding The Bitcoin Banq. She also does the Annual Digital Financial Revolution Tour, where she travels from city to city bringing Crypto Education to underserved communities across the country. Most recently, she has teamed up with Jay Z and Jack Dorsey to provide Cryptocurrency Education to the Marcy Projects in New York. A highly gifted motivational speaker, educator, philanthropist, author, and leader in her community, Mrs. Roberts has made it her personal goal through her social influence to change narratives, raise bars, and set standards. Mrs. Roberts also serves as an Executive Board member for BWBC 501(c)3 Foundation.
Dr. Tiffany Gray
DrPH, MPH, is an experienced public health researcher with over 8 years of expertise. Dr. Gray has extensive experience in regulatory ethics and compliance, grant development and evaluation and conducting both quantitative research grounded in health behavior theory and health policy. Dr, Gray currently serves as the Co-Chair for the Global Health & Disaster Relief Subcommittee as part of the UN's Blockchain for Impact and Sustainable Development Initiative. Dr, Gray is also a Blockchain in Healthcare Global (BiHG) Fellow, a newly formed trade association under IEEE-ISTO. In addition, Dr. Gray serves as Research and Science Advisor for Axes and Eggs, a blockchain based think-tank based in DC.
BWINB Non-Profit Foundation Directors
Barbara Bickham
An award-winning CTO and VC Fund Manager with extensive experience in Technology, Entrepreneurship and Fundraising. She has 35+ years experience in Technology and Entrepreneurship. She has 10+ years in Venture Capital and Private Equity. Barbara is the Managing Director for Trailyn VC, a pre-seed fund investing in diverse deep tech founders. Barbara was the Managing Director for the award-winning Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator (wifaxvc.com), a venture fund, accelerating growth by using a mix of sustainability, acceleration and funding while requiring participants to have a C-suite made up of at least 50% women. Barbara is currently Founder and CTO of Trailyn Ventures, helping investors and entrepreneurs understand emerging technology. Companies include The Aclyd Project – Sustainability, Payment and Remittance on the Blockchain; 2TransFair – Payment and Remittance on the Blockchain; Plaak – Exchange; EVRealities – AR/VR Attribution on the Blockchain; Rechain – Universal Rewards on the Blockchain, and others. Investors participate in the Emerging Tech Lab, a 3-Month Mastermind that trains them on emerging technology and investing like a venture capitalist. She is on the Board of CryptoKidsCamp and Black Cooperative Investment Fund; Advisory Board of the MIND Institute, Project New Dawn and Freeman Capital; an EIR at Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator; and a Mentor for Springboard Enterprises, Stubbs Alderton PreCellerator, and MakeInLA. She was an Advisor and EIR at the Bixel Exchange. She holds degrees from the University of Chicago, New Entrepreneurs Program, an MSCS from West Coast University and a BACS from University of California, Berkeley. Barbara serves as an Executive Board member for BWBC 501(c)3 Foundation.
Judy Schnidman, MBA
A Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and a Strategic Consultant to Black Women Blockchain Council. As the Program Manager for the National FinTech Center at Morgan State University, she managed educational projects for students and faculty at HBCUs including virtual conferences, curriculum development workshops, pitch competitions, cryptocurrency trading challenges, and a video production competition. She was a highly rated instructor of Economics and Financial Literacy at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Ms. Schnidman holds an MBA in Marketing from George Washington University and an MA in Adult Education from Towson University.
Shalinthia Miles-Smith, PMP
A US Navy military spouse, licensed notary public and independent project management professional. Her commitment to absolute discretion and attention to detail has afforded her with opportunities to work alongside some of the brightest minds in private equity, transactional law, sales and entrepreneurship. Shalinthia manages people and engagements with a gentle and transparent style that delicately balances win-win negotiations, fact-based decision making and strategy to drive projects forward and meet deadlines. Shalinthia holds a certificate in Construction Project Management from Columbia University and is a NYC certified MWBE for project management consulting. Shalinthia is a graduate of Adelphi University and attended the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan. Shalinthia will be serving as our Fundraising-Grant Strategic Advisor.