Brett McDowell

Brett McDowell is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in ICT industry coalition leadership.

He holds the distinction of being the first elected Chair of the Hedera Governing Council and has served in various leadership roles in digital identity and cybersecurity organizations such as Kantara Initiative, NIST's Identity Ecosystem Steering Group, DMARC.org, and FIDO Alliance.

Brett has a strong background in multi-stakeholder governance, having been involved with industry coalitions like MAAWG, National Cyber Security Alliance, StopBadWare, and PCI Security Standards Council.

Prior to his current role, Brett was the Head of Ecosystem Security at PayPal and actively contributed to industry standards and policy initiatives like DMARC and FIDO.

He is also engaged with various World Economic Forum initiatives, has been a fellow at the UMASS Center for Digital Government, and has advised organizations such as the US Federal Reserve Bank's Mobile Payment Industry Working Group and the Bitcoin Foundation.

Brett McDowell's educational background includes a B.S. in Physics with Honors (minor in Music) from Alma College and Lemelson Fellowship in Invention and Innovation from Hampshire College.

His extensive professional experience spans across a diverse range of organizations, including leadership roles at Hedera, FIDO Alliance, PayPal, Liberty Alliance Project, IEEE, and various consulting projects.

Brett McDowell's expertise lies in digital identity, cybersecurity, multi-stakeholder governance, industry standards, and policy initiatives.