Dr. Tomicah Tillemann leverages innovations in finance and technology to help large organizations solve complex global challenges. He serves as co-founder and Director of the Blockchain Trust Accelerator at New America, Chairman of the Global Blockchain Business Council, and an advisor to the BitFury Group, VoxGov, and other blockchain companies. He is also Director of the Bretton Woods II program at New America, where he and his team work with large, long-term asset allocators' to reduce exposure to risk and volatility through strategic investments in social impact and development.
From 2010 to 2014, Tillemann served under Hillary Clinton and John Kerry as the Secretary of State's Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies. Tillemann led a team of experts that translated over 20 promising ideas and technologies into successful policy initiatives. He also established and chaired the State Department's Global Philanthropy Working Group and a major federal advisory committee.
Tillemann joined the State Department in 2009 as Secretary Clinton's speechwriter and collaborated with her on over 200 speeches. Previously, he spent four years on the professional staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee working with Joe Biden, John Kerry and Barack Obama. Tillemann’s other professional experience includes work with the White House, five U.S. Senate and Congressional campaigns, Reuters New Media, and the World Bank.
Tillemann is a co-holder of four patents. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Yale University and holds a Ph.D. with distinction from the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (SAIS). He has lectured at Yale and Princeton and testified repeatedly before Congress. He has delivered over 100 keynote addresses and appears frequently on broadcast media and at conferences including SXSW and TED.
