Ambassadors
Karen Elliot
High-Level Ambassador
Women in Digital Finance
Bio
Professor Karen Elliott is Chair (Full Professor) of Practice in Finance and FinTech at Birmingham University Business School and Co-Director of the FinTech MSc Degree Programme. She has been named as ‘Standout #35 Women in FinTech Powerlist by Innovate Finance’ for Policy and Governance 2019, 2020 and listed for the new Hubs (governance) category in 2021. In addition, is an Advisory Board member to Incuto, We are Group and Saible, championing access to fair and affordable finance. Karen co-leads FinTrust, Agency, UKFin Network+, INFINITY, and Trustworthy AI projects (£12m EPSRC/UKRI/Research England) with Prof van Moorsel to optimise trustworthy and ethical AI, engineered to deliver citizen transparency, fairness, and inclusion. Likewise, co-led Finclusion (Gates Foundation/Turing Institute £100k), which explored verifiable credentials for vulnerable groups, focusing on dementia in the digital economy following her mother’s diagnosis. A member of the Prime Minister’s Champions Group for Dementia, Corporate Digital Responsibility, ForHumanity, Radix, the IEEE Global Initiative Planet Positive and an Ambassador for the Digital Poverty Alliance, Karen creates a fusion of academic and practical ethical/governance considerations at the individual/societal level, seeking to find balance for an equitable digital society while protecting and sustaining the planet.
I provide consultancy to a range of companies including government offices, via Bardd Consulting (listed on my LinkedIn profile) and private work in this area. After 20 years in industry as a project, programme manager and consultant, I joined Durham University to complete my second Masters and PhD. The latter focused as previously described and centred on behavioural psychology and sociology – hence, understanding the difficulties of getting people to engage authentically and effectively.
Mission
Through collaborative research, strategic advisory roles, and educational leadership, I work to ensure that emerging technologies—including blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence—serve as catalysts for positive societal change rather than instruments of inequality. My mission centers on creating trustworthy, transparent, and accessible financial solutions that empower vulnerable communities, support responsible corporate governance, and drive measurable impact toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
I strive as part of GESDC and Ambassador of Women in Digital Finance to establish ethical frameworks and standards that guide the use of digital technologies toward a future where profit and purpose are intrinsically aligned, where innovation serves humanity’s greatest challenges, and where the digital transformation of finance becomes a force for global resilience, adaptation, and sustainable prosperity.