SPEAKERS

Lauren Thorbjornsen is the Chief of Staff and Vice President of communications at the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world's financial infrastructure. She supports SDF’s strategy development and leads SDF’s communications and public relations activities, building Stellar’s reputation as the blockchain that people know and trust. Lauren started her career in political campaigns, which led her to serve on the White House Communications team under President Obama. She went on to work internationally at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), communicating on a range of policy issues such as migration, education, and economic development. Before joining SDF, she led partner communications at Salesforce, helping tell the story of the ecosystem of businesses that build and implement on the platform. She holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.