Power Moves: This global expert is the new CEO of DC’s Crypto Council for Innovation

Power Moves is a column where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, gig or promotion? Email us: dc@technical.ly.

Meet the new local(ish) face of cryptocurrency

Look, you’re probably sick of hearing about cryptocurrency after this weekend’s Super Bowl commercial mayhem, but there is some local news to know on the subject.

This month, the Crypto Council for Innovation, a global lobbying group HQ’d in DC for leaders in the crypto industry, announced that Sheila Warren would be its new CEO. And she’s got some jam-packed credentials, including but not limited to past roles as the head of blockchain and data at the World Economic Forum and senior executive at tech firms such as TechSoup. She was also key in the creation of NGOsource, a project to streamline grantmaking. Oh yeah, and she also cohosts Money Reimagined, a top podcast from CoinDesk.

“The crypto ecosystem is poised to deliver large-scale economic growth, empower communities, and improve lives all over the world,” the San Francisco-based Warren said in a statement. “I am excited to drive CCI’s mission of realizing the transformative potential of crypto through education and advocacy for a responsible, forward-thinking global policy environment that will ensure that crypto’s benefits are accessible to all people, regardless of their current economic privilege.”

Caribou Financial has some new faces

After a rebrand in November, DC auto financing startup Caribou Financial has, well, almost too many new hires to count.

Caribou, formerly known as MotoRefi, began the pandemic with a headcount of 40 employees. Now, it’s reached 400, and it intends to keep moving, CEO Kevin Bennett told the Washington Business Journal. We can’t hit them all, but here are some of the noteworthy hires:

• Former COO and Uber alum Eric Stradley was promoted to the role of president
• Other C-Suite moves: Jason Tepperman was appointed chief lending officer, Arlene Dzurnak is the company’s chief compliance officer and Jennifer Khazai was named chief accounting officer
• Tamara Lewis is senior VP of operations enablement
• Mimi Turner was named VP of talent acquisition

TEDCO has a new senior director

If you’re an early-stage founder looking for funding, there’s a new name to know in the VC game.

Katherine Hill Ritchie. (Courtesy photo)

As of this month, TEDCO, Maryland’s investment arm for tech companies, has a new senior director of venture funds: Katherine Hill Ritchie. In the role, she’ll be partnering with founders for early-stage investment, specifically those ranging from $500,000 to $2 million.

TEDCO said Hill Ritchie is a longtime pro in the investment world. In addition to her 19 years of work in the space, she founded investment firm Private Capital Investments, has been an angel investor and is a member of Citrine Angels and on the investment committee of the University Impact fund.

“As someone who grew up in Montgomery County and graduated from the University of Maryland, I am so excited to work with the team to focus on investing in and advancing early-stage innovators in my home state and also championing TEDCO’s social impact mission,” Hill Ritchie said in a statement.

Check out the other power moves around DC:

• Curio, a nuclear innovation company in DC, appointed Ed McGinnis as its new CEO. Previously, McGinnis has worked in federal government roles for over three decades.
• Huntingdon Ingalls Industries, an engineering and defense tech firm in Newport News, Virginia, promoted COO Chris Kastner to the role of president and CEO. Current CEO Mike Petters will become vice chairman of the board.
• Herndon, Virginia defense tech firm ManTech promoted Stephen Deitz as EVP and general manager of its federal civilian sector entity.
• Neustar Security, a cloud security firm in Sterling, Virginia, named Kevin Collins as its CFO.
• Georgetown incubator Halcyon dropped the list of its spring 2022 fellows.
• Social analytics company Socially Determined appointed Paul Matsui as its chief strategy officer and Mike Considine as its chief product officer.
• Agile solutions firm Excella, based in Arlington, Virginia, has named Ruben Marchiani as VP and market owner of national security for the company.
• Revolution Growth, the DC-based venture fund for growth-stage companies, promoted Patrick Conroy and Kristin Gunther to the role of partner. Nancy Hilliker, Osman Nur and Curtis Oberg were also bumped up to VP.
• TekSynap, an IT services company in Reston, Virginia, announced that Susan Case would be its new VP of intelligence programs. Case previously held roles at companies including L3 Technologies and Keane Federal Systems.
• CertiPath, a fellow Reston company focused on access management, promoted Jeff Torello to the role of CTO.
• Economic developer membership org International Economic Development Council, based in DC, appointed Nathan Ohle as its president and CEO.
• McLean, Virginia tech consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton announced that Raynor Dahlquist would be rejoining the company as senior VP in national cyber strategy. She previously worked in the company’s defense and strategic innovation arms.
• Oceus Networks, a broadband network provider in Reston, has bumped its president, Jeff Harman, to CEO. Harman’s been at the company’s helm since former CEO Randy Fuerst left in 2020.
• Infinidat, a data storage provider in Bethesda, Maryland, named Troy Fortune as its new president.
• Cybersecurity company Netography, based in Annapolis, Maryland, appointed Jennifer Leggio as its CMO and Joel Esler as its VP of threat research. The hirings were announced just a few months after the company raised $45 million.
• Charlottesville, Virginia’s SafeGuard Cyber, a cybersecurity developer, appointed Chris Lehman as its new CEO, succeeding cofounder Jim Zuffoletti.