Professor Karen Elliott is Chair (Full Professor) of Practice in Finance and FinTech at the University of Birmingham Business School/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 2021, judging the powerlist for 2023/4 and featured in the Kalifa Review driving the future of Financial Services and FinTech. Karen is a Director of the UKFin Network+ and Strablib.ai project with Stratiphy, whilst co-Directing the INFINITY Hub (£12m EPSRC/Innovate UK/Research England) to optimise trustworthy, responsible, and ethical use of digital technologies (ML/AI/Blockchain). Likewise, co-led Finclusion (Gates Foundation/Turing Institute £100k), which employed blockchain technology to verify credentials for vulnerable groups. Prior to joining academia, she worked as a project, risk, change, and programme manager across public, private, and voluntary sectors.
She has publications in international journals including IEEE (4*), ACM (4*), IJOPM (4*), CHI (3*), ERM (3*), Springer Nature: Society (3*), JOCM (2*), Big Data and Society (2*), Technology in Society (2*), and sits on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies (JEEE), reviewing for several journals, UKRI grants and advising on FCA sandboxes and tech sprints. She forms part of The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, (“The IEEE Global Initiative”) and Planet Positive, establishing ethical and social implementations for intelligent and autonomous systems and technologies inspiring the creation of Standards (IEEE P7000™ series and beyond).
Furthermore, Karen is an advisory board member for Incuto, Saible, and We are Group whilst a member of the Prime Minister’s Champions Group for Dementia, Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR), FRSA, and a Fellow of ZincVC. She creates a fusion of academic, practical, and commercial socio-technical considerations at the individual and corporate level, seeking to find balance for an equitable digital society, while sustaining the planet.