Karla Ballard
Future of Work • Blockchain • Cultural Architect
Founder of HUMN Blockchain for Communities
Building Human-Centered Blockchain for Communities
Karla Ballard is a Cultural Architect and Founder of HUMN, a platform that uses blockchain infrastructure to record, verify, and exchange work, skills, and economic contribution within trusted communities. She focuses on the Future of Work and how decentralized technology can restore agency, dignity, and social capital.
A longtime advocate for digital inclusion and community empowerment, Karla previously ran as the Independent Vice Presidential candidate alongside Brock Pierce in 2020. She has held senior roles at Participant Media and Ogilvy, led broadband adoption initiatives, and serves as a speaker and advisor at institutions including Harvard and Georgetown. Through HUMN she is pioneering practical, human-centered applications of blockchain beyond speculation.
Run of show
Appearing at
Wednesday, September 16
Main Stage, Hard Rock Times Square
Liberty, Privacy & Building the Better World
Opening the main stage with a values-first frame: how privacy, open networks, and intentional design can still produce a more equitable digital world. The conversation sets the week’s north star–technology that expands agency rather than concentrating control.
BitcoinPalooza · Sep 17
Hard Rock Cafe Times Square
Making the Moment: Art, Music, Fashion & the Culture Crypto Builds
Crypto’s culture layer–art, music, fashion, and live moments–is where narratives stick. Creators on tonight’s bill discuss how special experiences get made, and why cultural craft is infrastructure for the next wave of adoption.
Friday, September 18
Main Stage, Hard Rock Times Square
Closing Vision: Leaders Deploying Capital at Global Scale
Closing vision from leaders who deploy capital at global scale. Expect a forward look at where conviction, networks, and institutional readiness are pointing–and what Blockchain Week’s community should build next.
Expertise
- •Future of Work
- •Blockchain for Communities
- •Social Capital & Trust Networks
- •Digital Inclusion
- •Cultural Architecture
Signature Moves
- •Founder & CEO – HUMN
- •2020 Independent VP Candidate
- •Blockchain for Verifiable Work
- •Speaker at Harvard & Georgetown
- •Community & Impact Builder
“The next era of opportunity will come from trusted social networks activating real economic participation — with the assistance of technology that remains deeply HUMN.”
– Karla Ballard
