HARVARD LAW SCHOOL BLOCKCHAIN AND FINTECH INITIATIVE
HLSBFI
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL'S LEADING STUDENT ORGANIZATION FOR BLOCKCHAIN, FINTECH, AND WEB3
Meet the Team
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HLS BFI 2025-2026 EXECUTIVE BOARD
MEET OUR 2025-2026 TEAM
MICHAELLE YEO
President​
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Michaelle is a 3L. Prior to law school, she worked for about seven years at several law firms, both on not-for-profit formations and exemptions, and in the emerging companies space, supporting financings, IPOs, M&A, and day-to-day corporate governance. She also spent time at Coinbase, where she worked on executive equity compensation, and on strategy and compliance for the Coinbase GiveCrypto Foundation. Michaelle will join Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP's Restructuring practice following graduation. ​​​
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CHRISTINE DONG
Vice President, Treasurer
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​Christine is a 2L from Vancouver, Canada. Before law school, she worked on strategic initiatives at Paxos, where she helped launch PYUSD, wind down BUSD, and analyze the company’s international licensing strategy. Previously, she managed special projects at Reservoir Labs and strategic talent projects at Bridgewater Associates. Christine is interested in exploring how traditional financial institutions are adopting technological innovations from the cryptocurrency sector and how global regulatory frameworks are evolving in response.
AVIVA WANG
Director, Communications​
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​Aviva is a 3L from Shenzhen, China. Before law school, she worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School as a research specialist, using empirical methods to examine topics that intersect FDA regulations, drug pricing, and pharmaceutical market policy. Aviva spent her 2L summer at Sidley Austin LLP in Palo Alto, where she worked across the Corporate and Securities Enforcement & Regulation groups.
JAMI PARK
Director, Events & Professional Development
JAMI PARK
Director, Events & Professional Development​
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​Jami Park is a 2L from Virginia. Prior to law school, he worked as a software engineer in the Bay Area. He’s interested in the regulatory challenges posed by the integration of crypto with the traditional financial institutions, and the regulatory challenges created by the decentralized training and inference of large language models.
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LIZ JUNGHYUN KIM
Director, Events & Professional Development​
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Liz is a 2L from Seoul, Korea. Prior to law school, she majored in finance, studying investment banking and financial engineering. She subsequently worked for two years at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton’s Capital Markets and M&A teams as a corporate paralegal. She is also a Certified Securities Investment Advisor. Liz will join Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP's corporate practice following graduation.
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AKIVA STERN
Director, Community Engagement​
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​Akiva is a Harvard Law School student (Class of 2027) interested in business law and the future of FinTech. Before HLS, he earned a Talmudic degree from Yeshivas Novominsk and studied Jewish law abroad. He also worked as a paralegal at a business arbitration firm and has lectured internationally on various aspects of Jewish law. Akiva enjoys traveling and spending time with family.
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TENZIN YONTEN
1L Representative​
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Tenzin is a 1L from Bangalore, India. Before law school, he spent two years teaching across Asia. Tenzin is very interested in exploring all there is about the blockchain and fintech world.
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THAIS CALIXTO ABREU
LLM Representative
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Thaís is an LL.M. candidate at Harvard Law School, focusing on financial regulation, capital markets, and corporate governance. She earned her LL.B. from the University of São Paulo, complemented by a double degree at Université Lumière Lyon 2, and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Law from Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3. Before coming to Harvard, she practiced for four years as an associate at Yazbek Advogados, a leading boutique firm in São Paulo specializing in corporate law and capital markets regulation, where she worked on regulatory and enforcement matters before the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission and the Brazilian Central Bank.
BEN MAYS
LLM Representative​
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Ben is an LLM student from the UK, where he completed his undergraduate law degree at the University of Cambridge, graduating in July 2025. His interests in blockchain and fintech include regulatory issues, but revolve particularly around the principles of private law applicable to cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, an area which will form the basis of his LLM Paper in the coming year. Next summer, he will return to England to pursue a career as a commercial barrister, with a focus on the banking and financial sector. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, playing tennis, and evenings in the pub with friends.
GRACE MA
Director, Programming Committee​
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Grace Ma is a LLM student from Beijing, China. Prior to Harvard, she was a partner at Tian Yuan Law Firm and later joined Evershed Sutherland as of-Counsel, where her practice focused on cross-border M&A, outbound investment and project finance. Grace is a strong believer in crypto's potential, while staying pragmatic about regulation and risk. She is also a passionate food blogger and a creative cooking enthusiast.
SERGIO MENDOZA
Director, Programming Committee​
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Sergio Alejandro Mendoza is an LL.M. candidate from Colombia with a background in economics and financial regulation. Previously, he worked as an Associate in a Colombian Tier 1 law firm in banking and capital markets regulation where he advised multiple clients on the incorporation of cryptoassets service providers and their applicable regulation. Later, as Senior Lawyer for Regulatory Compliance at a Colombian neobank, he led the corporate governance strategy and the legal compliance team ensuring the entity complied with the instructions of the Colombian regulators. Sergio’s research has focused on the regulation of cryptoassets in Latin America and the impact of monetary policy in microlending and other fintech businesses.
MAYTAV DAYGAN
Director, Programming Committee
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Maytav Dagan has practiced law for over a decade in Israel, where he served as a criminal prosecutor. Most recently, he spent three years as Chief Financial Coordinator of Israel’s Cyber-Crime Department. In this role, he oversaw the country’s cryptocurrency and digital asset anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) cases, led the seizure of over $25 million in illicit cryptocurrency proceeds, and served as lead prosecutor in Israel’s first cryptocurrency trial. Dagan was a speaker at the 8th Global UN Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies, organized in 2024 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Certified as a Blockchain Expert, Dagan currently serves as a Research Assistant to Mr. Timothy Massad, former CFTC Chairman and Director of the Digital Assets Policy Project at Harvard Kennedy School, where he researches stablecoin AML compliance and the GENIUS Act.
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The Harvard Law School Blockchain & FinTech Initiative is an officially recognized student-run organization of Harvard Law School. Membership in this organization is open to all HLS students.