March 29, 2025 (Saturday)
Walter Dods, Jr. RISE Center
The First Blockchain Summit
for Students & Educators in Hawaii
Made Possible By
Title Sponsor
Venue Sponsor
Sponsor
Organizers
The Future of Web3
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The Future of Web3 \
Dr. Helen Turner is Vice President for Strategy and Innovation, and Professor of Biology at Chaminade University, She is also an affiliate faculty of the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Dr. Turner is a biology researcher and former (2007-19) Dean of Natural Sciences at Chaminade. She has been the primary architect of Chaminade’s decade-long STEM transformation into a center of excellence for undergraduate science preparation, especially in fostering pipelines for students who have been historically disenfranchised from STEM or who face significant socioeconomic or cultural barriers to inclusion.
Sponsor Speech
David Hijirida returned to Honolulu after a 25-year career on the mainland, where he held leadership roles in banking, spent over a decade at Amazon, and led two fintech companies as CEO and President. With expertise in product development, technology and operations, he is passionate about fostering a high-performing ownership culture. A Punahou alumni, who holds degrees from MIT, Cornell, and Wharton and serves as a Board Member of Squarelife and a lecturer at UH West Oʻahu. Hijirida is committed to bringing innovation and leadership to Hawaii’s business community. He is currently the President of ProService Hawaii and resides in Honolulu with his family.
Keynote Presentation
Chaminade University Student Panel
Moderated by Kia Yang, an analyst at OMVC, students from Chaminade University’s Datapreneurship and Blockchain Internship Program took the hot seat to share their experiences learning about blockchain technology and how they are applying it to solve real-world problems.
Blockchain x Crypto 101
In this session, students and educators learn about the fundamentals of blockchain technology and crypto.
Instructors Ben Chang, founder of Bambuu and Scott Odell , co-Founder of [[alloc] init] demystified the myths surrounding blockchain technology so that participants can establish a solid foundation for learning throughout the day.
Wallets: A Gateway into Web3
In this hands-on session, blockchain developer and co-founder of Blockchain in Paradise, Skylor Tengan teaches participants all about wallets and its significance in the world of Web3. Attendees also learned how to claim their first POAP, i.e. non-fungible token (NFT)!
Careers in Web3
Industry professionals — Kevin Jones, DevRel Engineer at Edge & Node, Scott Odell , co-Founder of [[alloc] init], Zac Manafort, Marketing at Phoenix Growth and Zack Hernandez, founder of AEP Hawaii and recruiter shared stories about getting their journeys into Web3, advice on securing job opportunities in blockchain, the importance of networking and participating in communities.
Real-World Blockchain Applications: Presentations (L-R)
Kevin Jones, DevRel Engineer at Edge & Node gave an overview of the Buidl Guidl and Scaffold ETH-2 stack as an option for developers to build in Ethereum.
Sean Cover, Finance Lead at Eco shared about his journey transitioning from the non-profit world into blockchain, as well as a fascinating overview of stablecoins and its use cases.
Rosie Riddle, Lead for Global Community and Social Media at Consensys told her story about how she ventured into Web3 and gave an overview of the Consensys product suite.
Remember the Moments.
Remember the Moments.
Hawaii Blockchain Youth Summit 2025
Digital Collectible
Attendees of the summit will receive this digital collectible to commemorate their participation. In Web3, we call this digital collectible a “POAP”, i.e. proof of attendance protocol. The participant claims this POAP on-site at the event and the action is recorded on the blockchain.
