Jo Ann Barefoot

Jo Ann Barefoot is CEO & Co-founder of the Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR), a nonprofit organization working globally to promote a more fair, inclusive and resilient financial system by helping adapt financial regulation for the digital age. She hosts the global podcast show Barefoot Innovation and is Senior Fellow Emerita at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Business & Government. She has been Deputy Comptroller of the Currency, partner at KPMG, Co-Chairman of Treliant Risk Advisors, and a staff member at the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.

Jo Ann is a member of advisory bodies for FinRegLab and the Milken Institute. She was formerly on the board of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Fintech Committee of FINRA. She chaired the boards of the Financial Health Network and FinRegLab, and served on the CFPB’s inaugural Consumer Advisory Board. She co-founded the regtech firm Hummingbird.

In 2024, Jo Ann was the first non-lawyer recipient of the Proxmire Award. In 2023, American Banker named Jo Ann one of the most Influential Women in Fintech. Other honors include being recognized as Fintech Woman of the Year, selected to the Forbes magazine list of 50 Over 50, and named to the Fintech Hall of Fame and the Women in Fintech Power List twice. Fast Company magazine has honored AIR in its World Changing Ideas awards.
Jo Ann has published hundreds of articles and is the author of numerous papers on financial regulation and technology, including the RegTech Manifesto. She speaks each year to thousands of people throughout the world.