Founder & Visionary Leader in Decentralized Science and Data Privacy

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Shady El Damaty, a Philadelphia native with Egyptian and Moroccan roots, embodies the spirit of a first-generation immigrant in the United States. His remarkable journey from academia to pioneering decentralized science and data privacy solutions is nothing short of inspiring. Currently, as co-founder of Holonym Foundation, El Damaty is changing the future of online safety by developing a decentralized identity protocol based on zero-knowledge proofs.

Shady's academic excellence began at the University of Rochester, where he earned a B.Sc. in Neuroscience. He then pursued an M.Sc. in Biomedical Science with a focus on Neuroengineering at Drexel University. His academic journey culminated in a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Georgetown University, where his dissertation explored the maturation of cognitive skills and neural systems.

Shady's professional career is marked by significant achievements. As a Principal Investigator funded by the Department of Justice, he led a novel research initiative  for the National Institute of Justice, securing $164,000 in research funding. His innovative spirit shone through during his Mistletoe Hardware Startup Accelerator Fellowship, where he was awarded a grant to support his work as he honed his entrepreneurial skills.

In 2021, Shady founded Opscientia, the first decentralized science (DeSci) DAO, raising $300,000 to support software development and launching the first decentralized fellowship program. Under his leadership, Opscientia grew to 700 contributors, of which 40% academics and researchers, and indexed 500TB of open-source data on the Filecoin network.

Opscientia's success led to its selection for the Spanish accelerator program by Invest in Spain in June 2021. By 2022, Shady had formed the identity team to tackle data archival attribution and verification challenges, resulting in the incorporation of the Holonym Foundation as a spin-out from Opscientia Labs Inc. With Holonym, Shady and his team raised $315,000 in a pre-seed round and, by 2024, achieved $1 million in revenue and closed a $5.5 million seed round.

Holonym Foundation was conceived out of a need to solve scientific data-sharing problems encountered at Opscientia, but has grown to solve general problems related to identity and agency in digital systems. Shady's passion for empowering individuals through technology led him to focus on privacy tooling and decentralized systems. His vision is to create a future where digital interactions are built on asymmetric cryptography, ensuring secure and private interactions for users worldwide. At Holonym Foundation, Shady instills values of service, rigor, innovation, and purpose-driven work. His team embodies curiosity, tenacity, and self-driven motivation. Together, they foster a culture of innovation through open dialogue, co-ownership, and collaborative problem-solving.

Shady's journey has not been without challenges. The bear market of 2022 tested the resilience of Holonym, but through grit and strategic decisions, the team navigated financial constraints and emerged stronger. Shady's ability to focus on immediate tasks and maintain unwavering belief in his mission has been crucial to overcoming these obstacles.

Holonym Foundation aims to launch several groundbreaking projects, including Human Wallet, a universal web account and digital wallet,  Human Network Actively Validated Service (AVS) on Eigenlayer, and Human ID’s Proof-of-Clean Hands for on-chain AML/KYC. Long-term, Shady envisions providing private proof of personhood for every individual on the planet, securing government contracts, and expanding Silk into a decentralized personal bank account for all.

Shady El Damaty is dedicated to making a lasting impact by bringing asymmetric cryptography to civic systems and financial services, ensuring privacy and security in digital interactions, and reducing the risk of digital despotism. His journey serves as a testament to the power of innovation, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of a vision that empowers individuals and transforms the world.