The OpenID Foundation applauds all the honorees from this year’s Okta Ventures “The Identity 25” program. Today we take a moment to proudly celebrate the members of the OpenID Foundation Community recognized in the Okta Ventures’ Identity 25 honourees. Many of our friends, colleagues, partners are recognized here, who we collaborate with day in and day out to reshape the digital identity landscape. 

This year’s Identity 25 list yet again shines a spotlight on numerous individuals who collaborate with the OpenID Foundation. Their contributions exemplify the OpenID Foundation’s pivotal role in advancing digital identity standards and fostering collaboration across the industry. We are proud to recognize:

• Nat Sakimura – Serving as OIDF Chairman, driving our strategic vision.

• Naohiro Fujie – Chair of OIDF-Japan, reinforcing our global outreach.

• Daniel Fett – A dedicated spec editor, contributor, and a founder of the OAuth Security Workshop

• Brian Campbell – An instrumental spec editor and contributor.

• Ryan Galluzzo – A key NIST contributor to working groups.

• Andrew Black – ConnectID member and strategic partner.

• Paolo De Rosa – European Commission representative, strategic partner on eIDAS 2.0, and ecosystem implementer of our specifications.

• Heather Flanagan – Founder of Spherical Cow Consulting with a broad impact across identity standards & practitioner communities (like IDPro), including as a contributor to OIDF community groups and editor of several OIDF papers.

• Andrew Shikiar – Executive Director at FIDO, a vital liaison partner organization.

• Sasikumar Ganesan – Contributor to OIDF specifications and strategic partner through MOSIP.

• Janelle Allen – With Cisco, a Sustaining Member of OIDF.

• Gail Hodges – Our own Executive Director, who helps bring the identity community together. 

• Yodahe Zemichael – Contributor to SIDI Hub Summits, which are co-organized by OIDF, in Paris and South Africa.

• Kim Hamilton Duffy – Executive Director of Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF), a liaison partner Standards Body, advancing our collective mission.

Each of these leaders plays a crucial role in addressing the challenges of digital identity—from combating cybercrime and fraud to setting interoperable standards that enable secure digital interactions across borders.

A Testament to Our Central Role

The impressive roster of Identity 25 honourees who collaborate with the OpenID Foundation is clear evidence of the foundation’s central role in the digital identity community. It reflects our enduring commitment to bringing together government bodies, private enterprises, and non-profits to create standards that secure digital interactions for billions of people worldwide.

As we navigate the complexities of digital identity, we remain steadfast in our mission. The achievements of our colleagues and partners not only advance the state of digital identity, but also cement the OpenID Foundation’s position as a cornerstone of progress in this space.

We are delighted and immensely proud to be at the heart of a global commitment to securing digital identity. The full Identity 25 report can be downloaded here.

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.