Better than most, our readers know that the identity industry is moving at an unprecedented rate – that it needs to change at the pace of emerging technologies to best connect and protect people and institutions. The Digital Identity Advancement Foundation remains focused on its commitment to expand the talent pipeline and the community of experts that shape the future of this industry. In 2025, we created more opportunities for people to learn, find mentors, and explore the breadth and depth of the industry. We also stretched ourselves to greater levels of impact: we supported past winners to take the stage and expanded our global footprint.
A Global Community
DIAF is cultivating a truly global community of talented identity professionals. In 2025, our awards had an incredible mix of applicants and winners. We welcomed winners from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, the United States, Canada, Rwanda, and Cameroon – the latter two representing our first 2 winners from the African continent.
Importantly, we continue to hear from our awardees that the experiences they have are transformative – whether it is because they learned about a new topic, met a mentor, or found a collaborator. It is clear that, in providing access to these opportunities, DIAF and its supporters are having a positive impact on individuals and growing the identity community.
I left Identiverse 2025 feeling more connected, more inspired, and more committed than ever to building a future where digital identity works for everyone.
Sachin Mamoru describes a transformative experience with the 2025 KCA
Stefan Charsley on his IIW session and joining the New Zealand Digital Identity Board.
Supporting Thought Leaders
We provide talented people with the resources to attend conferences and build relationships – but it doesn’t stop there. The Digital Identity Advancement Foundation is eager to support the continued growth and success of past winners. This year, three of our past winners spoke on conference stages at EIC and Identiverse. And we lost count of how many IIW sessions they called…
Grace Klutke: Digital Identity on Defense
A lawyer with a focus on international treaties and a 2024 Kim Cameron Award winner, Grace brought together two fascinating panels at Identiverse and EIC. She sat alongside and hosted experts on cybersecurity, innovation, human rights, and international development to discuss digital identity systems in the context of global conflict.
Erick Domingues: Open Banking in Brazil
Erick Domingues took to the stage at EIC to discuss how Open Banking Brazil took shape, the value it adds in the lives of Brazilians, and how it’s differentiated from Open Banking in other countries.
Jen Schreiber: Evolutions in Enterprise Security
Jen is a contributor to several standards bodies and working groups — in particular, the SCIM standard at IETF and the IPSIE and Shared Signals standards with the OpenID Foundation. In 2025, she spoke on an Identiverse panel about the value of those standards and was also recently recognized as a leader in IT Security by the Cyber Risk Alliance. She will join the conference committee for the OAuth Security Workshop.
How to Get Involved
We are looking forward to another incredible year in 2026 – and we’d love for you to be involved! There are a few ways that you can support DIAF:
- Apply. You can apply for the Kim Cameron Award now until January 30, 2026. We will open the Vittorio Bertocci Award later this year.
- Share. Please encourage young, aspiring, and developing Digital Identity practitioners to apply for our programs. You can keep up to date by following us on Linkedin and Twitter.
- Contribute. You can donate directly to DIAF or contact us to discuss in-kind offers that might benefit our awardees (conference attendance, tickets, meal vouchers, etc.) and the sustainability of our programs.
- Mentor & Advocate. Seek out the aspiring, emerging, developing identity professionals in your life and, in the spirit of Kim and Vittorio, offer them your support.
Incredible Partners
Once again, DIAF would like to thank the partners who make this program possible:
- The OpenID Foundation for supporting the original Kim Cameron Awards and for continuing to invest in the Digital Identity pipeline with DIAF
- The organizers of events that offered free attendance to our winners:
- IDPRo for offering one year of membership – and access to their thriving community of mentors – to our awardees
And, of course, we are forever grateful for the lives and legacies of Kim Cameron and Vittorio Bertocci. They continue to make the internet safer and our community stronger every day.
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