Ada Vaughan
Senior Director, DeFi Partnerships at Stellar; serial entrepreneur
Chicago, Illinois
Summary
Ecosystem builder and DeFi partnerships lead: Ada has transitioned from ecosystem and marketing roles into senior DeFi partnerships leadership at the Stellar Development Foundation, where she focuses on growing DeFi projects, supporting Soroban smart contract developers, and forging strategic industry collaborations to accelerate adoption of Stellar-based solutions. theblock+2
Serial entrepreneur with consumer fintech product experience: She co-founded and led Chore Check, a consumer-facing fintech app that introduced a child-focused prepaid debit product and features to teach financial literacy; the business and its user base were later acquired by REGO Payments. regopayments+2
Growth and GTM operator across startups and web3 security: Ada has held growth, marketing, and partnerships leadership roles (e.g., Head of Growth at Code4rena and senior marketing/business development roles at Conduit and BRD), demonstrating a pattern of building go-to-market and partnership programs across both traditional fintech and Web3 security ecosystems. medium+1
Public-facing communicator and speaker: She frequently speaks at industry conferences and participates in media/podcast interviews to discuss DeFi, stablecoins, and payments (appearances include EthDenver, Paris Blockchain Week, Real-World Asset Summit, and interviews/podcasts such as Wirex's 'Hope vs Hype' episode). youtube+2