Henry Jake Foreman — ILP Summit 2023 Micro Grantee Report

Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Henry Jake Foreman and I'm a program director at New Mexico Community Capital (NMCC) which helps grow sustainable Indigenous economies through technical assistance, grants, and access to capital. I attended the 2023 ILP Summit with the goal of learning more about the Interledger Protocol and how it can be used to improve the efficiency and interoperability of cross-border payments. Throughout my research as an educator, planner and Indigenous technologist, I realize that there can be many ways to better facilitate exchanges of ideas, resources, and talents. Traditional Indigenous economies were based on nutrient and knowledge exchange and I believe the Interledger protocol and community can help us grow in this digital age.

Key Highlights from the 2023 ILP Summit

Some of the key highlights from my participation at the Summit include:
-Connecting with a number of experts and community members in the Interledger space, including Santosh Viswanatham, Erica Hargeave, and Vineel Reddy.
-Attending sessions on topics such as the Interledger Protocol, new and emerging Open Payments technologies, and creating podcasts with other grant recipients about accessibility and Indigenous perspectives .
-Having aha moments about how the Interledger Protocol can be used to solve some of the challenges faced by my own community through re-establishing global Indigenous trade routes.

Key Takeaways from the 2023 ILP Summit

My key takeaways from the Summit include:
-The Interledger Protocol is a powerful tool that has the potential to revolutionize the way cross-border payments are made.
-Policy leaders are spearheading the integration of the Interledger Protocol into their systems to make it easier for citizens and businesses to send payments and participate in their economies.
-There is a need for growth in the Interledger community to better meet the needs of businesses and organizations that are looking to adopt the protocol.
-Witnessing the power of Future/Money grantees through their work illustrating the Intersection of art and commerce. Their art pieces were very creative and allowed the audience to reflect and visualize the future of money. Any art installation that has us reflect on our monetary systems is worth having.

Introducing What I Learned to My Respective Communities

I plan on taking what I learned at the Summit and introducing it to my respective communities. I will do this by contributing to the Interledger Foundation’s mission and goals by promoting Interledger to a wide audience through educational materials, meetups, and workshops. I hope to also write white papers, produce digital stories highlighting the importance of frictionless payment and expand the mission and goal of the interledger foundation by bringing more diverse voices to the table. I also hope to meet other ambassadors and network with them at community events and initiatives.

Next Steps

My next steps include developing and delivering educational materials, organize meetups and workshops, and create content for social media and other channels. I would also work to build relationships with other Interledger stakeholders, such as developers, businesses, tribal leaders, and international Indigenous communities. I hope to build a community of businesses, and users who are passionate about Interledger and who can utilize it to recreate Indigenous trade routes in this digital era. Lastly, I want to help to identify and address the challenges that are preventing Interledger from being more widely adopted. I hope to learn more about domestic and international policies that are both hindering and supporting the infrastructure

Requested Community Support

Our non-profit NMCC is developing an 8,000 sq ft co-working space and gallery and I hope that we can host the Future/Money art show in 2024. I also hope to host International exchanges with the Peoples Clearinghouse and Indiginomic Institute. I would appreciate any support from the community by connecting with me to create a case study on how we can use the Interledger Protocol to host workshops, cultural exchanges, developer trainings and hackathons.