Leadership
Gennady Stolyarov II – Chairman
Bobby Ridge – Secretary
B.J. Murphy – Director of Social Media
Franco Cortese – Director of Scholarship
Dinorah Delfin – Director of Admissions and Public Relations
Arin Vahanian – Director of Marketing
Sean Singh – Director of Applied Innovation
Kenneth Alum – Director of Publication
Emanuel Iral – Director of Visual Art
Keoma Ferreira Antonio – Brazil
Angel Marchev, Sr. – Bulgaria
Aria Cheng – Canada
Aiken Neón Iavarrone – Chile
Abdul-Rahman Essam Saleh – Egypt
Chris Monteiro – England
Pam Keefe – Hong Kong
Palak Madan – India
Ojochogwu Abdul – Nigeria
Bobby Pembleton – Scotland
Representatives of the Worldwide Transhumanist Movement
Alexandr Putyatinskiy – Representative of the Transhumanist Movement in Kazakhstan
Gennady Stolyarov II – Chairman
Gennady Stolyarov II (G. Stolyarov II) became the second Chairman in the history of the Transhumanist Party in November 2016. Mr. Stolyarov is an actuary, independent philosophical essayist, science-fiction novelist, poet, amateur mathematician, composer, and Editor-in-Chief of The Rational Argumentator, a magazine championing the principles of reason, rights, and progress. Mr. Stolyarov regularly produces YouTube Videos discussing life extension, politics, philosophy, and related subjects.
In December 2013, Mr. Stolyarov published Death is Wrong, an ambitious children’s book on life extension. Death is Wrong can be found on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats, and can also be freely downloaded in PDF format in the English, Russian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese languages.
Mr. Stolyarov is the Chief Executive and one of the founding members of the Nevada Transhumanist Party, established in August 2015.
Mr. Stolyarov has contributed articles to the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), The Wave Chronicle, Le Québécois Libre, Brighter Brains Institute, Immortal Life, Enter Stage Right, Rebirth of Reason, The Liberal Institute, and the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Mr. Stolyarov holds the professional insurance designations of Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS), Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA), Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Reinsurance (ARe), Associate in Regulation and Compliance (ARC), Associate in Personal Insurance (API), Associate in Insurance Services (AIS), Accredited Insurance Examiner (AIE), and Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance (AIAF). He is the author of numerous actuarial study guides, including, most recently, the 473-page Practice Problems in Advanced Topics in General Insurance, published by ACTEX Learning.
Mr. Stolyarov has written a science-fiction novel, Eden against the Colossus, a philosophical treatise, A Rational Cosmology, a play, Implied Consent, and a free self-help treatise, The Best Self-Help is Free.
In an effort to assist the spread of rational ideas, Mr. Stolyarov published his articles on Associated Content (subsequently the Yahoo! Contributor Network and Yahoo! Voices) from 2007 until Yahoo! closed this venue in 2014. Mr. Stolyarov held the highest Clout Level (10) possible on the Yahoo! Contributor Network and was one of its Page View Millionaires, with over 3,191,000 views. Mr. Stolyarov’s selected writings from that era have been preserved on this page.
Mr. Stolyarov can be contacted here.
Bobby Ridge – Secretary
Bobby Ridge has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Science from California State University of Sacramento (CSUS) and is striving to achieve his PhD in Neuroscience. He only recently found transhumanism and became a Transhumanist. He conducted research for CSUS’s Psychology Department and his own personal research on the epistemology and Scientiometrics of the Scientific Method. He also co-owns Togo’s in Citrus Heights, CA. Mr. Ridge considers transhumanism to describe the future of humanity taking its next steps in evolution, which are both puissant and daunting. With the exponential increase in information technology, Mr. Ridge considers it important for us to become a science-based species to prevent a dystopian-type future from occurring.
Mr. Ridge can be contacted here.
B.J. Murphy – Director of Social Media
B.J. Murphy is a writer, author, futurist, and activist. He has done work as a Technology Adviser for short films and television and is an Ambassador for both the A.I. company Persona and robotics company BodAi. He’s an Editor and Social Media Manager for Serious Wonder, Affiliate Scholar for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and is a co-author of both The Future of Business: Critical Insights Into a Rapidly Changing World From 60 Future Thinkers and 50:50 – Scenarios for the Next 50 Years.
Mr. Murphy can be contacted here.
Franco Cortese – Director of Scholarship
Franco Cortese is the Deputy Director of the Biogerontology Research Foundation and a member of its Board of Trustees. He believes that the most effective and economical approach to the treatment of age-related diseases – which represent, from both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint, some of the most significant diseases afflicting humanity today – is through the extension of healthspan via biomedical interventions focusing on the prevention, negation, and/or slowing of accumulated age-related phenotypic deviation. In addition to his administrative and research activities, Cortese has also written extensively on the ethical, socioeconomic, political, logistical, and philosophical implications of biomedical gerontology.
He is also active as a research scholar in the field of the philosophy of technology, focusing on the ethical, sociological, philosophical, and political issues surrounding emerging technologies in general and human enhancement technology in particular through his work as an Affiliate Scholar of the Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies (IEET), a technoprogressive policy institute focusing on the social implications of emerging technologies. His most recent research in this area has involved articulating a novel variant of technological determinism titled technic self-determination (Cortese, F. A. B. (2014). Technic Self-Determination. In Stephen John Thompson (Ed.), Global Issues and Ethical Considerations in Human Enhancement Technologies (pp. 203-224). Hershey, PA: IGI Global; Cortese, F. A. B. (2016). The Technoethical Ethos of Technic Self-Determination. International Journal of Technoethics (IJT), 7(2), 1-27), which posits a reciprocally causative relationship between technology and society, construing technology to be a crucial and reciprocally causative ontological fundament of human nature.
Among other broader research topics relating to the ethical, philosophical, and sociopolitical implications of emerging technologies in general, his current research involves defending the development and proliferation of human enhancement technologies (HET) as a viable means of increasing the capacity for self-determination, autonomy, and sovereignty at the level of both society and the individual and of reducing unnecessary suffering in the world at large by increasing the capacity for individuals to determine the controlling circumstances of their selves and lives. Contrary to many critics of HET, Cortese argues that the use of HET exemplifies – and indeed even intensifies – our most human capacity and faculty – namely, the desire for increased self-determination, which he refers to as the will toward self-determination. Furthermore, he argues that the use of HET bears fundamental ontological continuity with the human condition in general and the historically ubiquitous will toward self-determination in particular, and that, as such, the development and proliferation of HET need not be a dehumanizing force, but rather could very well serve to increase the very capacity that characterizes us as human more accurately than anything else, provided that it is developed and proliferated democratically and ethically.
Cortese’s other current positions and affiliations include Associate at Deep Knowledge Life Sciences, Research Scientist at ELPIs Foundation for Indefinite Lifespans, Scientific Advisor for Lifeboat Foundation (Life Extension Advisory Board and Futurists Advisory Board), Honorary Fellow of Brighter Brains Institute, Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Interdisciplinary Philosophic Studies, International Coordinator of Cryonics Switzerland, Ambassador for the Seasteading Institute, Assistant Editor at Ria University Press, Member of the International Longevity Alliance, Chair and Co-Founder of the Canadian Longevity Alliance, and Reviewer for the Global Futures Intelligence System at The Millennium Project.
Mr. Cortese can be contacted here.
Dinorah Delfin – Director of Admissions and Public Relations
Dinorah Delfin is a Multi-Media New York Artist and Futurist with a clear mission: to advocate for the ethical use of emerging technologies to help steer humanity into a thriving metahumanity. She is the owner of ArtDimensional Studios, Inc., in New York and has a degree in Business Management. Ms. Delfin’s artworks and activism are aimed to raise critical questions about emerging techno-social structures as they become more embedded in our lives, and our evolving definition of humanity, individual sovereignty, and general happiness and sense of purpose. Ms. Delfin’s artworks can be seen on her Instagram page.
Ms. Delfin has been designing a grass-roots campaign to advocate for the ethical use of emerging technologies – including a manifesto and a series of propaganda-like posters that raise questions about emerging technologies and how they affect our everyday life. With the assistance of like-minded artists, she is planning to carry on a guerrilla-type campaign both online and in public spaces such schools. She has been involved in organizing educational events as well as fundraisers for charitable relief efforts.
Ms. Delfin can be contacted here.
Arin Vahanian – Director of Marketing
Arin Vahanian is a project manager, author, entrepreneur, musician, blogger, startup advisor, and aspiring electrical engineer. Having worked for three Fortune 100 companies and several technology startups, Mr. Vahanian helps organizations build high-performance teams and create and launch products/services that delight the customer.
Being deeply devoted to the promise of Transhumanism and the concept of continuous improvement, Mr. Vahanian is the author of Kaizen for Men, a book that combines self-help with Lean Manufacturing and Toyota Production System principles, helping men boost their health, career, and relationships.
Mr. Vahanian became interested in the Transhumanist movement after coming across various life-changing technologies and breakthroughs in the medical field. His personal vision is to live and love deeply, being dedicated to building and spreading technologies that allow human beings to live more fulfilling, joyful, and enhanced lives. Specifically, he has a special interest in curing mental health disorders such as depression and social anxiety disorder, as well as reversing aging and curing dementia and other neurological disorders.
Mr. Vahanian holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism (Public Relations) and a Master of Business Administration (Management) degree from California State University, Northridge. Additionally, he holds several professional certifications in the information technology (IT) industry, and is an Enrolled Agent.
A seasoned traveler and expatriate, Mr. Vahanian has lived and worked on three continents, and speaks six languages. Mr. Vahanian is an ENTJ personality type according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
Mr. Vahanian can be contacted here.
Sean Singh – Director of Applied Innovation
Sean Singh is a dedicated supporter of human rights and environmental justice, an expert in strategy, quality control, and lateral thinking, with a life-long passion for open-source technologies. He is the founder of SolarFi Networks, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that designs and deploys metro-scale wireless networks that are disaster-resilient. He has owned and operated several commercial data centers, having worked in every role from tech support to network administrator to infrastructure design and implementation beforehand. Mr. Singh’s passion also extends to education. He takes an open-source view that education should be free to anyone interested, and to that end he works with the Open Source Temple, one the world’s first Transhumanist churches. Mr. Singh worked closely with Todd Freeman to develop the ranking system for consciousness that appears at the beginning of the Transhumanist Bill of Rights – Version 2.0, and which reflects his familiarity with bridging the gap between neuroscience and digital intelligence.
Mr. Singh can be contacted here.
Kenneth Alum – Director of Publication
Kenneth Alum has an Advanced Diploma in Business Management, with technical skills in Computer Hardware and Software maintenance (A+). His work experience spans 15 years, 12 years being in lower to senior-level management. Mr. Alum has worked in the industries of Graphic Design, Print Advertising, Insurance, and Finance, and has spent 10 years in the micro-finance industry. He has accrued skills in policy and procedure writing and implementation, credit appraisal, loan marketing, budgeting, financial forecasting, credit control, staff training, graphic design, report writing, business planning, customer service, and branding.
Mr. Alum has taken keen interest in science and technology recently. He now considers himself a Transhumanist, Futurist and a Space Ager – an advocate for space and for new worlds’ exploration, habitation, and colonization. Mr. Alum just began private studies in biotechnology and hopes to do the same with nanotechnology and various space technologies. He will eventually proceed to acquire formal education on these disciplines. Mr. Alum has created the Facebook group Transhumanism Africa and started a business in Kenya named Transhumanism Technologies. The purpose of the business is to import to Africa and trade in new technology products in the future.
Mr. Alum can be contacted here.
Emanuel Iral – Director of Visual Art
Emanuel Iral is a design freelancer who has provided clients with work ranging from typical advertisements, flyers, and logos, to filming and editing videos. Mr. Iral has interned as a studio assistant to a prominent artist in New York, Laetitia Soulier. He has participated in one art show, Young Artist Initiative, in Miami, where he exhibited his series of 70+ pencil drawings of carved bodies. Mr. Iral’s artwork ranges from traditional paint and pencil work to 3D digital work. Currently he is working on his VFX and animation skills, as he is producing short films for his music.
Mr. Iral’s work can be found on Behance.net, Instagram, and Patreon. He encompasses his art under the term Prismatis – Latin for prism. A prism refracts white light into the three primary colors: yellow, magenta, and cyan. Prismatis is all about the aesthetic of human expression, which can be separated into the art, audience, and artist.
Mr. Iral can be contacted here.
Keoma Ferreira Antonio – Brazil
Keoma Ferreira Antonio is a philosopher, musician, and lover of science fiction and Japanese art production. Graduated in Philosophy from UFRN (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil), he was a laureate of his class. He currently holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the same university, and his research area is Transhumanism.
He researches and writes about the “Promethean-Faustian Oscillations” of Transhumanism, which come from the demiurgic character of modern sciences (which will be published as an introductory book on transhumanism). He is also a member of the research group on Immortality, an activist of the Transhumanist cause (being an active voice within the movement, which is still small in Brazil) and works with the dissemination of philosophical thought through anime (Japanese animation).
Keoma can be contacted here.
Angel Marchev, Sr. – Bulgaria
Prof. Angel Marchev, Ph.D. has graduated as automation control engineer at the Technical University of Sofia. Later he worked closely with A. Ivahnenko, one of the originators of the concept of Self-organization.
Prof. Marchev is one of the pioneers of implementing cybernetics and system theory in the fields of business management in Bulgaria. Over the last 40 years he has published more than two hundred papers on various topics in the field. He considers as his life-time achievement the implementation of Multi-stage selection procedures for wide range of business challenges such as system identification, forecasting, modeling economic and business systems among others.
Angel Marchev, Sr. is one of the pioneers of implementing computer business games and active methods in education for adults in Bulgaria. Over the last 40 years he has educated more than thirty thousand students and managers using over hundred and twenty CMG and other active methods in his courses. He teaches courses such as “Simulation and gaming in management”, “Business games”, “Computer simulation and forecasting”, “Financial modeling in management” and „Fundamentals of Management I: Cybernetics and systems theory” at the University for National and World Economy and Burgas Free University among several others business schools and collages in Bulgaria and at University of Hasselt, University of Slough, and London Guildhall University among others abroad.
By using games he has trained a spectrum of Bulgarian business leaders starting with his assignment at the Center for training management resources throughout the 1970’s. In the last 20 years he has started his own consultancy business providing training for various private and public organizations.
Prof. Marchev has been among the first members of ISAGA since it was founded and was member of the steering committee of ISAGA almost until 1990. He was also a member of EESAGA. Now he is establishing BASAGA in Bulgaria.
Professor Marchev can be contacted here.
Aria Cheng – Canada
Aria Cheng is a Wholistic Transhumanist Artist, Designer, Community Builder, Advocate, and Entrepreneur. As an unprotected visible intersectional minority with invisible disabilities, Aria has spent 6 years engaged in building inclusive queer and feminist communities and spaces, and an additional 10 years serving her local community in many capacities.
Since her departure from the queer-feminist activist sphere in 2013, Aria remains a passionate Transhumanist, with a distinct progressive vision for Canada’s future which includes: a focus on Innovation and Research; extending Universal Care to encompass Basic Income, Advanced Education, and extended Health & Dental coverage for longevity; an actionable plan for Native Reparations; Voting Reform; and making use of Blockchain technology and Artificial Intelligence for true democratic participation as well as the distribution of both private and public services; among others.
Aria is currently working on finishing her Associate Degree of Arts in Social Sciences, as well as her Diploma of Fine Arts. She also serves as Lead Designer for the non-profit humanitarian AI organization, Robots Without Borders, and is Founder of The Transhumanist Party of Canada.
In her personal life, Aria is giant fan of Star Trek, loves her two cats, and identifies her gender to be Transhumanist.
Aiken Neón Iavarrone – Chile
Aiken Neón Iavarrone graduated in Electronics in high school and participates in the maker movement in Chile. He is a student of automation and industrial control and is interested in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He is also an entrepreneur who has formed a company called Carmona Robotics. He created an invention, motivated by the work of several thinkers – a smartglass with a brain-computer interface that integrates imaging studies, logistics, daily life, and social experiences. Mr. Iavarrone’s dream is to study biomedical engineering and, specifically, neuronal engineering, and to collaborate with others in improving the effectiveness of biological sensors in prostheses and computational devices. Mr. Iavarrone believes in a world of neurodiversity and existential freedom, where the identity of each person is defended. In addition, he takes an interest in economics and energy and is a member of the Facebook group Transhumanismo, whose focus is on spreading transhumanist ideas in countries throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
Abdul-Rahman Essam Saleh – Egypt
Abdul-Rahman Essam Saleh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology and is aiming to establish the biotechnology industry as a major industrial sector in Egypt, where potentials are at a peak and chances seem limitless. For that dream to come true, Abdul is taking steps and planning on doing his Master’s degree in Biotechnology Business Management.
Abdul started the Arabian Longevity Alliance initiative to spread awareness of the longevity research field and its results among researchers and science-loving laymen. Also, to spark the interests of people who aren’t that much into science, Abdul used his stance to start intriguing people’s thoughts about how the Transhumanistic era might look like and how longevity is going to affect the shapes of our lives.
Abdul has held multiple talks, lectures, and YouTube videos on various topics, including longevity, to help get the word out in the Arab world, which is why he pays great regard to translating research papers into Arabic and posting them with the hope that they reach Arabic-speaking audiences interested in the field or in science in general.
Abdul hopes that his efforts result in a possible core of the first small community of Transhumanists in Egypt.
Abdul-Rahman can be contacted via his Facebook page and his YouTube channel.
Chris Monteiro – England
Chris Monteiro has been involved in the transhumanist movement for a number of years. He is a co-founder and officer with the Transhumanist Party UK, an organization seeking to tackle a range of contemporary political challenges facing the transhumanist movement in British, European, and international contexts.
Since 2015 he has led the H+Pedia project from Humanity+, a transhumanist edited wiki helping to better map, understand and promote transhumanist ideas within the entire movement.
He works as a systems administrator and studies contemporary cybercrime trends and their intersections with computer security, privacy, and our rapidly developing internet-connected society.
Personal site: https://pirate.london/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Deku_shrub
Chris can be contacted here.
Pam Keefe – Hong Kong
Pam Keefe is the Asia Pacific Vice President for HNI International.
Based in Hong Kong, Pam is responsible for Sales and Distribution of HNI’s 8 brands of office furniture, including Allsteel, Gunlocke, Paoli, Lamex, and HNI India. Originally from the USA, she has been working and living in Asia since 2008. Prior to joining HNI in 2015, Pam was based in Singapore and was the Vice-President of Asia Pacific for Teknion Office Furniture for two years and spent 12 years with Haworth Office Furniture, leading Sales Strategy and Global Accounts for Asia Pacific, Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.
In addition to the office furniture business, Pam has a passion for biotechnology, health, fitness, and life extension.
Pam is spearheading an effort to raise awareness and educate people in Asia on the possibilities of life extension and the critical medical research that is needed to cure aging and death. The organizations in which she is involved give her access to people, events, knowledge, and activities that the U.S. Transhumanist Party can leverage. Pam is organizing RAADfest Bangkok, which takes place in February 2018 and will be the first event of its kind in Asia.
Pam can be contacted here.
Palak Madan – India
Palak Madan is a Research Analyst at Blackbox AI. Her work involves evaluating AI marketplace, finding best practices for various operational needs, business development, UI designing, gathering resources for in-house research lab, maintaining internal wiki, etc. Previously, she has participated in diverse challenges and collaborative projects with various tech-startups in India, U.S., and Europe.
Besides AI forecasting, her research work revolves around Future of Machine Intelligence, long-term ethical problems of robust and beneficial Artificial Intelligence, simulation theory, ethical reasoning, rationality, mathematics, and design thinking. She likes to focus on big picture questions facing humanity and maintains a web presence at futuretunnel.com, where she shares her views, thoughts and vision for far future.
Palak can be contacted here.
Ojochogwu Abdul – Nigeria
Ojochogwu Abdul is a resident of Nigeria and deeply involved in the country’s transhumanist community under the personal philosophies of deep naturalism, transhumanism, and cosmism. He’s the founder of the Transhumanist Enlightenment Café (TEC) and is the co-founder of the Transhumanist Forum of Nigeria (H+Forum-NG).
Ojochogwu currently holds a B.A. in Philosophy & Religious Studies and an M.A. in Philosophy, and is a Ph.D. student in Philosophy at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He’s a researcher, philosophy tutor, private consultant, speaker, social worker, and NGO program and planning officer.
Ojochogwu can be contacted here.
Bobby Pembleton – Scotland
Bobby Pembleton has avidly followed the progression of Transhumanist thought since he discovered it while attending George Mason University outside of Washington, DC. During this time he was Editor-in-Chief of a widely distributed independent newspaper focused on political satire and commentary, Expulsion! He went on to be a founding co-owner of a theoretical physics themed underground music venue and vegan restaurant, Strange Matter, in Richmond, VA.
After realizing that he needed to see more of the world in order to better formulate opinions about it, Bobby traveled and worked extensively throughout the United States. The travel bug not yet sated, he obtained his CELTA certificate and went to teach abroad. He taught for two years in Ecuador and a year in South Korea before settling permanently in Edinburgh with his wife Claire in 2016. Although no longer a teacher, spending time in these vastly different countries allowed him a vast and necessary shift in perspective. He now works in Events Management at the Edinburgh College of Art and spends his free time exploring his new country and continent, keeping up with the progression of Transhumanist and general Futurist thought, reading and writing Science Fiction, and always striving to better himself and make the world around us a better place in whatever subtle and not-so-subtle ways that he can.
Bobby believes strongly in many of the most well-publicised elements of Transhumanist thought, such as radical life extension and bettering humans through increasingly advanced technology. Raising humanity to a level capable of achieving this, however, may require a drastic change in the way the world’s governments operate, a return to first principles, perhaps even allowing unbiased A.I. to make more logical decisions regarding governmental matters and the allocation of resources. These are transnational issues that we must start discussing, as the progress of technology continues to accelerate.
Bobby can be contacted here.
Representatives of the Worldwide Transhumanist Movement
Alexandr Putyatinskiy – Representative of the Transhumanist Movement in Kazakhstan
Alexandr Putyatinskiy is one of the founders of the Transhumanist movement in Kazakhstan, with the goal of moving humanity into a new era where a long and dignified life will be more accessible for everyone every passing year. He currently holds a B.A. in Information Technology (IT) at Kazakh-American Free University and is a systems administrator with over 10+ years of experience.
Alexandr believes that only the creation and implementation of new technologies will allow us to rid ourselves from the world’s inefficiency, injustice, and chaos, which he has personally witnessed. He believes that, because of the complexity of modern civilization, ruling must be entrusted to an unbiased artificial intelligence or intellect, which cannot be corrupted by money or power; rather, it would accumulate and adapt to the needs of mankind through experience of knowledge and science created by the greatest minds of mankind in history.
Given the complexity of the economic situation, Alexandr is looking for new and accessible ways to create business, improve health and intellect, family safety, and career growth, as well as ways to prepare for the upcoming trials of humanity associated with the transformation of all aspects of life and the struggle with the quagmire of dogmas, lies, superstitions, and inefficiency of the old world.
A supporter of both hydroponic and transgenic technologies, Alexandr currently oversees several projects that aim to harness these technologies for the benefit of society. During his personal time, he continues improving his programming skills through the study of deep machine-learning systems and the programming of drones. He also closely follows the technologies of cyberization, prosthetics, and increasing the capabilities of the human mind.
Alexandr can be contacted here.