Will Wilkinson | Director of Government Affairs
Persona
Will Wilkinson is Director of Government Affairs at Persona, where he focuses on digital identity policy and government data integrations. Before joining Persona, Will was Head of Policy at TBD (a division of Block), and has been Vice President for Policy at the Niskanen Center, a Senior Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, a Contributing Opinion Writer for the New York Times, and a U.S. Politics Correspondent for The Economist. Will has published on an wide array of policy issues including immigration, entitlement reform, fiscal policy, regional economic development, political polarization and tech regulation in The Economist, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Bloomberg View, The Week, Forbes, Politico and many other publications.
Appearances:
Day 1 @ 11:20
State by state: reviewing challenges and success stories of DMV adoption of mDLs
- Explore the benefits of mobile drivers licenses (mDLs) in enhancing convenience and security for Americans.
- Address privacy concerns and interoperability challenges across state DMV systems in the United States.
- Discuss the role of mDLs in U.S. digital identity ecosystems and their integration with federal and state-level credentials.
- Highlight real-world examples of mDL adoption, such as pilot programs in Arizona, Colorado, and Maryland.
- Examine the future of mobile drivers licenses in America, including advancements in technology, federal standards, and state-level policy frameworks.
Day 1 @ 14:20
Verify once, use everywhere: What government can learn from the private sector about reusable identities
While reusable identity (RPs) is already reshaping how the private sector handles identity, financial institutions still face a chicken-and-egg challenge: how to modernize verification without falling out of step with regulators. This session explores how RPs—cryptographically derived, privacy-preserving credentials—can address that gap. By building on trusted standards like mobile driver’s licenses and enabling individuals to carry secure, pre-verified identity data, banks can enhance fraud detection, reduce redundancy, and improve financial access for marginalized groups. We’ll demystify common misconceptions, examine case studies from early adopters, and highlight how custodial approaches like Persona’s align with priorities from agencies like FinCEN, OCC, and FDIC—offering a path toward more secure, compliant, and inclusive identity infrastructure.
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