Leading Pioneers

In AI, Gaming & Global Impact

OUR TEAM

Dr. Anneloes Smitsman

FOUNDER & CEO

Award-winning futurist, systems scientist, and entrepreneur. Globally recognized for her pioneering work in systemic transformation and human development. Lead architect of the EARTHwise Arena, EAB framework, Elowyn game, and the EARTHwise and AGI Constitutions. Named among the 2025 Leading Women to Watch™, recipient of the 2022 Visioneers Lifetime Achievement Award, and overall African winner in Human Development at the 2022 Africa’s Most Respected CEOs Awards. LL.M. from Leiden University and Doctorate in Systemic Transformation from Maastricht University, the Netherlands.

Dr. Kurt Barnes

CHAIR

Senior psycho-social expert and architect of the EARTHwise Human Diagnostics for Psycho-Social Transitions. Expert in testing, guiding, and measuring behavioral change across individuals, organizations, and complex systems. Worked globally in support of large-scale social wellbeing initiatives aligned with the UN SDGs. Registered Naturopathic Physician with specializations in psychology, psychotherapy, and biofeedback. Knighted in the Order of Academic Palms by the French Republic in 2004 for outstanding service. Holds advanced degrees from Université Paris 8, France.

Berick Cook

LEAD AI ARCHITECT

Lead AI Architect and creator of AIRIS (Autonomous Intelligent Reinforcement Inferred Symbolism) - the advanced adapative AI of the Elowyn game and EARTHwise Arena. Senior game developer and AI researcher with deep expertise in experiential learning systems. Former AI lead at SophiaVerse and SingularityNET, where he further developed AIRIS to extend beyond games into practical AI applications. His work bridges game design, adaptive learning, and emergent AI behavior, contributing to systems that can evolve intelligently in real time.

 

Alex Peka

AI DESIGNER

Lead Developer of the EARTHwise Arena and AI designer for the AI interactive features of the Elowyn game. Senior simulation developer with deep experience building intelligent systems at the intersection of AI, game engines, and immersive technologies. Led and built development teams at Meta, Luminar, Google, and SingularityNET, combining AI models for vision, language, and planning with mixed reality and robotics hardware. Built the SDK team for Meta’s AR headset platform, led the driving AI LiDAR simulation team at Luminar, developed Google’s MediaPipe multimodal machine learning pipeline, and helped build the SophiaVerse AI metaverse at SingularityNET. 

Chris Dowell

CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER

Over 25 years of experience in building and scaling products, leading nine-figure initiatives, and delivering award-winning innovation. Served as Chief Product Officer for four startups and led $100M+ engagements for Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 clients, driving strategic product development and market impact. With deep expertise in product strategy, user experience, and cross-functional leadership, he helps shape the design and delivery of player-centered systems within the Elowyn game and AI Alignment Arena. His work focuses on aligning product vision with measurable outcomes and scalable growth across diverse platforms and audiences.

Dr. Mariana Bozesan

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Polymath, AI pioneer, and award-winning integral investor with a strong track record as a serial-tech entrepreneur focused on leveraging exponential technologies to accelerate progress within planetary boundaries. A prominent alumna of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and a distinguished alumna of Sofia University. Author of Integral Investing: From Profit to Prosperity, a full member of the Club of Rome, and a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. Named European Female Angel Investor of the Year (2019). Sought-after keynote speaker at institutions including Stanford, Oxford, TEDx, and the United Nations.

Lake Watkins

AI & GAME DESIGNER

Game industry veteran, AI technologist, and founder with over 20 years of experience in deep tech and interactive entertainment. Shipped dozens of game titles across all major platforms and specializes in designing AI motivational systems that align advanced intelligence development with human stewardship. Held senior roles across gaming and AI projects internationally and applies his cross-disciplinary expertise to the evolving intelligence of the EARTHwise Arena and Elowyn ecosystem.

Tamara Mathew

ELOWYN COMMUNITY LEAD

Coordinates and nurtures the EARTHwise and Elowyn community, fostering connection, collaboration, and active engagement across a
diverse international network. She brings over 16 years of experience in community building, customer engagement, operations, and service design. With a strong people-centred and values-driven approach, she supports inclusive participation and meaningful exchange at the intersection of sustainability, regenerative development, and social impact.  

Hanie Mathew

ELOWYN COMMUNITY LEAD

Active in the Crypto, NFT, and Web3 space since late 2021. Builds strong connections and hands-on experience as a community lead and Discord builder. With a natural talent for bringing people together, he now oversees Discord and Telegram management at EARTHwise, focusing on optimization, security, and community growth. Backed by over a decade of service leadership experience in the hospitality industry, he applies his people-first mindset to help foster a strong, organic, and globally active Elowyn community.  

Manu Deenapanray

GAMEPLAY DESIGNER

Youth leader and part of the EARTHwise Games team since its inception. Passionate gamer from an early age, contributing his experience of gaming cultures. He also contributed to the Future Humans Trilogy, where he lent his voice and ideas to shape the teenage character Olaf, collaborating closely with his mother Anneloes. Manu’s diverse interests span music, gaming, entrepreneurship, science, international relations, and physics. Enrolled as a drummer at the Conservatory of Mauritius. 

Mitch Apley

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Senior filmmaker for most of his career. Brings the world of technologically and philosophically enhanced creative production to the EARTHwise media productions. Graduated from Northwestern University’s vaunted film program, then established himself as a pillar of the Chicago film and advertising community. Directed international documentaries in the Middle East and Africa, and spent over a decade in high-end pharmaceutical advertising.

OUR ADVISORS

Dr. Ben Goertzel

World-renowned AI Scientist, entrepreneur & author.  Founder & CEO of SingularityNET.

Liv Boeree

World Poker Champion, Win-Win Podcast Host, TED Speaker, Influencer & Game Theorist.

Dr. Mihaela Ulieru

Award-winning Professor of AI Innovation. President of IMPACT Institute for the Digital Economy.

Liv Boeree

World Poker Champion, Win-Win Podcast Host, TED Speaker, Influencer & Game Theorist.

Dr. David Hanson

Creator of Sophia Robot, Founder & CEO of Hanson Robotics. Awards from NASA, NSF.

Daniel Mihai

Contract specialist  and regenerative systems strategist. Founder of RegenRatio.

Rachel St. Clair

AGI Expert, founder & CEO of ServaMind. She created the initial AI infrastructure for the Elowyn AI Arena. 

Kees van der Vleuten

Global Business Leader. Operations & strategy advisor for a company with €6B portfolio.

Art Iinuma

Designer of EARTHwise Tokenomics & EWA token. Serial entrepreneur & top-tier crypto consultant.

Peter Warren

Award-Winning investigative Journalist: The Guardian, Sunday Times, BBC. Founder of Future Intelligence.

Dr. Jude Currivan

Renowned Cosmologist, ex-senior Business Woman, Futurist & Award-Winning Author.

About EARTHwise Ventures


  • EARTHwise Ventures is an AI startup building a supervisory intelligence layer between foundation models and real-world deployment. Our core technology enables AI agents to reason strategically, coordinate across stakeholders, and avoid deceptive or zero-sum failure modes before entering high-stakes environments.

    Elowyn: Quest of Time is developed in collaboration with our game studio partner, Frag Games. Designed as a fun-first strategy card game, Elowyn also functions as a live AI Alignment Arena, where humans and AI are stress-tested on win-win logic, long-horizon decision-making, and resilience to deception. Insights from gameplay help benchmark new alignment standards for advanced and agentic AI systems as they scale toward general intelligence.

    EARTHwise Ventures operates within the broader EARTHwise Ecosystem, initiated by the non-profit EARTHwise Centre, which serves as the educational and research and development backbone of the ecosystem.