Aion Foundation, a nonprofit focused on advancing the Aion protocol, has announced Ian Chan, formerly a partner at Deloitte, has joined the Foundation as a senior executive.

Deloitte spin-off, enterprise blockchain firm Nuco, last year unveiled “Aion” – an interoperable blockchain network. This month, the Aion network announced the formal transition of its operations from Nuco Global to the Aion Foundation.

Chan will be partnering with founders Matthew Spoke and Jin Tu to lead operations, scale the Aion ecosystem, and lead the marketing and communications team as it works to build the Aion brand.

Though Chan is now officially joining Aion, he has already been involved for some time. Spoke and Chan first got to know each other when the former competed in, and won, a CEO-sponsored Deloitte challenge. The project that won that challenge eventually led to the incubation and spin-off of the Rubix project, which led to the formation of Aion.

“Ian has been a mentor of mine for some time, and I couldn’t be happier that he’s agreed to join our team as we position Aion to lead the blockchain ecosystem for years to come,” said Matthew Spoke, CEO of the Aion Foundation. “This is a meaningful milestone for the growth of the Aion Foundation and for our ability to execute on our vision.”

Chan brings significant executive experience to Aion, having served on C-level leadership teams throughout his career. He most recently served as a senior partner on the Deloitte Global Innovation & Disruption team, which is responsible for tracking the latest technological trends, as well as advising Fortune 100 clients on the topics of AI, IOT and Blockchain.

“Having spent 13 years at Deloitte, the decision to leave my home and colleagues there was a difficult one, but I feel passionately about this business that I have watched grow from its very early days,” said Chan. “Matt and Jin’s vision for Aion is impossible to resist – I want to be a part of ensuring Aion's blockchain platform will be the enabler of the next generation of digital tools that will change the world.”