Christopher Fabian

Speaker Bio

Christopher Fabian is Head of Digital Inclusion at UNICEF. He co founded and co leads Giga, a partnership between UNICEF and International Telecommunication Union, launched in 2018 to support universal school connectivity. His work focuses on building the digital infrastructure, financing mechanisms, and safeguards required for young people to access the internet in ways that are safe, reliable, and developmentally meaningful. Through Giga and related initiatives, his teams have supported connectivity for more than 27 million young people, worked with over 46 countries on digital safety and governance frameworks, and helped mobilize more than USD 1.7 billion for networks serving children. His teams are hosted by the Governments of Spain and Switzerland.

Previously, Christopher founded UNICEF’s Innovation Unit and led the creation of UNICEF’s Venture Fund and Crypto Fund, with a combined USD 100 million under management, as well as the Digital Public Goods Alliance in collaboration with the Government of Norway. Across these roles, he has focused on applying venture and systems thinking to multi country public sector scale. His teams built and deployed platforms including RapidPro, Edutrac, mTrac, and U Report, and pioneered new approaches such as drone corridors for health logistics in Malawi, Kazakhstan, and the Pacific. His career has consistently emphasized that safe digital access is a foundational layer for education, health, and long term human development.

Christopher was named to TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People and was recognized by Wired as one of the 25 People Changing the World in 2019. In a personal capacity, he advises and serves on boards of startups and research efforts in artificial intelligence, cryptography, and aerospace, with a focus on governance, security, and responsible scaling.