The most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform less diverse peers on profitability. Diversity wins and here are a few trending women in WEB3 leading the way.
The blockchain is inherently inclusive. “Permissionless” systems do not require middlemen or gatekeepers to grant access to their services. Decentralized finance (or DeFi) improves transparency and security in transactions and increases accessibility and equality for all who participate. This gives underrepresented communities a unique opportunity to circumvent established practices and forge their own way forward.
But even with increased access and participation, female-led companies pulled in
The Harvard Business Review
A popular response to this type of research is that women would be hired more if they truly did make less and were more effective. But is that a logical response? Over 90% of startups fail and we’re struggling through an economic downturn globally and a massive slump in crypto. Most of the largest companies in the world are profit-seeking conglomerates that are poisoning the planet and the people on it. People don’t always make good decisions. Maybe it’s time to start listening to the data and thinking differently.
The Power of Community Building
One important advantage women have in Web3 is their ability to build communities. Blockchain technology not only supercharges the potential to build communities, but community building is essential to many projects in the industry.
For example, More Women in Crypto is a project that is based out of Tulum that creates a space for women to discuss innovative tools, technologies, and new profit and shared-ownership models enabled by blockchain tech.
This includes hands-on training for topics like trading and launching projects. They meet in person and on Zoom calls every week to help learn from each other, share information, and collaborate on projects. The founder Francesca Martina understands the importance of coming together and rebuilding traditional business culture fresh based on collaboration and shared values.
Female Leadership in the Era of Web3
There are plenty of examples of female leadership in Web3, beyond female-focused communities.
Leading as CEO is
"Whether you want to go all-in on DeFi or you're still sitting on the bench trying to decide whether it makes sense, you can't get past step one of that process without FLUIDEFI." Austin Hubbell, CEO Coinsilium Crypto
A young entrepreneur and new to the NFT scene is Nissrine Saidi, an electrical engineer and the founder of
Green Mining NFT aims to build a community that supports the cause and believes in the importance of practical solutions that go a long way. Green Mining will be mining crypto using electricity generated from solar energy in Africa and will grow to provide sustainable and affordable energy to African businesses and consumers. Nissrine sees Web3 as an opportunity to build a diverse and inclusive foundation and redefine the work culture that hasn’t always been in favor of women.
Another mover in the NFT space is Kay Chua Ginsburg. Kay was part of 3iQ’s executive team that IPO-ed the 1st Bitcoin Fund on Toronto Stock Exchange and also developed one of the first multi crypto-asset OM funds in 2017. Prior to this, she spent time as a trader for a $160M quantitative ETF portfolio.
Kay is now focused on blockchain and NFTs and is a co-founder of a venture called PERCS. The PERCS team is exploring the collision of brands (blue-chip or upcoming) & DeFi focusing on NFT minting, its use case, and leveraging its utility. Their long-term vision is to make NFTs useful, and in the interim, focus on bridging eCommerce and EVM-based NFTs. PERCS has done NFT drops for Anheuser Busch Inbev (Budweiser, Goose Island, D Wade), Robert Mondavi, and Superplastic, among others.
CryptoChicks started with two software engineers and friends
CryptoChicks in particular has been around since the infancy of Web3, working around the globe with governments and industry titans.
Leading the way for CryptoChicks is founder Elena Sinelnikova, a crypto entrepreneur based in Toronto. Sinelnikova has been involved in varying capacities at numerous blockchain and DeFi startups and has a passion for educating within the space.
Top Woman in Blockchain and NFT Pioneer Tracy Leparulo has been at the forefront of building communities for leading blockchain projects including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polymath & Zytara since 2013.
Tracy has been contributing to the growth of the NFT ecosystem since its inception. In 2017 she organized Ethereum’s largest Hackathon ETH Waterloo, where Cryptokitties launched. As the founder of Untraceable Events and founder of the
Focusing On Diversity For The Future Of Web3
In the public eye, DeFi has a current reputation of being crowded with crypto bros hawking NFTs with eye-popping price tags. A number of female-led and female-focused organizations may soon change that. One of the potential windfalls of the wide adoption of Bitcoin is empowering through finance those communities and demographics who have been somewhat left behind in the wealth growth over the past 100-odd years.
Female representation still has a long way to go, but female-focused groups and the powerful leadership skills of women at DeFi companies are doing a great job of closing this gap while we’re still on the ground floor of Web3 opportunities.