Modern Dr. Hoppers are shaping the future of blockchain
A look at some of the amazing women in blockchain
Amid critical movements aimed at exposing long-standing issues — see #MeToo, Gamergate, or any of the numbers from the latest women in the workplace report — it’s easy to overlook the things we do have to celebrate: namely, the women in our communities. Championing our community is an essential part in the battle to be heard. Recently, we saw the exemplary international movement #GirlsBelongHere promoting the growth and education of women worldwide. There is plenty of room to improve, and much to celebrate.
When Grace Hopper appeared on David Letterman in 1986, he asked how she knew so much about computers. Her response was, “I didn’t! I built the first one.” This can-do attitude never aged. Shared by early adopters everywhere, the love of experimentation and tinkering with new technology has been a long time obsession for many, myself included.
Emerging technology has always attracted female pioneers, from the computer, to private space travel, to virtual reality. Every new innovation seems to have their own version of Dr. Hopper, taking the latest discovery to new heights.
We talk a lot about the need to bring more women into tech, but the conversation often focuses on fairness rather than on the impact they’re making. When women hold leadership positions, teams make more money and products are more inclusive. The women who choose careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) shouldn’t be invisible, they should be celebrated — after all, many of them are shaping or creating entire industries.
With blockchain exploding, I found a few of these pioneers, and I’d like to highlight them here.
Andrea Tinianow, director of the Delaware Blockchain initiative, has led the passing of legislation to allow corporate records to be stored on a blockchain. As it stands, 83% of US companies incorporate in Delaware; she’s introducing several people to the technology, and saving them money and bureaucracy in the process.
There’s Perianne Boring, who founded Chamber Digital and is advocating for the use of blockchain within many aspects of our government. She and her team brought the Token Alliance to fruition, fostering best practices for responsible issuance of tokens.
Hannah Glass and Sarah Hody are both lawyers who specialize in blockchain tech and finance, advising entrepreneurs on how to navigate the murkiness of regulation and ICOs; they’re bringing clarity to the wild west of the crypto world.
Marie Wieck was a founding member of IBM’s internet unit and is now head of blockchain at the firm, orchestrating the production of IBM’s own blockchain platform. She also helped pioneer the Hyperledger Fabric.
Amber Baldet is the blockchain lead at JP Morgan and heading up the development of Quorum, a product that will replace the web of connected databases at banks with a single shared record of transactions. She is reducing expensive settlement times, reducing system breakdowns, and making risk exposure more clear. She also helped create the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance for other businesses to safely experiment with ethereum.
Elizabeth Rossiello is the founder of BitPesa, building Africa’s digital payment infrastructure and creating new opportunities for merchants in the process.
This blog post is for you.
If you’re reading this and thinking about entering the field of blockchain — or any emerging technology for that matter — but don’t want to be an outlier, you might be pleasantly surprised once you get here.
The women on the cutting edge of technology are sending the elevator back down by creating online support communities, participating in advice threads, and sharing resources whenever possible. You’ll be in great company; society moves much further when our makers and innovators come from different places.
Written by Cassidy Robertson
Edited by Yasmine Nadery
