She(256): How We Started
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Co-Founders & Executive Directors: Alexis Gauba, Medha Kothari, Sara Reynolds and Mashiat Mutmainnah
Inception
She(256) was born amidst what was like any other blockchain event in Berkeley — a buzz of captivating conversation and college students enjoying free pizza. As the event went on, however, it slowly dawned upon us that out of the 60+ people in the room, per usual, there was a startling lack of women. While the issue had been tossed around before, the disparity had seemingly normalized without much action taken. However, it was at this moment, at this particular event, that a few of us came together and decided that something had to be done.
Vision
In defining the blockchain paradigm, which presents fundamentally new innovation in the way financial systems are run and societies are governed, it is critical that those building up these far-reaching systems represent the diversity of our global population.
Initially, we were thinking about possibly hosting a small event on campus and maybe introducing 10 or 20 women to the space, but as we started thinking about all the groundbreaking innovation led by women in the space already, and how impactful it could be to inspire young women by exposing them to these professionals and celebrating their work, we thought, “Why not go big? What’s stopping us?.” So, that’s what we did; we went big.
We wanted She(256) to be a movement that would have long-term impact on this burgeoning industry, by allowing more women to feel welcome in this space and by highlighting the work of women who are already making an impact in this field. We decided that the best way to jumpstart this movement was to host a conference with the goal of bringing together professionals who work in the blockchain field and students who didn’t have much prior knowledge of the industry. We focused on featuring groundbreaking work, creating branding that reflected our ideology, and making sure we were engaging the community around us.
Conference
It’s been three months since She(256) was hosted in Berkeley. Our vision for She(256) was to empower new faces to enter the blockchain industry by featuring the ground-breaking research, protocols and specific applications of blockchain led by women in the space. We wanted She(256) to connect communities within the blockchain industry that strive for inclusion, equality, and professionalism.
We see so much potential in this space. Blockchain projects have raised millions of dollars, Fortune 500s and governments are investing in this technology, projects are transforming industries, and yet there is still so much to be done. At She(256), attendees heard about cutting edge solutions to many open problems — we hoped to convey to thinkers and innovators, some of whom are already solving these problems, further inspiration to continue to break to ground.
We were also excited to announce that this year, we launched a scholarship program for high school girls specifically focusing on young women from low income and underrepresented backgrounds to attend the conference and learn more about blockchain.
In case you missed it, here are some of the conference highlights:
Attendees began the day learning from Aparna Krishnan with an Introduction to Blockchain, research talks from Elaine Shi on Thunderella, Dawn Song on privacy preserving smart contracts, and Mahnush Movahedi on Dfinity. They also heard from accomplished industry professionals including Cathie Yun presenting on Chain’s TxVM, Monica Quaintance on Kadena, Nadja Benes on Gnosis Futarchy, Jinglan Wan on BEN as well as WEF’s Sheila Warren, DHVC’s Dovey Wan, ZCash’s Linda Lee, Ethereum Foundation’s Aya Miyaguchi, Cosmos’ Awa Sun Yin and Christine Chiang who spoke on the women in industry panel. Leaders from Blockchain at Berkeley, including Melissa Mokhtari, Ashley Lannquist and Mashiat Mutmainnah also spoke at the conference.
Check out their talks here.
Future
Going forward, our focus is on continued initiatives in breaking down barriers to entry and increasing diversity in the blockchain space. Because this space is still in its infancy, we have the opportunity to set the culture and tone. There is nothing like this particular time, place, or industry that has ever existed in the past, which gives us the unique position to set a precedent. Blockchain is disruptive technology. So let’s disrupt the industry with more diversity.
Connect
Upcoming Events
She(256) <> SF Blockchain Week — TBA
She(256) <> Ethereum Devcon IV — TBA
She(256) <> Stanford Center for Blockchain Research Seminar on November 8th, 4:00–5:45pm, Stanford University featuring Professor Dawn Song & Professor Sarah Meiklejohn
Event and Product photography done by Anthony Mercado, Just AM Photography.
