Balance Blockchain For Better

Gender balance and 6 women in blockchain who inspire us.

By Dheera Vuppala and Chase Chapman

Happy International Women’s Day!

Today serves as a day to acknowledge and appreciate the women who have shaped our past and the women who courageously spearhead movements to shape our future.

Achieving Gender Balance isn’t simply a moral victory, but is the groundwork for further innovation. Often, we consider historical breakthroughs in technology and computing as male-dominated, but it would be a mistake to overlook the work of women in computing — women like Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, Hedy Lamarr, and so many more who have shaped computer science as we know it. While we are making slow but steady improvements in the broader STEM field as a whole, women have historically been left behind when new technologies take root.

The Gender ratio in blockchain is no exception. Attendees and speakers at blockchain conferences are still predominantly men, despite best efforts by event organizers to lower barriers to entry for underrepresented groups in the space, and much of the blockchain culture celebrates innovative men in the space, while we seldom hear news about the women leading exciting new projects.

Let’s change that. Here are six blockchain projects led by women that inspire us to innovate and build:

– Laura Shin, Unchained and Unconfirmed Podcast

– Preethi Kasireddy, TruStory

– Linda Xie, Scalar Capital

– Elizabeth Stark, Lightning Labs

– Alexis Gauba, Medha Kothari, Sara Reynolds & Mashiat Mutmainnah, She256

– Taylor Monahan, MyCrypto

Each of these women bring their own talents and perspectives to the industry. Not all are engineers — some are podcast hosts, students, researchers, but these women have something very important in common: each challenges traditional notions of what it means to be a woman in tech. In all, these women are not just helping balance the scale between genders in blockchain, they’re innovating, building, and inspiring more and more women like us to get involved, take action, and demand change for a better and more equitable future.

If you are interested in learning more about women in blockchain or have feedback, please reach out to us at chase@trycrypto.com and dheera@trycrypto.com.