She(256)

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.

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.

 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.