A bold playbook for women in blockchain
by Bridget Greenwood of The Bigger Pie
As the tech start-up scene reels from the Silicon Valley Bank fall out, and in the wake of last year’s bombshells – including the collapse of Terra Luna, 3 Arrows Capital, Celsius and FTX – you might wonder why I believe it’s an important time to talk about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB).
Particularly as I notice in certain circles the phrase “go woke, go broke” is being bandied around…
I get different responses from people in regards to the work I do, which is focused on reaching gender equity in the blockchain and Web 3 space. I do this through two initiatives, The Bigger Pie, and The200BnClub.
To clarify, gender equity to me is about changing the ecosystem so those smart, talented, capable womxn are no longer overlooked, underpaid, under funded, and under served in their professional world, not only to their own detriment, but to that of the business and ecosystem as a whole.
We can widen this out further to encompass all forms of discrimination, and the statistics support widespread experiences that, depending on your age, gender, background, sexuality, ethnicity, etc (otherwise known as intersectionality), you can be overlooked. Unless you conform to a certain template, then chances are high that you won’t be assessed in the same light as others. This is not new news, but we’re not doing enough to correct the flaws and biases in our systems, and it’s hurting us.
Unsurprisingly, when I meet women, their response to my work is to say “thank you so much, this work is really needed”.
Some women prefer to be able to just do their work, get on with their profession, excel through leveraging their expertise, and stay away from the conversation of ‘women in..’ completely. I have absolute respect for these women, and if you show up, do your job well, and keep the doors open behind you for the next generation, I’m all in.
If I’m honest, that’s the world I’d like to be living in. But it’s not our current reality.
Men’s responses tend to vary greatly. I’m fortunate that the majority of people with whom I interact are already in alignment with my work, so they’re usually positive, but it’s clear that the vast majority of men don’t understand what women face on a daily basis. As a man, it’s difficult to comprehend without direct lived experience of these issues. What it does reveal is the lack of knowledge and awareness of exactly how hostile the Web 3 environment can be for women.
New research finds that almost 90 per cent of women worldwide are penalised and undermined because of their achievements at work. Coined “tall poppy syndrome”, the phenomenon occurs when people – particularly women, in this context – are attacked, resented, disliked, criticised, or cut down because of their achievements and/or success.
Oftentimes, men struggle to understand why women have to play the ‘sympathy card’ and can’t just ‘get on with the job’. I’d encourage you to do a little research to show why that’s not what’s happening. My favourite book, which cites pages and pages of researched data, is What Works: Gender Equality by Design, by Iris Bohnet. Check it out.
A recently published study by Vienna University of Economics and Business concludes that tech investors are more likely to back male founders over female counterparts due to their own biases and the popular perception that top tech tycoons are all young white men. It spurs me to take greater action.
Despite the different responses to my work and gender equity work in general, all the data points show a world that is far from close to achieving gender equity on every level, and that we’re paying for it, economically, socially, with our health, and our planet. And that is something thatI can’t just stand back and watch.
I can’t just watch as women (who make up more than half of our global population) are once again siloed as we enter another technological wave, another generational transfer of wealth and a potential chance to change the way we interact. Is this our last chance to choose where value can flow to and from, to democratise and decentralise flawed systems so that everyone can be better served?
Companies with a greater percentage of women in leadership roles tend to be more profitable. For one, diverse teams are more innovative and are better able to solve complex problems, and better able to understand and serve their customers, as they are more representative of the broader population and can provide a broader range of perspectives on a situation.
Other research has shown that in these times of global uncertainty, it’s feminine leadership traits that perform best. We can’t deny we’re in a time of global uncertainty. That’s why I believe now is the right time to be having this conversation.
To those leading the charge in Web 3 as builders and founders, to those in C-Suite and Senior Leadership roles, DAOs and other organisations, helping to shape policies and practices that build a more equitable future – do you know what the roadmap looks like? Do we know what an equitable future looks like in Web3? Not just for gender equity, but for all? The answer is no, not yet.
If it were simply down to a question of educating, training and hiring for DEI then; 1) organisations could just do this themselves, and; 2) attracting and retaining diverse talent would be easy to solve.
So what’s the answer?
Back in 2021, I started talking with Karin Bauer PHD at UC Berkeley about potential solutions to these challenges. We conceptualised A DEIB in Web 3 Playbook, a resource for organisational leaders in the Web 3 space to learn about and enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) within their organisations.
This playbook provides concrete guidance to advance DEIB, and serves as a bridge between academia and industry. It’s an opportunity to connect all the DEIB-focused resources, research, activities, communities, access to talent and so much more. It is intended to be an actionable resource and tool that will highlight a path forward for Web 3 that centres equity and inclusion.
It’s a chance for people to share their daily experiences, where behaviours and biases play a negative impact, to allow us all to recognise the importance of this work and make much of the unseen visible.
I’m delighted to say that work on the playbook has already started being built with the first part of the work delivered by UC Berkeley and Ripple, who are founding sponsors of the playbook. Now it’s time to invite the wider Web3 ecosystem to get involved.
It’s a constantly evolving resource that includes:
- Dedicated Website & Portal
- Steering Group
- Playbook DAO for those shaping and guiding the playbook inc Key Industry Leaders
- SaaS Model implementation of Playbook
- Data gathering and reporting. Digital Dashboard
The Gender Index organisation, responsible for providing Alison Rose with the data she needs to compile the Rose Report and updates each year, has agreed to work with us, and will be providing the data gathering and reporting. This is a great start, but we need everyone to be involved.
Foundations, Layer 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s, builders, founders, co-founders, investors, angels, enterprise, communities, DAOs, academia, start-ups, growth companies, governments, educators… you name it – we want to see you all there.
If you share our vision and want to be part of the solution to building mass adoption in Web 3, to building a sustainable, profitable, and more distributed ecosystem. Sign up here.