Women in Blockchain | Celebrate 2019

The ‘Open Source ideal that the Blockchain community was driving had a much further reach than just ‘coding.

I fell into crypto back in 2017 as the market was on the rise. I was posting about Bitcoin and blockchain technology on social media before it blew up — much to my surprise, people remembered this and started to chase me down for assistance with crypto wallet installation and altcoin research. Overnight, I found myself supporting crypto clients full-time.

When the market tanked in 2018, I went on to start a cryptocurrency trading service called CORÁS 9, based in Dublin, Ireland. It traded cryptocurrency via algorithmic trading technology.

​Prior to my work in blockchain, I worked for the United Nations, USAID and other international NGOs as a content producer and media strategist.

My latest crypto venture is Altai Digital Capital, which is also based in Ireland and connects investors to blockchain-based hedge funds and traders. We provide guidance, transparency and reassurance typically found in traditional investment firms, affording clients easy access to the investment potential of cryptocurrency.

I’ve been quiet for too long, and it’s now my intention to become a stronger voice and advocate for the integration of blockchain technology into society. As a woman, I feel great pressure and responsibility to speak up and open more doors for diversity in our field. I hope to be doing more of this over the next year.

Blockchain will be growing for years to come, and women are especially needed in its evolution and global integration. I highly encourage young women to learn basic coding skills for a start. Look for free resources online. Go to coding camps if possible, and don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. I say this because of experience…

I was slightly dyslexic and had undiagnosed ADD as a child. I had good grades for a while, but was restless in high school and lost interest in being a top student. In a strange and unexpected moment during my senior year, my high school vice principal pulled me into an empty classroom and told me that I would never grow up to achieve anything special in life and that my parents would never be proud of me. It was a dysfunctional and confusing experience, but I refused to listen to this ignorant man who should have never been around children in the first place. Don’t ever let anyone bring you down. In one ear and out the other is what I say.

I’m usually looking for people who have some basic understanding of programming for the blockchain and experts with an understanding of both traditional finance and crypto.

Beyond this, I want to work with people who can think outside societal norms, people who have traveled the world and people who have intercultural sensitivity and emotional intelligence. The ability to traverse between cultures and countries is the greatest way to learn and appreciate diversity of thought and to be open to other perspectives. This is where true innovation comes from.

My life’s work is now fully in the blockchain. I try not to overwhelm people who don’t understand it. If people ask, I do my best to site examples of how there’s a massive global movement of governments, corporations and educational institutions jumping on board. Companies like Disney, BMW, and IBM are in it. Countries are embracing crypto more and more every day, with regulation and billions of development grants. Major institutions like Fidelity, Barclays, and Bank of America are even onboard — it’s hard to call it a scam when this information is brought to light. Follow the news and site examples when possible. It’s out there.

I find the best way for beginners (outside of a good ol’ Google search) is to start by going to meetups. In Ireland where I live, there are meetups for crypto and blockchain topics all the time. Just go to sites like meetup.com and ye shall find.

The marketplace is VOLATILE, but I don’t see it fading away. We’re just getting started. We should see it level out one day as more regulation and major institutions come in, but I don’t see that happening for quite some time. HODL’ing doesn’t really work at the moment if you want to experience immediate gains. If executed right, trading algorithms are the way to go for short-term gains.

I’m honored and inspired to be a part of the AKASHA Innovation Hub, a Blockchain focused Incubator and Accelerator with Hubs in Zug, Barcelona and Dublin. It is part of the AKASHA Foundation founded by Ethereum Co-Founder Mihai Alisie. I’m actively promoting blockchain awareness through this organization. I can’t publicly say too much about the projects at this moment, but stay tuned. There’s much more to come.

My favorite project is Building Blocks, which was created by the United Nations to use the blockchain to deliver food relief to Syrian Refugees (link: https://bitsonline.com/united-nations-blockchain-refugees/ ):

“Looking at how the technology works, Building Blocks integrates with a biometric authentication technology called IrisGuard which allows refugees to identify themselves by looking into an iris scanner. This technology is connected to the camp supermarkets where aid is provided to refugees. Using this technology, refugees individually go to this supermarket and get the food they need. When they go to the checkout line, all they need to do is look directly into the IrisGuard iris scanner.”

This just makes my heart happy, especially after working for the UN and other NGO’s for nearly a decade. I know too well how waste and misuse use of funds can happen in the nonprofit world. Blockchain will completely revolutionize the delivery of relief funds and donations once-massive integration occurs. Billions of dollars will be saved. I applaud the UN for this effort and look forward to seeing more.

- Computer Science, UC Berkeley

- Traditional Career path, Architecting, Designing Software Systems, programming, management.

- Started a company in 2001, TechGenii — Wireless/Digital Strategy. Helped bring Wireless to the US masses.

- 2007 & 2010 — Introduction to Angel Investment and Private Equity

- 2011 — I went back to coding root, and in 2014 won a Gartner Cool Vendor Award.

- 2015 — Became a CTO

- I was introduced to Bitcoin in 2012. When I first learned about thought it was not real. In 2015, I attempted to get back into the space as a developer after hearing Andreas Antonopoulos speak on “The Internet of Money”. In 2017, I got my first Blockchain client 2TransFair (payment and remittance on the Blockchain).

- Managing Director, Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator — mainly concentrating on 3 things (1) Fundraising, (2) Accelerator Co-Horts and helping them fundraise and/or get clients and (3) Incubating our IP within the Fund

- Founder & CTO Trailyn Ventures — working with companies on their Blockchain Strategy.

Since I love what I do, some of the things I most enjoy is helping companies solve their problems.

- I would work harder on my mindset earlier in my career. Overall I’ve had a wonderful career, since all experiences that I have had, both positive and negative (which are really just lessons), have led me to what I’m doing now.

- Kids just need to be exposed to technology.

- Learning Computer Science concepts (encryption, distributed networks, big data, quantum computing), and economic principles.

- Advice: can’t be afraid, study your craft, practice your craft, trust yourself and your intuition, don’t let anyone knock you off your path.

- Can they code (can be checked via Github)

- Can they solve complex problems

- Can they communicate

- Can they work well in a team environment

- Do they know how to use the tools

- We need a practical use case that everyday people can use that has a simple interface (like the Starbucks App).

- A good example is CashApp.

- CryptoBlockchainPlug is the best place to find out more about Blockchain. They run cryptocurrency classes, blockchain classes, have a co-working space. They run CryptoKidsCamp, a 1 week camp for kids ages 5–18, whose theme is BEAST MODE. Beast Mode stands for: B-Blockchain, E-Evolution of Money, A-Artificial Intelligence, S-Security(Cyber), T-Technology

M-Mining, O-Online Gaming D-DApps E-Engineering

The next camp is DEC 30, 2019 — Jan 4 2020

- The cryptocurrency market needs to evolve some of the traditional banking and centralized thinking so that people who are not interested in trading it can use it.

- The technology will get us an efficiency, sovereignty (ownership over our digital self) and eventually new business models which we have not yet seen or created yet.

- The Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator (www.wifaxvc.com), is the most exciting and important project that I’m working on. It’s an impact fund that uses co-working and acceleration techniques for emerging tech companies, the companies must have a gender-balanced C-level and use sustainability techniques to monetize our fund. For any investors who are interested in learning more, they can contact us at: [email protected]

The Aclyd Project. It is a P2P payment processing, security management, and identity verification platform designed for the alcohol industry. It is really logistics in reverse since supply chains are transparent and we know where the product comes from. What we want to know is what happens after we deliver it. We use blockchain tech to increase transparency and the speed of processing of payments, while also keeping alcohol out of the minors’ hands by verifying consumers’ identity. What adds to the appeal of Aclyd is its CEO Jessica Contreras’ fascinating story: she transformed her grandmother’s Mexican tequila operations into a US importer/wholesaler of alcohol, succeeding in a traditionally male-dominated business.