ConsenSys has teamed with Black Women in Blockchain Council (BWBC) to launch a global joint initiative next year, with the ambitious objective to drastically increase the number of black women blockchain coders, empowering half a million of them around the world by 2030.

In 2021, global crypto users passed 100 million and the number of users based in Africa or part of the African diaspora is rapidly growing. However, out of the millions of diaspora users, only a few actually participate in creating the protocols and apps that power the ecosystem. In 2018, only 105,000 of 18 million software developers focused on blockchain development. Less than 1% of those 105,000 developers were from the African diaspora, and even fewer were women. This new project has the ambition to shrink that gap.

BWBC and ConsenSys will launch specialized programming for black women in blockchain by 2022, according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed recently. The full collaboration will foster opportunities for the African diaspora to create global blockchain opportunities and solutions.

“The demand for blockchain developers is rising with the normalization of cryptocurrency,” said Olayinka Odeniran, founder of Black Women in Blockchain Council (BWBC). “We are dedicated to positioning black women to helm this new tech wave, causing a ripple effect of new wealth generation among their families and communities.”

“We at ConsenSys are excited to join forces with BWBC to drive talent with the goal to achieve global blockchain adoption. Diversity must be a part of the DNA of these systems for them to truly represent a global society,” said Scott Olson, Director of Blockchain Integrations, Partnerships, and Education at ConsenSys.

This initiative directly contributes to 5 of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): gender equality (SDG 5), education (SDG 4), entrepreneurship (SDG 8), innovation (SDG 9) and social inclusion (SDG 10).

“Such innovative technology has historically not been maximized within black communities,” Odeniran said. “We’re changing that pattern for this wave of tech.”

The entry fee for future black women blockchain developers across the globe to participate is $25. They just have to sign up directly on BWBC’s website: https://bwbc.io/blockchain/.

In the first phase of the project, the training material will only be available in English.