San Francisco, California, 8th March, 2023, Chainwire
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Unstoppable Women of Web3 (Unstoppable WoW3), a diversity and education group on a mission to equalize the playing field in Web3, today announced a commitment to providing Web3 and metaverse education for six million women in Africa over the next five years. The initiative is launching in partnership with 19+ companies including the African Leadership Group, Africa Women CEOs Network, Chipper Cash, NFT Domains, Polygon Labs, Sankore 2.0, Unstoppable Domains, Uoma Beauty, and the Virtual Brand Group, along with 17 other companies.
As a first step towards their goal of onboarding six million women in Africa to Web3 and the metaverse, Unstoppable Women of Web3 and Unstoppable Domains will expand access to user-owned digital identity through free Unstoppable domains, which people can claim for the next 30 days. Web3 domains, like dranino.nft, give people ownership of their identity data – allowing them to create a portable, user-owned reputation across Web3 and the metaverse.
“Africa has one of the most rapidly growing Web3 sectors today, but it’s not exempt from the gender equality issues we see across the globe, and we need to make sure everyone has a seat at the table,” said Sandy Carter, Founder of Unstoppable Women of Web3 and COO and Head of Business Development at Unstoppable Domains. “Empowerment starts with education, which is why we’re thrilled to lead this initiative to educate six million more African women on the metaverse and Web3.”
In order to meet this commitment, the partner organizations will offer Web3 and metaverse education via a wide assortment of educational streams, programs, learning materials, in-person events, and online courses:
- The African Leadership Group will offer master classes and content on Web3 and the metaverse to their ongoing training and lifelong learning programs across Africa.
- Africa Women CEOs Network will present a CEO Education in Masterclass Program designed specifically for women in Africa.
- Educational programs will be available online on the Unstoppable Women of Web3 official website, and will be translated into Portuguese, French, and Arabic.
- Chipper Cash will surface Unstoppable Women of Web’s Web3 and metaverse education within its app.
- Sankore 2.0, an Africa-focused blockchain community builder, will develop and organize online and physical courses on metaverse knowledge and blockchain code development to empower African women in Web3 technology.
- Unstoppable Women of Web3 and Unstoppable Domains will provide free Web3 domain addresses to expand access to user-owned digital identity. They’ll also launch a set of blogs on digital identity on the Unstoppable Women of Web3 website, available in French and English, and issue special NFT-based Education Badges for women who complete the education programs.
- Unstoppable Domains and Unstoppable Women of Web3 will launch a blockchain education stream in partnership with Alchemy.
Today, Africa is one of the fastest-growing adopters of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and Web3 technology globally. The continent already features the world’s second-largest Bitcoin market and a government-backed central bank digital currency. Africa also witnessed a 1,200% increase in crypto payments from 2020 to 2021, showing a massive and rapidly growing demand for the nascent technology.
“Having started my entrepreneurial career in Nigeria at 17, I know the power and opportunity of Africa. I see technology and innovation as the way to unlock this next generation of women,” said Sharon Chuter, CEO & Founder of Uoma Beauty.
However, like many male-dominated tech and engineering sectors, Web3 suffers from uneven representation. In 2021, for example, out of the 121 leading crypto companies, it was discovered that less than 5% were founded by women, and women only represent 10% of partners at crypto funds.
Fred Swaniker, founder and CEO of African Leadership Group, said: “By 2035, Africa will have the largest and youngest workforce in the world and will be the primary driver of the 4th industrial revolution. Considering the burgeoning nature of the Web3 industry and the fact that women currently make up 50% of the African continent, it is incredibly important to educate and empower our women with the tools they need to succeed in this field. This partnership will champion not only diversity in Web3 but also enable Africa to continue establishing itself as a global Web3 hub.”
Jennifer Kattula, SVP of Marketing at Polygon Labs said: “We believe in diversity and its impact on the web3 industry. We support women on this International Women’s Day and 365 days of the year. We are proud to support Unstoppable Women of Web3 and the Metaverse as they expand into Africa and beyond.”
Dr. Anino Emuwa, Managing Director of Avandis Consulting and Founder of Africa Women CEOs Network, said: “This initiative will give women in Africa a chance to participate in one of the fastest growing industries in the modern world. The tech and Web3 industries have historically faced issues with diversity and a lack of representation, but with this new initiative, women in Africa can learn about a burgeoning industry and be part of building its future.”
Justin W. Hochberg, CEO and Co-Founder of the Virtual Brand Group, said: “If you can defy gravity in the metaverse, why can’t we defy convention as to who has a voice and the technical skills? This is a once in a generation opportunity to empower diverse talent which will benefit everyone as we collectively build this brave new interconnected world from games to fashion, loyalty to art, sports, music, entertainment and beyond. I challenge everyone to be the change you wish to see in the metaverse and web3 starting here and now with the women of Africa where humankind originated and which over the next decades will be a leading global technology hub.”
Laura Kennedy, VP of Corporate Development at Chipper Cash, said: “We are delighted to pledge our support to the Unstoppable Women of Web3 initiative. Chipper Cash is a company deeply committed to unlocking global opportunities to connect and uplift Africa. When Chipper launched a crypto product more than two years ago, it was in response to a need expressed by our customers. With this initiative, Chipper and Unstoppable Women share a vision that inclusive access and education are critical to building an equitable online ecosystem where everyone can thrive.”
Other partners supporting this initiative are: African Women in Fintech & Payments (AWFP), Afrilabs, Bookings Africa, Ejara, Eloy Awards Foundation, Emerging Africa Group, Futuresoft, Google Cloud, Kenya Blockchain Ladies DAO, Mission Impact Academy, Miss O Cool Girls, NairaEx, SpaceYaTech, The Product House, Thousand Faces NFT, UTU, Women in Management Africa (WIMA), and Women in Tech.
This is not the first time Unstoppable Women of Web3 has launched an educational initiative to onboard women from underrepresented communities to Web3. Last October, the organization also announced its mission to educate and onboard over five million Latinas into Web3 by 2030.
About Unstoppable Women of Web3
Launched in 2022, Unstoppable Women of Web3 is a diversity and education group focusing on training the next generation of talent, with a mission to equalize the playing field early in the Web3 era. All 206 collaborators have pledged to feature work created by historically marginalized groups in at least half of all materials used for Web3 education.
About Unstoppable Domains
Launched in 2018, Unstoppable Domains is a Web3 domain name provider and digital identity platform working to onboard the world onto Web3. Unstoppable Domains offers Web3 domains minted on the blockchain that give people full ownership and control of their digital identity, with no renewal fees. With Unstoppable Domains, people can replace lengthy alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses with a human-readable name and log into and transact with more than 720 apps, wallets, exchanges and marketplaces. The company was named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers in 2022.
About African Leadership Group
The African Leadership Group (ALG) is an ecosystem of independent entities with a shared vision for transforming Africa by developing three million ethical and entrepreneurial leaders by 2035. Anchored in its unique and effective learning model, ALG has been at the forefront of developing diverse talent for the past two decades, equipping and harnessing the potential of African youth to meaningfully engage with — and contribute to — the global digital economy as leaders and innovators. As a leading technology training provider, its mission is to solidify Africa’s place as the final frontier for technology, while providing a lasting solution to the global technology talent shortage. ALG was named by Fast Company as one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world in 2019.
About Africa Women CEOs Network
Africa Women CEOs Network, is a community of women leading businesses. Our peer network helps women combat the lonely-at-the -top syndrome supporting their professional growth through the provision of bespoke leadership development and access to business opportunities.
As UN Women Generation Equality Action Coalition commitment makers, we collectively contribute to accelerating progress towards gender balanced leadership across the continent through our advocacy and DEI initiatives.
About Chipper Cash
Chipper Cash is a financial technology company serving more than five million customers across the African continent. In 2018, Chipper Cash revolutionized moving money in Africa with the introduction of fee-free transfers for personal payments—providing a frictionless way to send and receive money cross-border and enabling financial inclusivity across the continent. Since then, Chipper has increased its product suite by offering personal investments and digital business transactions, and expanded its reach into the US. Led by co-founders Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled, Chipper Cash is focused on its mission to provide the most trusted and accessible financial services for people living in Africa and beyond. For additional information, please visit www.chippercash.com.
About Polygon Labs
Polygon Labs develops Ethereum scaling solutions for Polygon protocols. Polygon Labs engages with other ecosystem developers to help make available scalable, affordable, secure and sustainable blockchain infrastructure for Web3. Polygon Labs has initially developed a growing suite of protocols for developers to gain easy access to major scaling solutions, including layer 2s (zero-knowledge rollups and optimistic rollups), sidechains, hybrid chains, app-specific chains, enterprise chains, and data availability protocols. Scaling solutions that Polygon Labs initially developed have seen widespread adoption with tens of thousands of decentralized apps, unique addresses exceeding 220.8 million, over 1.18 million smart contracts created and 2.48 billion total transactions processed since inception. The existing Polygon network is home for some of the biggest Web3 projects, such as Aave, Uniswap, and OpenSea, and well-known enterprises, including Robinhood, Stripe and Adobe. Polygon Labs is carbon neutral with the goal of leading Web3 in becoming carbon negative.
About Virtual Brand Group
The Virtual Brand Group (VBG) is an award-winning metaverse pioneer transforming businesses by strategizing, building, and operating brands in virtual worlds. VBG works in partnership with global intellectual property across entertainment, fashion, retail, lifestyle, and beauty to deliver immersive experiences, social games, digital marketing campaigns, virtual fashion, and next-level token reward programs.
The company won Licensing International’s “Best Digital Licensed Product” for its work building Forever21’s Shop City into the #1 retailer on Roblox (the first-ever metaverse winner). VBG was recently credited with making Forever 21 one of the “top 10 metaverse companies for 2023.” Additionally, the company has been featured in over 500 top-tier media outlets for its work with other brands, including Barbie, for which it designed the iconic character’s first-ever virtual fashion line and putting “The Voice” singing competition with NBC – airing in 145 territories – into the metaverse for the first time securing record-breaking numbers. VBG is credited with developing “Infinite Loop Marketing,™” the first-ever avatar-to-ecommerce program where items can be sold simultaneously in the metaverse and real life.
#GetMetaversed on Twitter and LinkedIn. For more, visit virtualbrandgroup.com.
Contact
Nora Chan
press@unstoppabledomains.com
