Diversity and Inclusion / 22 posts found
A World Baseball Champion Is Using NFTs to Help Save Lives
When World Series champion Matt Szczur joined a bone marrow registry in 2007 as a freshman in college, he didn’t think much of it. At the time, Szczur (pronounced like “Caesar”) was playing football for Villanova University. His coach, the legendary Andy Talley, encouraged him to get involved with an organization called Be The Match. As its name implies, the group matches bone marrow donors with recipients and raises money to help those suffering from life-threatening blood cancers, like leukemia and lymphoma, to provide necessary treatment. “I thought I’d test [to be a match], and if I get a call, […]
‘All White Males:’ Proof Opens Up on Moving Beyond Stereotypes
Unfortunately, the “crypto bro” stereotype is not wholly without traction. As of writing, most people active in the Web3 space are men, and the NFT space should be doing more to uplift black artists. But now, Web3 companies are paying attention. Some even appear to be undertaking policies focused on accountability. And Proof is one of the most prominent Web3 players attempting to do just that. If you haven’t heard of the group, you certainly know their work: Proof is the brand that manages Proof Collective, the exclusive members-only NFT community behind projects like Moonbirds, Oddities, Grails, and others. Recently, […]
Shira Lazar: How One Woman Became a Leading Female Voice in NFTs
The gravitational pull of the NFT space is undeniable. We’re forging a new creative economy in real-time, and, over the years, the weird wide world of nonfungibles has ballooned, bootstrapping a robust community of creatives and professionals from every industry along the way. While rising stars of the NFT ecosystem reach for success, Shira Lazar, Founder and CEO of the Emmy Nominated digital media brand called What’s Trending, has become one of the most vocal proponents of blockchain tech and culture. A woman of many hats, Lazar is not only an avid collector of and advocate for NFTs, but a […]
The Ultimate Guide to World of Women: A Pillar of Inclusivity in NFTs
World of Women (WoW) is an absolute juggernaut in the NFT space. One of the community’s greatest success stories, what began as a 10,000 edition PFP project aimed at providing a space for women in an otherwise “crypto bro” dominated ecosystem has grown into a well-known Web3-based brand that is exploring a range of ambitious media endeavors. The company continues to make headlines. In January 2022, Guy Oseary, the talent manager who represents Madonna, U2, and other big names, announced he would be adding WoW to this illustrious roster to aid in brand efforts to explore opportunities in film, television, […]
The University of Oregon Is Using NFTs to Support Women in Student Athletics
Crypto and NFTs have been leveraged for some incredibly good causes — from supporting Ukrainian citizens affected by war to funding scientific research. Now universities are taking advantage of the technology to help students raise money. Division Street, a sports venture company that helps create marketing programs to maximize revenue opportunities for University of Oregon student-athletes, recently announced the upcoming launch of an NFT collection that will benefit participating Oregon Ducks women student-athletes. The collection, entitled Visions of Flight, will honor the upcoming 50th anniversary of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the comprehensive federal law that made […]
SuperTrans: A Celebration of Gender Variance on the Blockchain
In celebration of this year’s Pride Month, the NFT community has shown up and showed out with a spectacular array of initiatives supporting queer artists and the greater LGBTQ+ community. Although the NFT space isn’t necessarily known for its diversity and inclusion, Web3 organizations have still been doing the most to promote equality without being, well, cringey. Among the many endeavors launched this June in support of Pride exists an interesting new exhibition from prominent NFT platform SuperRare (SR). Aptly named SuperQueer, this multi-week initiative bridges both online and physical events that promote LGBTQ+ representation throughout Web3. Kicking off the month […]
Approaching Diversity and Inclusion Through a New Lens in Web3
If there’s anything we’ve learned in the age of Web2, it’s that people’s lives are rarely what they seem online. It can be nice to enter into a virtual world where you can explore anything, meet anyone, and discover endless opportunities. But the damage that’s been done is clear: presenting only the most ideal versions of ourselves on the internet has ravaged mental health. Even internal documents from Meta (formerly Facebook) show that Instagram is harmful to teenage girls. People’s lives — especially those of young adults — have been significantly affected by the ever-deepening divide between reality and online […]
5 Projects That Celebrate Diversity in the NFT Community
It’s no secret that the NFT space is a melting pot of culture. Throughout the vast expanse of the NFT ecosystem lives a wide variety of NFT art, photography, music, and more all created by an even wider array of unique creators. Of course, the NFT space could be doing more to empower underrepresented artists, but that isn’t to say that diversity doesn’t exist in the NFT space. This diversity should be and is being celebrated across the blockchain. Whether by way of a large-scale profile picture (PFP) collection or through the endeavors of a digital autonomous organization (DAO), artists of […]
A Teen Race Driver is Using NFTs to Achieve her F1 Dream
Bianca Bustamante is a 17-year-old Filipina racer who is using NFTs to achieve her dreams and make history. In March, Bustamante secured a coveted spot on W Series’ Academy team where she’ll compete in eight FIA Formula 1 World Championship support races. She will be the first Filipina racer to drive in the all-women championship. This achievement brings Bustamante even closer to her goal of becoming a Formula 1 driver. However, it also comes with challenges — i.e. affording the costs associated with training and even basic needs. Enter the Dark Horse NFT project. Bustamante launched the NFT Access Pass to secure […]
The Gold Standard Exhibition: Giving Shine to Asian-Americans in NFTs
What does it mean to uplift and empower underrepresented artists? It entails much more than just giving them a platform. We must dig deeper, and actively spread the word about their work, pay respect to their journeys and their potential, and support their creative intelligence. This May, in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, SuperRare and Drue Kataoka are doing just that. The leading NFT marketplace and artist/technologist/activist and CEO Kataoka have teamed up to create a new exhibition entitled #TheGoldStandard to spotlight the vast contributions of Asian American artists in the digital art world. A flyer […]