Gender Hackathon
We at Impact Plus are dedicated to bringing more women into the Web3 space and believe that blockchain can be used as a force for gender equality. We’re lucky to have the support of experts on women’s empowerment, such as Lonah Mueni Wanjama of Mercy Corps, who spoke at our recent Gender Hackathon. This three-day event brought together people from different backgrounds and teamed them together with gender experts to tackle the most pressing issues faced by women in our industry. A number of organizations participated, including Binance and Harmony. The winners’ outfit was named “FemCent” – a female-centered, blockchain savings and investment platform with the mission of proffering crypto-investment opportunities to chamas. The Kenya Gender Hackathon spanned over three days at iHub in Nairobi. The event gathered 93 participants into 20 gender diverse teams of developers, gender experts and idea-generators. As a result of the January gender meetup, women encouraged other women to join the event. The dev training also sharpened their skills for the Hack! The event opened with a keynote speech by Mercy Corps’ gender advisor Lorna Mbogo bringing to our attention the currently limited trajectory of women in tech and howx that path can change through blockchain adoption. Following the keynote addresses, a discussion on gender issues was held between blockchain and gender experts, moderated by Professor Shelby Darnell from Strathmore College. The panel discussion brought topics that challenged conventional thinking on education, health, business opportunities, gender-pay gap, power, and influence. A globally and locally joined team of mentors provided direction to the teams, virtually and in person. In addition to the panelists, the mentors included Ferran Prat, Vincent Sipoi, Frank Tamre, and Marios Isaakidis among others. Mentors assisted the teams in developing essential technical and non- technical features of their projects. Top 5 Teams: @FemcentKenya is a female-centered financial platform using blockchain to create a secure, decentralized solution for women to access investment options, capital/loans, as well as integrating with other local women’s savings communities. @SamakiZetu combats the women sex trade for fish by securing the fish supply chain. Samakizetu leverages blockchain to track fish from the source to the final consumer with the help of QR codes providing fisherwomen an increase in income and asecure employment opportunity. @SupaLipaKe provides financial security for women in the informal sector recognizing that in sub-saharan Africa alone, women make up 3 out of 4 workers in the gig economy. The application leverages blockchain technology to transform how payments are made in this sector ensuring secure,guaranteed payments to workers, and service delivery to clients. @SafePG is a one-step health hub providing young women in low-incomeareas with potential maternal health care facilities and service providers in abid to increase dissemination of health information and promote maternal literacy. @Nabo4all champions the education and empowerment of women affected by female genital mutilation (FGM) through decentralized, streamlines, and traceable access to funding for organizations combating FGM.Congratulations to the winners!
