Meet the Women Using ReFi to Change the World

Regenerative Finance or ReFi is based on the idea of using blockchain and crypto to preserve, protect and regenerate natural resources vs the extractive models of today which are based solely on capital growth. ReFi uses blockchain to incentivize new behaviors and create new economic models based on this concept. I was recently introduced to a series of kick ass change-makers through the GitCoin grant process which is an open source platform and bounty system that has deployed $65M USD for over 2,800 web3 for public good projects via Quadratic Funding (QF).

QF is a form of crowdfunding that matches donations from everyday people with a pool from larger donors. It uses a mathematical formula to ensure that the projects that receive support from the most significant number of people (rather than the greatest number of donations) gain more matched funds.

As part of our weekly More Women in Crypto (MWIC) Meetups at the NFT Boutique, we brought these women into our hybrid IRL and virtual meetings to discuss their projects and help us understand how we could use quadratic funding to accelerate our own projects. Our mission at MWIC is to provide more visibility to women in blockchain and develop platforms to share their stories with the world and help them accelerate their businesses. 

Jade Katz, is an artist, community builder, and developer that’s focused on building spaces that allow all people to thrive. As founder of nonprofit Tech By Choice, she is on a mission to increase diversity in tech by offering mentorship and teaching technical skills to over 1,800 community members looking to level up and find jobs in technology. Through the TBC Together program, cohort members build their skills by working on stipend-backed open-source web3 integrated projects over the course of 3-6 months. By the end of the program, members will have working projects that they can show to potential employers paired with a mentorship that will last beyond the project. This helps individuals from underserved communities get the hands-on experience they need, while building their portfolios.

Jade helped us understand the power of quadratic funding and how it dramatically impacted her focus. She leveraged her community building and educational experience to help onboard her audience into web3 and to build support for the organization. You can contribute to Tech by Choice and help ensure that the tech industry is welcoming for everyone, by donating here. 

Overcoming Food Apartheid

Contessa Louise of WeSeed also recently joined our hybrid MWIC meeting in the NFT Boutique-verse and shared how she is using ReFi to overcome food apartheids in North Carolina with regenerative gardens. Food apartheids are commonly found in poor urban neighborhoods where access to fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy meats are not available because of a lack of grocery stores or farmers markets. 

As a result, people are limited to purchasing food at gas stations or corner stores where the only options are processed unhealthy choices. WeSeed intends to overcome these food apartheids by creating regenerative gardens, food maps and education on how to grow your own food.  As a trained chef and regenerative gardener, Contessa understands the importance of fresh and organic food as a key to health, mental well being and the ability to thrive. As a catalyst for web3 adoption, Contessa shares how in order for underserved communities to adopt and leverage crypto and blockchain technologies, they first needed to understand how it could impact them. That’s where WeSeed comes in, part crowdfunding for regenerative action and part community education.  A key part of her focus has also been to onboard people by teaching them about crypto with a focus on safety, in order to overcome trust issues that have hindered crypto adoption in many underserved communities. 

Both Jade and Contessa shared the importance of community building, connecting and outreach, a value our More Women in Crypto group shares!  As we continue our journey to change the narrative for women, people of color, and the lgbtq communities, we will feature more voices and stories of change-makers in web3 to inspire us into action for people and our planet.