Part of Decential Media’s celebration and recognition of Women’s History month

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While March marks the annual celebration of women’s contributions, past and present, for Cynthia Hass, director of the World of Women Foundation, the fight is every day. 

The non-fungible token (NFT) collective and community that surrounds World of Women is much more than it appears at first glance. Yes, it’s a runway for launching stunning NFT projects, but it’s also a revolution that’s both timely and overdue. A world led by more women. 

In just 20 months, World of Women has generated over $400 million in secondary-market trading volume, with a diverse fanbase that spans teenagers in rural Ghana to the Hollywood elite such as Reese Witherspoon and Eva Longoria. 

“Women want to help women,” Hass said to me recently. “All of our  collectors are like celebrities. Their initiatives have real-world impact.”

In the past year, as the world has seen one crisis after another, WoW has been busy. The Ukraine war, civil unrest in Iran, the devastating earthquake in Turkey, as well as constant, chronic issues such as climate change – WoW has engaged its community to deploy financial resources and support in record time. 

When the war in Ukraine broke out, WoW sent $500,000 in emergency funds to different crisis organizations. During the gender persecution in Iran, a Middle Eastern WoW artist, r0yart, created and volunteered to auction a piece which raised 4 Eth. WoW donated an additional $20,000. The funding went to the non-profit organization United for Iran, which uses technology to support the women’s movement.  

“Using blockchain technology, we were able to see the police points and certain spots of danger,” Hass said. “This meant women could attend these events and protect themselves.” 

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Online across the globe, the WoW community turned their profile pictures (PFPs) into digital art that relayed the Women Life Freedom message. “Since day one, we’ve said we will always try to help if something happens in the world,” Hass added. 

Then there are the issues relating to women in the workplace – gender inequality, managing motherhood, accessing VC money – and the more pressing, persistent global problems such as climate change, food and water shortages, war and refugee displacement and online access. While WoW has amassed impressive sales, it’s mission is much more than about increasing inclusiveness in web3. The collective’s NFTs contribute to charities such as Too Young to Wed to reduce both child marriage and female genital mutilation. 

Just as the blockchain has decentralized finance, WoW has decentralized opportunity for women. And it’s about time. 

According to the United Nations, women’s exclusion from the digital world is comes at a cost of $1 trillion in lost gross domestic product of low-and-middle-income countries – a loss that’s predicted to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025 if action isn’t taken. 

Hass said there’s a lot more women at crypto and web3 events, compared to when she entered crypto. “When I first joined, I had two friends in the space. Now, I have at least 100 women I could call and talk web3.” 

While based in London, Hass travels a lot. When asked why the world needs more women in leadership, she laughed and explained a frustration unbeknownst to men. The bathroom shaver plug. 

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“It sounds so trivial, but most hotels have this specific shaver plug. It’s awkwardly located and not where I need it to be. I always see it and think, if this bathroom was created by a woman, the plug wouldn’t be here,” she said. 

“It’s a small detail but it might make me late to my 9:00 a.m. meeting and therefore, miss out on opportunities.” From bathrooms to boardrooms, women need to be the creators and founders. 

Of course there’s more to be done and WoW is using art as the canvas for conversation; what does the gender gap look like today, why does it still exist, why does most VC funding go to men and what does web3 mean for mothers?

“There’s no easy way to come on board with web3,” Hass said. “It’s complicated and in many cases, overwhelming and all-consuming. Education and technology aren’t just an access issue – it’s also social, cultural, mental, and behavioral. We need to continue to make web3 a safe and inviting learning place, where women understand how it is relevant to their lives.”

Women have been conditioned not to step out of line, not to be too much of this, too much of that. But ask any woman about the gentle, intuitive power of shared womanhood and she’ll likely mirror Hass’s sentiment. 

“Just today, I spoke to a woman who started her company because of World of Women. She was looking for her place in web3 and a sense of belonging,” she said. 

Maybe web3 stands for women. The world of women is awakening.