Binance Charity, the philanthropic arm of Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure provider, and Women in Tech®, have announced a flagship global partnership to provide blockchain educational courses to 2,800 women from vulnerable communities across Brazil and Africa. Binance Charity is donating $250,000 BUSD for a six month pilot project to empower women with the knowledge and skills to thrive in a Web3 future, with the first courses taking place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, and Cape Town, South Africa, in October, this year.
The size of the global blockchain market is expected to grow from $4.93bn in 2021 to more than $200bn by 2028. Yet, for the past four decades the gender gap in tech has widened, with only one woman in every five people working in the industry today. Providing professional training to the massive career opportunities set to open within the blockchain industry for women is a shared goal of Binance and Women in Tech® an international non-profit organisation with a mission to close the gender gap across the tech sector.
“Binance believes the future of crypto should be built by all, not the few so we’re creating certified courses and removing financial barriers for women, especially those from vulnerable communities, to study and train. It is important to us at Binance and Women-in-Tech that quality blockchain education, innovation, and research opportunities are within everyone’s reach,” said Helen Hai, VP of Binance and head of Binance Charity.
Courses will be offered in classes of 25 to young women aged 15-25 by qualified trainers in person, online or as a hybrid. The Web3 courses will be designed by Binance Academy and adapted to meet local context Courses will include:
- Blockchain Fundamentals
- Crypto fundamentals
- Decentralisation
- Web3 and the Metaverse
Through our hybrid model of distance and in-person learning, women can train to pursue a career in blockchain regardless of their existing developer skills. Classes will be designed for complete beginners and will include skills such as web development, front-end development, full-stack development and complete with the Blockchain modules.
“We believe that education can truly transform lives. Not only does it contribute to social justice, but more importantly, education contributes to the achievement of one’s full potential. It teaches skills and knowledge, fostering opportunities for sustainable impact. We look forward to our partnership with Binance, making blockchain education accessible to all, especially those women and girls who have been previously disadvantaged,” said Ayumi Moore Aoki, founder and CEO of Women in Tech®.
The Brazil pilot programme will take place in Morro dos Prazeres, Rio de Janeiro, for one of the first cohorts of 50 women, over the course of the following five months another 300 women will be signed up to the program countrywide. The South Africa pilot will take place in Cape Town at the Philippi Village Tech Hub in the Philipp Township for an additional 50 women. Over the duration of the six months, further programmes will be rolled out across Zambia, Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Burundi, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast.
This project is part of the Binance Scholar Program, which will provide ongoing educational and professional support to students once they complete their courses. The global program was launched last month with the IT Generations project, offering 1,000 Ukrainians full scholarships to study in tech-related courses. The Binance Scholar Program hopes to enable the next generation of digital leaders to develop their skills, knowledge and experience without financial barriers.
