Diversity in Blockchain, Inc. Hosts Understanding Blockchain Smart Contracts Event
Diversity in Blockchain Inc. (DiB), in collaboration with Shearman & Sterling LLP, held a sold-out year-end event titled, “Understanding Blockchain Smart Contracts.” The session was held in New York and featured a two-part interactive program.
The event began with an introduction by Sandra Bang, Chief Diversity and Talent Strategy Officer at Shearman & Sterling. Her introduction was followed by the first program of the evening with Dr. Solomon Lederer, co-founder of Blockmatics and co-author of “Blockchain: A Practical Guide to Developing Business, Law and Technology Solutions,” who introduced the audience to the complexities of smart contracts.
The second session was a panel discussion on the current state of diversity in the technology and the legal industries, featuring Diversity in Blockchain co-founders, Susan Joseph (B3i North American Representative), Anna Ashurov (VP in the Financing Group at Goldman Sachs), Shawnna Hoffman (Global Cognitive Legal Co-Leader, IBM), and Joshua Ashley Klayman (Founder and CEO of Klayman LLC and Inflection Point Blockchain Advisors). The panel discussion was moderated by Donna Parisi, Global Head of Financial Services and FinTech at Shearman & Sterling. The panel discussed appropriate action items on how to expand the definition of diversity to lead to inclusion, encourage a cultural shift, force awareness of unconscious bias, and correct imbalance at the hiring stage.
The event ended with an audience Q&A session that ensured participants left the event with substantial knowledge of smart contract technology and a greater sense of how to promote inclusion in their respective industries.
“With the increase in adoption of blockchain technology by enterprise, we were pleased to see such a strong turnout for our event,” Michelle Gitlitz, founder and co-chair of Blank Rome LLP’s Blockchain Technology and Digital Currencies Group and co-founder of DiB said. “The audience had a keen interest in learning about smart contracts coded on blockchain and discussing the importance of diversity in the industry.”