Binance moved the “Women’s Academy in Technology” to the earthquake zone

Binance Women in Technology Academy, organized in cooperation with Binance and Women in Technology Association (Wtech), delivered its training to women in the earthquake region. While 80 young women, all from the earthquake zone, participated in the training held in Hatay on March 26-27, Binance Turkey General Manager Mücahit Dönmez, Women in Technology Association Founding Chairman Zehra Öney, Binance Turkey Marketing Director Harika Eldoğan took part in the program.

The academy aims to be an important milestone in increasing Turkey’s technological and economic power while taking an important step against gender inequality in the sector by increasing the presence of women in crypto, blockchain and Web 3.0 fields.

Binance Women in Technology Academy, which was implemented in cooperation with Turkey’s leading crypto asset platform Binance and the Women’s Association in Technology (Wtech), with the mission of equal opportunities in technology and increasing the financial literacy levels of women, carried its training to Hatay and reached young female university students living in the earthquake zone.

In the program, which took place in Antakya district of Hatay between 26-27 March 2024, carefully designed trainings such as financial literacy, block chain technology, artificial intelligence, NFT and cyber security provided the participating women with the knowledge and skills they need to take part in the Web3 world. At the end of the program, certificates were presented to 80 participants who attended the training.

Binance Women’s Academy in Technology, which started as of January 2024, had its first graduates with the graduation ceremony held recently. Binance Women in Technology Academy, implemented in cooperation with Binance and Wtech, aims to introduce young women to the world of technology and provide them with the opportunity to lead not only in their individual careers but also in society. The project is aimed to be an important milestone in increasing Turkey’s technological and economic power while increasing the presence of women in the crypto, blockchain and Web 3.0 fields, taking an important step against gender inequality in the sector.

Speaking at the certificate award ceremony held within the scope of the training, Binance Turkey General Manager Mücahit Dönmez emphasized that the earthquake region became one of the priority regions for Binance immediately after the February 6 disaster and said, “As Binance, we took important steps to show that we are with the earthquake victims. Binance donated $100 worth of BNB to each of its users in the earthquake zone in Turkey. In addition, donations collected through Binance Charity were sent to the Red Crescent to support earthquake victims, and with the donation we made to AHBAP, a steel house was built and opened for use as a school. Therefore, Hatay is a valuable location for the Binance Women in Technology Academy program and a city where we lay the foundations for change and development by embracing the innovative spirit that defines Binance’s mission.” he said.

Emphasizing that Turkey is one of the most impressive centers in the world, not only with a crypto adoption rate of nearly 40%, but also with the excitement for crypto and new technologies felt throughout the country, Dönmez said, “There has been a positive trend globally in terms of gender equality in the crypto industry in recent years.” Although a trend is seen, unfortunately there is still inequality in both technology and crypto fields. As Binance TR, we have taken an important role in shaping the future of the industry and are committed to promoting equality and diversity both within our company and throughout the industry. At Binance, education is a key element of our mission to increase financial freedom and achieve gender equality in our industry. Since our establishment, we have provided and continue to provide free education to thousands of individuals through Binance Academy and Binance Charity. However, our mission extends beyond education and we aim to shape the future by encouraging our students. We aim to create a future where women are not only participants but also leaders in the workplace, their voices are celebrated rather than heard, and their potential knows no limits. We aim to lay the foundations for a future where gender equality is achieved not only in our industry but in all sectors and society.” said.

Zehra Öney, Founding Chairman of the Women in Technology Association, one of the stakeholders of Binance Women in Technology Academy, stated the following about the program:

“As the Women’s Association in Technology, our biggest goal was to train expert, competent human resources in the field of technology, and to carry out focused studies to increase the number of low-motivated and low-numbered women and ensure their participation in employment, production processes and enterprises. At the Binance Women in Technology Academy, which we established in cooperation with Binance, we have created a powerful program to empower women especially in the fields of Web3, blockchain, crypto, artificial intelligence and data. As an association, we carried out very strong and focused disaster relief efforts in Hatay after the earthquake disaster that left us all deeply saddened. For this reason, after giving certificates to the first 50 graduates of the Academy and preparing them for employment, we turned to the earthquake region and offered this program to 80 young university students in Hatay. Fortunately, the interest in the program was very high. By inviting our young girls here to our longer technical training after the training, we have made a good start to raise strong female leaders from these regions who are productive in technology and will fill the qualified human gap, which is Turkey’s biggest deficit.

The United Nations predicts that if we continue at the current pace, more than 340 million women and girls, accounting for 8 percent of the world’s population, will be living in extreme poverty by 2030. I would like to underline once again the importance of this program in order to strengthen Turkey in this field, to increase our gross domestic product and to enable Turkey to benefit from technology and human resources among the world’s leading countries. In the coming period, we hope that by graduating 5 thousand women in 5 years at the Binance Women in Technology Academy, these women will make a great contribution to Turkey with the power provided by technology, regardless of the sector they are in. I would especially like to emphasize once again the contribution of Binance to this program and the satisfaction I feel from our cooperation with them. We had two other important supporters who supported this program. The Needs Map provided us with the area where we trained in Hatay. Lenovo, the corporate member of our association, gifted tablets to the women who participated in our training, providing them with a very important opportunity to apply what they learned. “As artificial intelligence continues to transform our lives in the age of technology, we, as Binance Women in Technology Academy, will continue our work in Turkey and earthquake zones.”

Binance Turkey Marketing Director Harika Eldoğan stated that they carried out the pilot training of the program, which was first announced at Binance Blockchain Week held in November, and presented certificates to 50 participating women at the graduation ceremony held recently, and that they aim to provide training to 5 thousand women in 5 years. We are working to grow it. It is very important for us to include especially young people and women in this ecosystem. We support women to evaluate new opportunities and develop in these areas on the path to financial freedom. Crypto assets, Web 3.0 and Blockchain are a wide world in which not only software developers or investors, but also women operating in fields such as finance, marketing, analysis and strategy can take part. As Binance Turkey, we carry out many different studies to raise awareness about crypto assets and blockchain technology in our country. We organize training programs, seminars and conferences. We also invest in local initiatives and projects. We carry out special projects that will contribute to the development of our women and increase financial literacy. Nowadays, where technology is rapidly developing and affecting many areas, new technologies such as blockchain and crypto assets are transforming financial markets. Although they are new and promising fields, the gender imbalance in these fields is noticeable. Therefore, as Binance, we took action to eliminate this imbalance with the Women in Technology Academy. Our goal is to ensure that all women benefit equally from the opportunities offered by technology and to increase the number of female leaders in this field.” said.

Stating that the participation of women is very important and valuable to ensure the economic and social development of the earthquake region, Eldoğan said that for this reason, they moved the Binance Women in Technology Academy to Hatay.

Emphasizing that Binance Women in Technology Academy is not only a training program but also an initiative to create a community, Eldoğan said, “Thanks to this program, women working in different fields can come together, connect with each other, and share their knowledge and experiences. We see technology not only as a technical field, but as a tool of change and development that touches many areas of life. Economic freedom, equal opportunities and innovative approaches are becoming more accessible to everyone with technology. As Binance, we are proud to implement this philosophy with programs such as the Women’s Academy in Technology and to bring the Academy to Hatay.” he said.