Brought up by an accomplished and fierce feminist, Jorden is a strong male ally for women and the necessary shift to a fairer, more equitable, and inclusive society. Over his two-decade career as a successful Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur and advisor, he has intentionally created diverse and inclusive teams at all levels. Through his companies, he also advocates for meritocracy, gender balance and the inclusion of diverse voices.
For the last decade, Jorden has championed a more inclusive Silicon Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports women, international and immigrant founders, and people of color. In his mission to positively impact society, he teamed up with Radhika Iyengar, featured as one of the Top 100 Women of the Future, to build a better world. The duo published their best-selling book “Enterprise Blockchain Has Arrived” on web3 in 2019, which featured interviews with top industry leaders, of which 35-percent were women and 60-percent executives with diverse backgrounds.
In 2018 Jorden and Radhika co-founded StarChain Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture studio focused on the transformative power of web3 and the open Metaverse to reimagine the future of business, humanity, and social structures. Their most recent initiative is called the AstroSapiens project which is a mission driven NFT community aiming to achieve greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in high growth industries to provide women and underrepresented groups with upward economic mobility. In true web3 form the NFT project also includes a DAO and Foundation.
The AstroSapiens Foundation and StarChain Ventures fund initiatives that provide grants to select high-caliber programs to positively impact underrepresented and underserved children, educators and women, increasing their understanding and access to the space industry and web3. As a Caltech-trained astrophysicist, Jorden forecasts that the space ecosystem and frontier technologies will be important future growth areas.
Jorden strongly believes that if initiatives like the mission driven AstroSapiens project can be coupled with web3 and the Metaverse, there is a very real opportunity to transform the online experience positively for women worldwide. Otherwise, there is the very real risk that the web3 and Metaverse transition will not yield any significant advancement, which would be a tragic missed opportunity since women are so aligned with community and social impact.
Jorden shares his goals: “I aim to work together with our communities to fund initiatives that empower and enfranchise women, girls and underrepresented groups like never before, enabling them to lead the transition to a fairer and more inclusive web3 and Metaverse. DEI, creator rights, and ownership need to be at the DNA level of a new Open Metaverse so that women can lead the way in this transition. The growth of NFTs, for example, has opened up more onramps since blending art, technology, community, and communication play into women’s strengths.”
According to Jorden, the Metaverse is an area of massive growth potential that can be measured in trillions of dollars. “The $2 trillion fashion and beauty industries are some of the early adopters of NFTs and virtual worlds, and leading women are already developing important platforms. Women can also lead in many other areas of STEM, and they must be encouraged, funded and supported to become successful business people and positive role models. More women and diverse leaders will also create more inclusive organizations that can become the standard.”
The future can be bright and programs that empower and upskill women and girls into web3, the Metaverse, and frontier technologies will be crucial. The current Web 2.0 online experience is filled with many unwanted and dangerous interactions. It is urgent that women help society heal on multiple levels and usher in a more compassionate, ethical, and inclusive online experience to benefit all of us now and into the future.
Website: astrosapiensnft.com
