Few people in the entrepreneurial environment achieve the major milestones that put them on the privileged economic map at the international level, and if we count them by gender, the proportion of women is still less than 50%. The few outstanding examples show that, despite complex scenarios and all kinds of restrictions, they are gradually making their way with great strength. One example is Silvina Moschini of Argentina, president and co-founder of Unicoin, a next-generation asset-backed cryptocurrency designed to pay dividends. And they came to blockchain (a technology consisting of a chain of blocks with a public database in which transactions carried out on the network are securely recorded) in search of an alternative to open doors and equal opportunities in access to wealth.
He began his academic studies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and continued his preparation in the United States and Europe. She is the founder and president of TransparentBusiness, the remote work management software company that has been booming since the start of the pandemic. The company, founded by Moschini a decade before the health emergency, became the first “unicorn” led by a Latina woman in 2020, meaning it reached a private valuation of $1 billion. “When I became the first Latin American woman to lead a unicorn company, the stereotypes and gender biases in the financing process to carry out the project did not break down, but at least it showed that you think differently and work hard.” As a team, there is many possibilities. The key lies in the team and in diversity. Men and women work as a team,” he says.
Moschini takes every opportunity to explain that the key to his career was trusting his instincts and giving his all when he firmly believed in an idea and worked to make it a reality. His father was one of the most important figures in his professional and personal development: “I remember my father’s conversations and advice. Since I was little, I told myself that I could be anything I wanted to be. He always said to me: “Daughter, you can be a princess, an astrophysicist, an engineer or whatever you want.” But if you choose to be a princess, you have to build your own castle.” “Those conversations got me shaped for a lifetime.”
On the other hand, she emphasized that at the time she decided to start, not everything was so easy: “It was a great challenge to overcome the barriers that have historically limited us women in our dreams.” The importance of crises exists in that they provide us with opportunities to step out of our comfort zone and force us to go the extra mile to ask questions, learn and create.”
There is an educational gap in Latin America that has worsened following the pandemic. The country where Moschini comes from is no exception. Argentina is also going through its worst economic crisis in 20 years and, although it has a robust and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem, it has not yet managed to become a platform to propel the severely deteriorated economy. Silvina Moshini recognizes it: “In a complex context, Latin Americans are able to develop and develop solutions to problems. However, I developed professionally in the USA and Europe,” he says.
Moschini believes there is still a long way to go in the financial ecosystem to close the gender gap. “New instruments such as cryptocurrencies have made it possible to reach a segment that was previously excluded from the traditional system. The participation of women is still lower than that of men, but the data is encouraging: today women represent 30% of cryptocurrency owners in the world, and in Latin America the adoption rate is increasing by 43%,” we explain.
The Argentine, based in the United States, believes that it is necessary to advance financial education to give women the necessary tools to make informed decisions and know the differences between existing cryptocurrencies: “Women are more cautious and People often distrust cryptocurrencies due to the high risks associated with extreme volatility. “This is a characteristic feature of first-generation cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, whose shortcomings became apparent with the arrival of crypto winter.”
Moschini was the only prominent female entrepreneur in W20 Argentina, the G20 advisory group for economic growth with a gender perspective, she was also a special guest at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2022 and chaired the innovation panel at the Summit of Presidents of the Americas in 2019. a meeting of top CEOs and heads of state. He has received awards such as the United Nations Equals in Tech Leadership Award; the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Tech and the Woman of the Decade award from the Women Economic Forum. She was recently named “Woman of the Year in Disruptive Sectors” by UN Women and the Global Compact. “This would not have been possible without the amazing team of brilliant minds who pushed me to achieve my dreams. I learned from business leaders like Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Rosie Rios, former Treasurer of the United States, Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica who was President of my Advisory Board, and of course from the undisputed queen of the 90s Internet: Susan Segal, who showed with her example and support that women, class, money and power are a possible reality.
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Recommendation of the week: Rosa Perals Ribbons by Noor Mahtani
I don’t know if you came to the newsletter looking for pampering or empowerment. That’s not the case. This is a recommendation for anyone who wants to get angry. “The Burning Body”, the Netflix series starring Ursula Corberó, is on everyone’s lips. Much has been written and even more said about the case of Rosa Peral and Albert López, two city guards convicted in 2017 of the murder of Pedro Rodríguez, Peral’s partner. But I invite you to first (or only) watch the documentary “The Tapes of Rosa Peral,” a film that tells how the gender perspective was conspicuous by its absence in the courts and in the media.
Regardless of whether Peral is guilty or not, I recommend this documentary for three reasons: to understand why this case would have ended differently if the defendant had not been a woman, a city watchman and an owner of her sexuality; for us journalists to think about how easy and dangerous it is to report morbidity and stop reporting; and, above all, listening to Paz Francés, a criminal justice doctor, who offers some very interesting reflections on the distinction between sin and crime and the behavior of women who abandon their designated roles – good mothers, good victims, good wives – are punished more harshly.
For those who just want to be empowered, read French. Or listen to it here.