The Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), the leading global industry association for the blockchain technology ecosystem, is pleased to announce that the Los Angeles Blockchain Lab, LLC and LA Blockchain Center (LA Blockchain Lab and Center) have joined forces under GBBC’s corporate umbrella with Center becoming ‘GBBC Giving,’ the parent entity of LA Blockchain Lab.
GBBC Giving, a nonprofit organization under the aegis of the GBBC, is dedicated to galvanizing support amongst the blockchain and digital asset community to empower underserved communities globally to mitigate the widening digital divide and democratize access to opportunity, regardless of gender, age, geography, disability, or socioeconomic status.
Just under half of the world’s people (3.7 billion) still do not use the internet. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities, and according to the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU), “there is a real and present danger that those without broadband Internet access could be left further behind.”
Under this context, the GBBC has created GBBC Giving, an organization which will “devote philanthropic resources to educational efforts focused on inclusion and solving real-world problems to ensure that the benefits and opportunities created by the growth of the blockchain and digital assets industry, as well as technology in general, are enjoyed by many, not just a select group of individuals,” said GBBC CEO Sandra Ro. According to Ro, GBBC Giving’s mission is guided by the belief that “digital access and information are a human right.”
The GBBC, which now benefits from a membership of more than 270 global institutions, and 130 Ambassadors from more than 70 jurisdictions and disciplines will work closely with its global network to identify and develop projects that “work towards advancing communities of all backgrounds through access to blockchain technology and its vast opportunities,” said Heidi Pease, President of the GBBC Giving Board.
Initially overseeing the work of GBBC Giving is a Board of Directors, comprised of:
- GBBC Giving President Heidi Pease, former Co-Founder and CEO of the LA Blockchain Lab and Center,
- GBBC Giving Secretary Sandra Ro, CEO of the GBBC, and
- GBBC Giving Treasurer Mercina Tillemann, COO of the GBBC.
In the near term, GBBC Giving will add Board Directors and hire staff to manage GBBC Giving, as well as develop safe and compliant infrastructure to accept cryptocurrencies alongside fiat currencies.
GBBC Giving stands alongside GBBC’s existing portfolio of initiatives: London-based Post Trade Distributed Ledger (PTDL) Group; Global Standards Mapping Initiative (GSMI); Open Learning Forum (OLF); Open-Source Ideas Series (OSI); and the Legal and Regulatory Group (LRG) and its International Journal of Blockchain Law (IJBL).
The GBBC’s continued strategic expansion will continue over the coming months as additional organizations and initiatives are merged into the GBBC with the purpose of growing the next trillion-dollar industry through a federated, distributed paradigm with different global initiatives focusing on education, advocacy, and partnership.
Follow GBBC Giving online for updates, and to support upcoming projects:
Twitter: @GBBCGiving
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/gbbc-giving
Website: https://gbbcouncil.org/initiatives/giving/
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