Attorney Hailey Lennon and 25 Women in Crypto Are Launching This Networking Group

Crypto Connect, a professional network for people in the crypto industry, is launching in 12 cities across the United States, with plans to go international in the future.

The network was founded by Anderson Kill attorney Hailey Lennon, who said she has felt “personal frustration” with networking opportunities over the last year.

“There’s already incredible meetups in different locations, so our goal isn’t to take that over,” Lennon told CoinDesk in an interview. “Rather, it’s to serve as a standing resource and know about the meetups and events that are already happening in each city and be a centralized resource for people to access that information.”

Unmute

The network will also host its own events and meetups, and it plans to hold a conference next year. Long term, the goal is to work with recruiters and host annual conferences across the world.

Lennon is well-connected in the crypto industry. As a former lawyer at crypto exchanges Coinbase and bitFlyer, she worked closely with U.S. regulators while also frequently speaking at crypto-related events.

Joining her is a board of 26 similarly accomplished industry professionals, including Lauren Day from Binance.US, the U.S. affiliate of crypto exchange Binance; Teana Baker-Taylor of the Chamber of Digital Commerce; Aubrey Strobel of shopping rewards app Lolli; YouTuber Naomi Brockwell and more.

“For me, it was individuals who had already shown themselves to be connection makers,” Lennon said. “There are so many amazing people in the space and being a resource to the industry really means being able to connect everyone to each other.”

Even though the network is led by women, it is not exclusive to women in the field.

“For me, men and women have been such amazing resources in my professional development that I feel that having an organization that excludes men would not be beneficial to the ecosystem,” Lennon said.

Crypto Connect will start to host events in October. Cities so far include Austin, Texas, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Tenn., New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

Here’s the full founding team, as supplied by the group:

President:

Hailey Lennon, Partner @ Anderson Kill

Chapter Leads, who also sit on the Board, include:

Austin - Kaily Buemi, Executive Assistant @ Unchained Capital
Chicago - Lexy Prodromos, Product Manager, Blockchain and Digital Currency @ Discover
Dallas - Natalie Smolenski, Chair of the Board @ Texas Blockchain Council
DC - Michelle Bond, CEO @ ADAM
Denver - Saira Rahman, VP Finance @ HMBradley / Co-host, GJWHF
Los Angeles - Wendy O, Founder & Host @ The O Show
Miami - Jalak Jobanputra, Founder & Managing Partner @ Future Perfect Ventures
Nashville - Evie Phillips, Co-Founder & CMO @ NFTglee
New York - Aubrey Strobel, CMO @ Lolli
San Diego - Valeria Bystrowicz, Attorney @ Perkins Coie
San Francisco - Lauren Day, Compliance @ Binance.US
Seattle - Arry Yu, Managing Director @ Yellow Umbrella Ventures & Chair @ WTIA Cascadia Blockchain Council

Other U.S. Board Members include:

Charlene Fadirepo, Founder & CEO @ Guidefi
Cleve Mesidor, Advisor @ The Blockchain Association
Gina DeFelice, Director of Sales @ The Block
Karyl Fowler, CEO and Co-Founder at Transmute
Kelley Weaver, CEO @ Melrose PR
Lea Thompson, Founder & Producer @ Girl Gone Crypto
Leigh Cuen, Journalist & Co-founder @ Association for Cryptocurrency Journalists and Researchers
Michelle O’Connor, VP Marketing @ Taxbit
Naomi Brockwell, Creator @ NBTV.media
Tonya M. Evans, Professor @ Penn State Dickinson Law School,

Crypto Connect also has International Board Members that will help support global expansion of the organization:

Layah Heilpern, Author & Host @ The Layah Heilpern Show
Teana Baker-Taylor, Chief Policy Officer @ Chamber of Digital Commerce

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.