Shearman & Sterling and Diversity in Blockchain hosted a two-part program featuring Blockmatics co-founder Dr. Solomon Lederer, who discussed the basics of blockchain smart contracts. Dr. Lederer has been teaching about blockchain and Ethereum for three years and recently co-authored Blockchain: A Practical Guide to Developing Business, Law, and Technology Solutions.

Afterward, Global Head of Financial Services and FinTech Donna Parisi moderated a panel on diversity in blockchain and what it takes to provide open and inclusive opportunities in the blockchain industry. The panelists were Shawnna Hoffman, IBM Global Cognitive Legal Co-Leader, Watson AI & Quantum Computing; Anna Ashurov, Vice President at Goldman Sachs; Susan Joseph, B3i North American Representative; and Joshua Ashley Klayman, Founder & CEO, Klayman LLC & Inflection Point Blockchain Advisors.

The event took place on Wednesday, December 19 at Shearman & Sterling’s New York office, and was open to lawyers, executives, hobbyists, coders and anyone interested in blockchain. The program has been approved for newly admitted and experienced lawyers, and attendees received approximately 1.0 New York Diversity, Inclusion & Elimination of Bias credits and 1.0 California Elimination of Bias credits.