Week 6 – Mariana de la Roche Wills of BlackVogel
As Web3 continues to redefine the architecture of the internet, finance, and governance, it brings with it the rare opportunity to rebuild systems from the ground up. But if we are to build better, fairer, more inclusive systems, we must actively spotlight, and support, women in leadership roles.
Historically underrepresented in both tech and finance, women leaders bring diverse perspectives, collaborative approaches, and often values-driven leadership that prioritizes long-term sustainability over short-term gain. In Web3, where decentralized decision-making, community building, and innovation are core tenets, this diversity of style is very welcome if not essential.
Leadership isn’t monolithic. While traditional models have often emphasized hierarchy, competition, and control, many women leaders bring alternative approaches: participatory, empathetic, consensus-driven, or mentorship-focused. These styles align naturally with the ethos of decentralization and trustless systems, offering a counterbalance to purely technocratic or profit-led strategies.
By highlighting women in Web3 leadership, founders, developers, policymakers, and community builders, we not only correct representation gaps but also signal to the next generation that there is no single path to power. Visibility shapes possibility. And in a space as fast-moving and foundational as Web3, ensuring a plurality of voices isn’t just ethical, it’s strategic.
For the next 12 Mondays we are going to bring you some of the most inspiring women in Web3 and explore how and why they think as they do.
Week 6 – Mariana de la Roche Wills: Leading With Empathy in Web3
Mariana de la Roche Wills, founder of BlackVogel, has helped grow her company into a global team. For her, leadership in Web3 demands resilience, clarity of vision, and emotional intelligence.
“As a woman, I’ve learned the importance of leading with empathy and consistency, especially in spaces where our presence is still underrepresented,” she says. Inclusive leadership, in her view, is not just an ethical stance but a strategic advantage.
Web3 is often described as a meritocracy, but leadership remains male-dominated. Decentralisation, she argues, can create new opportunities but only if the industry is intentional about inclusion.
“Without proactive efforts, decentralised systems risk replicating the same biases and hierarchies as Web2 and legacy systems,” she says. Shifts are happening, but they require challenging assumptions and reimagining leadership structures so that women are not just participants, but shapers of the narrative.
Her own experience underscores the point. “I’ve been undermined, talked over, and second-guessed not only as a woman but as a young migrant woman,” she says. Her response is deliberate: staying anchored in facts, amplifying her voice without aggression, and redirecting conversations when bias appears. She also stresses the importance of allies and of refusing to remain silent. “We need to speak out,” she says.
Trust, she believes, is paradoxical in a trustless ecosystem. Yet she finds that openness and transparency resonate powerfully. Creating safe, inclusive spaces where people feel heard, she says, fosters stronger collaborations than any technical safeguard. “In my experience, people respond to integrity, authenticity, and openness.”
De la Roche Wills’s career has spanned grassroots communities and formal regulatory spaces. She sees herself as a translator between the two, bringing community insights into institutional forums and institutional insights back to communities. Women, she believes, are naturally positioned to bridge these divides.
“We understand complexity, context, and community. With expertise and empathy, we can shape frameworks that are grounded, human-centred, and forward-thinking.”
Her advice to women entering technical fields such as blockchain and cybersecurity is pragmatic. First, know you belong. Second, don’t wait until you are perfect before contributing. Third, seek mentors and communities, but also give back. “There is no such thing as a free lunch. Contribute, engage, and learn.”
As artificial intelligence evolves alongside blockchain, she argues that women’s perspectives are critical to ethical frameworks. Without them, issues of bias, safety, and consent will remain under-addressed. “We represent at least half of the population. If we are not involved in designing and implementing new technologies, then for whom are we building them?”
Support systems made a difference to her own career, mentors who opened doors, peers who lifted each other up. She wants to see more structured fellowships, peer-learning circles, and funding opportunities for underrepresented voices. Visibility, too, matters: “The next generation needs role models so they can see what’s possible.”
Asked what advice she would give a young woman aiming to be a leader in Web3, de la Roche Wills is direct: be audacious and authentic, build and care for your network, and stay true to your values. Leadership, she says, is not only about what is built but how it is built.
