Alexis Miller - WAGMI Woman of the Week

Alexis Miller - Donor Engagement and Strategic Partnerships Lead at Endaoment

Endaoment is the first 501c3 community foundation built on the Ethereum blockchain that encourages and manages the giving of digital assets. Endaoment was created to solve two problems - 1) allowing a tax-compliant and easy way for donors to give crypto or NFTs and 2) allowing nonprofits to receive donations that originated in crypto, delivered as dollars, at no cost to the nonprofit. Endaoment accepts over 1,000 tokens in-app and many more in an over-the-counter fashion. Since inception, we’ve done $49 million through our on-chain donor-advised funds, community funds, and direct donations.

Q. What was the first coin or NFT you bought?

As someone who has been in the web3 world for a little over six months, I entered with a bit of hesitation about buying NFTs. The first NFT I purchased, through Computer Cowgirls, served as a fundraiser to where 100% of proceeds supported reproductive rights nonprofits. They opened up a community fund at Endaoment to raise these donations and knew this would be the perfect first NFT purchase.

Q. Best piece of investing advice someone gave you OR What is a piece of advice you would like to give to others that are just starting out?

While not related to investments per say, the best piece of advice I’ve received recently is to just go for it. I had hesitations starting out in the web3 space and often felt what many women unfortunately feel - imposter syndrome. Early on at Endaoment, I received advice to trust my instincts and go full force learning about different protocols and projects especially those with mission alignment to our work. Sometimes we have to get out of our heads, trust ourselves, and go for it!

Q. What inspired you to get a job in Web3?

I previously worked in the “traditional” nonprofit space and was looking for an opportunity to be at a mission-driven organization that also embraced innovation, risk and technology. I constantly came up against the same issues in the nonprofit world, mainly the hierarchy, lack of transparency, and bureaucracies that existed. I looked for opportunities where I could use my skillset while also learning something entirely new. I had friends in the crypto space and came across Endaoment…and I guess the rest is history! Endaoment, and the web3 space in general, embraces the ideals and values that I previously found to be roadblocks. I’m excited to be in an environment that is mission-aligned both personally and professionally.

Q. Any tips for others that are looking to get a job in Web3?

While I had an unconventional path into web3, my advice would be network, network, network! My role at Endaoment came from cold outreach and I always encourage others, no matter what industry, to just reach out, learn from others and be curious. I’ve found people in this space incredibly thoughtful and generous with their time and sharing of resources.

Q. Every day there are developments in the space, what is one thing that you are very excited about as you look towards the future?

Part of my role is onboarding nonprofits to receive crypto-originated donations through Endaoment. It is exciting to be that first point of contact in web3 and being able to debunk some of the myths associated with the space. I’m motivated by seeing traditional nonprofits get involved in web3, beyond just working with us. We’ve facilitated NFT and nonprofit collaborations and I can’t wait to see what the future holds with more mainstream adoption.

Q. Anything else happening with your own project that our community should know about?

If anyone is looking to incorporate a charitable component within their community or project, please reach out! We are here to help strategize and we make it incredibly easy to get crypto-originated donations, delivered as dollars, to any nonprofit in the United States. We just launched v2 of our platform which now features portfolio allocations for donor-advised funds and ETH addresses for all nonprofits onboarded on our site. We hope you join our “conscious crypto” community!