Hey there Last Mile DeFi frens, this conversation is with Camila Rioja the Latin American Lead at Celo. In her role, Camila or “Mila” as some know her as, leads the ecosystem development of Celo in the region. This conversation was a fascinating exploration into Mila’s journey, her thesis on why Latin America has much to gain from crypto, and how Celo founders are developing solutions to bring prosperity to LatAm.

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Throughout this conversation we explore her journey into the crypto ecosystem coming from a legal background, which set an insatiable curiosity to explore the deep questions regarding how society is structured and how we could develop solutions at the intersection of law and technology to bring better futures for all. We explore how and why Mila decided to leave her role as Partner at a law firm and venture towards the Celo ecosystem, where she found a community of builders who were naturally drawn towards unlocking prosperity for disenfranchised communities in the global south.

Mila walks us through the unique value-add that Celo is bringing to the table when it comes to onboarding the masses, their approach to a mobile-first development, as well as the environmental regeneration that is embedded within Celo’s operations.

Mila shared her thesis on the Latin American region, where she sees a high willingness to adopt technological innovation and what she describes a “hacker” mindset that is born from resilience contrasted against our historical backdrop. Coupled with our openness and curiosity to explore other forms of seeing our lives, she sees Latin America as a fertile ground to build better systems that are powered by crypto and enable more equitable societies.

In this conversation, we also highlight some of the builders within the Celo community and how Mila approaches building an ecosystem throughout the Latin American region. Lastly, we also explore the plethora of opportunities for incoming builders that want to engage with the Celo ecosystem. For those interested in understanding Celo’s approach to the Latin American region, this podcast holds a wealth of knowledge.

Lastly, thank you so much for your feedback on v1 of the report I recently published. You can read v1 of the full report here:

This research and podcast is produced with the support of:

Ethereum Foundation Fellowship: The Fellowship program is a forum for leaders who are driven by leveraging Ethereum as a public good to help billions of people coordinate and thrive. The Fellowship program aims to support individuals who are passionate about identifying barriers to mass-adoption and breaking down the barriers for underrepresented communities to access crypto.

Celo Foundation: Celo is the blockchain built for the real world. Carbon-negative, mobile-first and EVM-compatible, Celo is leading a thriving new digital economy for all. Build together and prosper.