Hello & Welcome.

I'm Crystal. I'm an advocate, artist, and Tantric Yogi exploring the intersections of Humanity, Technology & the Mystical. I'm a founding member of JournoDAO, and a 500 RYT yoga instructor. Formerly the Director of Community at Consensys and Community Manager at Unlock Protocol.

My work focuses on leveraging decentralization for developers, artists, writers, journalists, activists and academics. I help them create autonomous, regenerative and sustainable ecosystems so they can thrive in our patriarchal economy. I'm cstreet.eth & desertrat on the interwebs.

I publish content here on my site, at LinkedIn (on occasion) & on Farcaster @cstreet. I do still have a Twitter profile and scan it regularly for web3 connections, trends and information. But please connect with me at LI or Farcaster, where I'm active daily.

Recent Talks & Teachings

Hyperlink Istanbul 2023 | How Web3 Developers are Enabling Public Goods Use Csaes with Kevin Owocki

Transformative Impact Summit, NY 2023 | Restoring Our Humanity Through Community

Regeneration Through web3 Community Building

I had the immense honor to speak at the Transformative Impact Summit this past weekend. To be in a room filled with change makers from around the globe at some of the most amazing organizations in web2 and web3 was a dream and I am filled with gratitude for those who supported my ability to attend this talk and for those who invited me to speak.

Recent Essays & NFTs

Fierce Yogis & Transmuting Pain

Yogis are a rare and misunderstood breed. We are kind. We are compassionate. We intuitively perceive that which most people overlook

Fierce Yogis & Transmuting Pain

Defining Community

What is community? As the shift from traditional to emergent systems permeates everything we knew and held dear, many of the truths we thought were ca…

Defining Community

The Space Between Our Stories

The space in-between the stories-- where silence and stillness allow us to feel the situation and leave space for the next path to surface. Our stori…

The Space Between Our Stories

Self Care Matters.

Mission-driven community builders are here to make change at scale by supporting humans who gather to further a collective mission. We can not do that if we, ourselves are broken.

Vulnerability & Trust.

How do you lead through chaos?

A Resilient Family for a Regenerative Future

Rarely in this life are we able to do professional work that has direct impact on our communities, on the core technical infrastructure of the internet and also on the direction of our future financial instruments. Even more rare…to do such powerful work with a group of humans who are essentially family.

Leadership for Chaos | A Clash of Web Civilizations

Chaos. We are all dealing with some level of perpetual and unpredictable chaos— in our societal, personal and professional lives. For those of us working in emerging technological fields that are pushing the regulatory and monetary boundaries on policies that society has lived by for centuries, the chaos has multiple layers we can not predict or strategize our ways out of.

A Clash of Web Civilizations — CStreet

Redefining Leadership for Our Regenerative Future

We face a perfect storm of chaos, as a collective, that is in our face every single day. One need only open their news app and bear witness to a new reality of perpetual weather disasters as Mother Nature rebels against the pain we’ve inflicted upon the planet we call home.

The Center Will Not Hold

JournoDAO attended the ONA23 conference last week to talk about two core missions of our DAO; 1) how decentralization and blockchain can help protect the industry from the waves of AI disinformation filling our timelines and 2) how do we restore journalism at the local level using decentralized technology stacks to protect our communities from the perilous impacts of news deserts. After having just spent the summer in Paris, post ETHCC and ETHGlobal Paris, and being accustomed to ETH conferences, filled with Bufficorns, ping pong tables and puppy lounges, the difference was dramatic. And hilarious.

Building In Community

Seeing the brilliance of my colleagues and our work together manifest in beautiful containers where the brightest minds of web3 could come together and build was beyond gratifying.

Navigating Chaos with Conscious Leadership

Let’s face it. Shit’s gettin’ real-- fast.

Restoring Our Humanity Through Community

Community surrounds us at all times. But how often do we, in the technical world, turn to our IRL communities and find the humanity we need? I ask this question because prior to returning to school and finding my own belonging in a contemplative academic/spiritual community that gathers during the s…

The Humanity in Our DAOs

The evolution of DAOs and their ability to survive the turmoil of our volatile eco system seems to rely on one pinnacle element that many founders fail to anticipate when building a community through decentralization. Our collective humanity. When we strip away the complexities of the technological…

JournoDAOCrystal Street

CStreet Studios | Foundation

My favorite and most resonant images from almost 30 years of documentary work live in this collection. All of the proceeds from these collections allow me to dedicate my time to building JournoDAO, advising ImpactDAOs and studying Tantric Yoga and Buddhism so I can spread mindfulness to our communit…

Foundation

Unraveling | Foundation

This collection is called Unraveling, and all sales will go to support my work documenting dissent and chosen DAOs supporting social justice issues through splits. I created this collection in response to the recent reversal of Roe v Wade and the loss of my human rights. I can not sit by and do noth…

Foundation

Recent Media Appearances

Ab Initio - A Bankless DAO Legal Guild Podcast - Episode 05 - Crystal Street

In this episode of the Ab Initio Bankless Legal Guild Podcast I have the pleasure of speaking with Crystal, a founding member of JournoDAO, a community advisor for ImpactDAOs, and an academic studying Tantra Yoga and Tibetan Buddhism. She focuses on leveraging decentralization for artists, writers,…

PodBeanPodBean Development

🌿All for Climate DAO Founders on Building Decentralized Climate Movement #14 - All About Impact DAOs

All for Climate DAO’s vision is to be the Greenpeace of the 21st century. Their goal is to build a sustainable decentralized climate movement using web3 tools and ethos. The DAO empowers climate activists with shared infrastructure, connections, a...

Buzzsprout

My Artist's CV

For those new to my art, here’s my artist’s CV. In addition to my traditional art career as a photojournalist and documentarian of over 25 years, I began minting my artwork to the blockchain in early 2021 and have been featured in multiple IRL NFT galleries in Chicago and LA in curated women-only photographer’s exhibits. I have a handful of repeat collectors who are amazing humans that I’m so incredibly grateful to have connected on this wild journey into emerging technology!

Awards, Grants & Fellowships

• First in the nation at the College Photographers of the Year competition for still/audio production
• First in the North Carolina Press Photographers Assoc. professional category for still/audio production
• Honorable mention as assistant editor on group multimedia project for CPOY
• Best of Photography Honorable Mention for Best Multimedia package, as assistant editor
• Hearst Competition, 9th in the nation for photo essay on crime and poverty
• Class of 1938 Fellow for Tibetan Exile Documentary Project
• SURF Fellow for Tibetan Exile Documentary Project
• Multiple journalism grants for international projects
• Marvin Nieman Scholar at Naropa University 2022-23

Exhibits & Collections

• 2001 Dare County Arts Council Solo Exhibit
• 2002 Commission for Private Collector in Corolla, N.C.
• 2007 Curator & Exhibitor in Photojournalism Collection at UNC
• 2008 Fine Art Commission for UNC Summer School
• 2021 Balance NFT Exhibit at ImNotArt Gallery in Chicago, IL, NFT sold for 1 ETH at auction.
• 2022 A Perfect Day NFT Exhibit at Super Chief Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Partial Client List 2003-2017

• Whole Foods Market
• Nissan North America
• Oregon Public Broadcasting
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• News & Observer
• Outer Banks Press
• Special Olympics
• Junior Achievement/World Bank
• Pizza Hut/ Martin Agency
• And many more…

Please support my work by collecting any NFTs linked in these essays.