I’m running for the Intersect Board because I believe I have both a responsibility to what we started and an obligation to help ensure Intersect succeeds.
My history with Intersect goes back to before Intersect existed, when the work was still being developed through the original Cardano DCF workstream. I helped lead the original design, drafted the first charter, and became the first employee contracted onto the organization.
From there, much of my focus was building the technical foundations Intersect would need for the long term. I helped establish the Technical Steering Committee and Open Source Committee, drafted their complementary remits, built out the security function, established the bug bounty program, and helped create the structures needed for technical stewardship beyond simple administration.
But my focus was never just on committees. It was on making Intersect function like a proper Member-Based Organization.
With support from the community, I established Intersect’s incubation program and began building project support services around the needs of builders. We introduced legal support and other professional services that projects could access at no cost. I worked to get accelerator programs off the ground, coordinated developer advocacy efforts intended to improve onboarding and help projects navigate the ecosystem, and continually looked for ways Intersect could become a place where projects were supported rather than simply processed.
The Open Source Committee became the first committee to procure services, develop a formal strategy and white paper, secure funding against that strategy, and then deliver against it. Much of that work was accomplished by a two-person team, and I remain incredibly proud of what we proved could be accomplished with a clear mandate, disciplined execution, and very little bureaucracy.
I also made a deliberate effort to engage with our industry peers outside Cardano. I sought those relationships out because I believed then, and still believe now, that an MBO responsible for supporting one of the world’s largest decentralized ecosystems should not operate in isolation. We should be learning from other foundations, open source organizations, standards bodies, and ecosystems, while also showing them what Cardano is capable of.
We have a tendency to become isolationist when we simply do not need to be.
If elected to the Board, I will continue building those bridges.
Eventually, I stepped away because I believed much of this work needed to belong to the community rather than to me. Since then, I have continued supporting projects across Cardano and currently serve as Vice Chair of the Technical Steering Committee. Being outside the organization has also given me a different perspective on the frustrations members, builders, committees, and stakeholders experience.
That is a major reason I am running.
Intersect should not disappear. It should not become irrelevant. It should not exist simply to administer processes created for their own sake.
It should be a strong member-based organization that enables Cardano’s technical stewardship, supports the people doing the work, creates room for community initiatives to grow, and operates with enough focus that small teams can produce meaningful results.
I know the history behind Intersect because I helped write part of it. I know the internal challenges because I worked through them. I know the external frustrations because I experience them now. And most importantly, I know how to take an idea, build the structure around it, and get it delivered.
I also support Jack and believe leadership needs a Board that gives him the coverage, challenge, and support required to execute effectively. Some problems can be solved from the outside. Others require decisions from the top. If politics continues to outweigh execution, Intersect will struggle. The Board has an important role in changing that.
Cardano will always be closely associated with Charles Hoskinson’s legacy. In a much smaller way, Intersect is part of mine. I helped build it from its earliest days, and I care deeply about seeing the original promise fulfilled.
I’m not running to preserve Intersect as it is.
I’m running because I believe Intersect is worth fixing, worth focusing, and worth fighting for and because I know we can make it effective again.