July 28, 2025 ISC Meeting

Agenda:

  • Committees Update

  • ISC Actions/Update from last week

  • Budget Committee Survey (Intersect Role)

  • Committee Stipend

  • AOB & Meeting Close

Attendees:

Name

Attendance

Role

Voting Seat (Y/N)

Yes

Secretary

N

Jack Briggs

Yes

Interim Executive Director

Y

Nick Cook

No

Director - Operations (Interim)

Y

YUTA

Yes

Community Member Seat

Y

Phil Lewis

Yes

Community Member Seat

Y

Sheldon Hunt

Yes

Community Member Seat

Y

Fred Tanaka

Yes

Community Member Seat

Y

Pedro Lucas

Yes

OSC Chair

Y

Samuel Leathers

Yes

Product Chair

Y

Darlington Welsh

Yes

MCC Chair

Y

Kristijan Kowalsky

Yes

CBC Chair

Y

Kevin Hammond

Yes

TSC Chair

Y

Wes Parkison

No

GMC Chair

Y

Nicolas Cerny

Yes

Interim CCC Chair

Y

Christian Taylor

Yes

Head of OSO

N

Lorenzo Bruno

Yes

Head of Product

N

Matt Davis

No

Head of Tech Operation

N

Tim Richmond

No

Head of Comms

N

Duncan Soutar

Yes

Secretary of TSC

N

Lloyd Duhon

Yes

Secretary of Budget Committee

N

Larisa Mcfarlane

No

Secretary of CCC

N

Terence McCutcheon

No

Secretary of OSC

N

Additional Attendees:

Kyle Solomon - Vice-chair of Product Committee

Elaine Cardenas - Vice-chair of OSC

Thiago Nunes - Observer

Adam Rusch - Board member

Discussion/Action:

1. Committee Updates

Chairs provided updates from their respective committees:

  • Budget Committee announced plans for multiple events during Rare Evo to collect feedback and improve the next budget cycle. High participation was encouraged to ensure community engagement and better process design.

  • Open Source Committee (OSC) is refining roles and responsibilities among elected members and aligning them with budget workstreams. Plans were shared to introduce a “contributor status” for non-elected participants who are actively involved, and to explore more open, community-facing calls.

  • Membership & Community Committee (MCC) is working on a roadmap and remit revisions, but had no major updates to share this week.

  • Civics Committee has launched two new working groups: one on governance health and another on governance education. These groups will be open and less bureaucratic, aiming to build momentum from within the committee.

  • Product Committee is consolidating inputs from past workshops into a streamlined vision and strategy document. The committee is also seeking greater participation from underrepresented regions, with planned outreach in Africa and further community engagement during upcoming events in Asia.

  • Sheldon Hunt shared an overview of major blockchain events taking place across Asia later this year. These include WebX Japan, Korea Blockchain Week, Token 2049 in Singapore, and Tech for Impact Summit in Japan. These events are seen as key touchpoints for community engagement and representation, particularly in regions with active Cardano communities. Sheldon emphasized the opportunity for Intersect and committee members to have “boots on the ground” and build stronger regional ties.

2. Action Item Updates

  • Decision-Making Framework: A BPMN diagram is being developed to illustrate the proposal and decision workflow within Intersect. Discussions are ongoing within the Governance Working Group, with the aim to present a finalized version to ISC for review in the coming weeks.

  • Unfunded Committee Support Plan: To be addressed in August; no progress was reported yet.

  • Intersect Identity: This topic, raised in prior meetings, is being integrated into the upcoming Rare Evo agenda and the survey presented in this meeting.

  • Board Participation: The ISC was informed that board members are optionally invited to attend ISC calls. The presence of a board representative at this meeting was noted.

3. Budget Committee Survey Presentation

A detailed walkthrough of the draft Intersect Member Survey was presented. The survey is intended to gather structured feedback from Intersect members on budgeting priorities, Intersect’s role, and governance engagement. It includes:

  • Quantitative Questions: Covering funding priorities, Intersect’s impact, treasury management, and budgeting timeline preferences.

  • Qualitative Questions: Seeking open-ended feedback on budgeting, process improvements, and Intersect’s role in governance.

  • Foundational Questions (added after ISC feedback): Aimed at capturing members' understanding of budgeting, treasury draws, and definitions of executive function.

Concerns were raised about the clarity of terms like "executive function" and suggestions were made to either clarify or remove them to avoid confusion. There was general agreement on the need to balance depth with accessibility to ensure sufficient response rates.

The survey will be finalized by Wednesday, 30 July, ahead of Rare Evo, and all ISC members were encouraged to review and comment before then.

4. Member Area Update

An update was shared regarding the Intersect Member Area:

  • NFTs will be issued to Intersect members, including a special edition for Rare Evo attendees.

  • Beta versions of the Member Area are now available in Spanish and Japanese, with special thanks to contributors who assisted with translations.

  • A full presentation on these updates is scheduled for the upcoming Intersect Town Hall on Thursday.

5. Deferred Topics

An agenda item on the committee stipend was deferred to the next ISC meeting due to time constraints.


Next Steps & Actions

  • ISC members to review and provide feedback on the Budget committee survey by Wednesday, 30 July.

  • Governance WG to revisit committee stipend design based on historical documents and past advisory recommendations.

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