# October 06, ISC Meeting

## Agenda:

* Committees Update
* ISC Actions/Update from last week
* ED hiring panel nomination
* AOB & Meeting Close

## Attendees: 

<table data-header-hidden><thead><tr><th width="138.76171875"></th><th width="126.1015625"></th><th width="233.24609375"></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Attendance</td><td>Role</td><td>Voting Seat (Y/N)</td></tr><tr><td><a href="mailto:simo.simovic@intersectmbo.org">Simo Simovic</a></td><td>No</td><td>Secretary</td><td>N</td></tr><tr><td>Jack Briggs</td><td>Yes</td><td>Interim Executive Director</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Nick Cook</td><td>No</td><td>Director - Operations (Interim)</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>YUTA </td><td>Yes</td><td>Community Member Seat</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Phil Lewis</td><td>Yes</td><td>Community Member Seat</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Sheldon Hunt</td><td>Yes</td><td>Community Member Seat</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Fred Tanaka</td><td>Yes</td><td>Community Member Seat</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Elaine Cardenas</td><td>Yes</td><td>OSC Chair</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Samuel Leathers</td><td>No</td><td>Product Chair</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Darlington Welsh</td><td>Yes</td><td>MCC Chair</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Kristijan Kowalsky</td><td>No</td><td>CBC Chair </td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Kevin Hammond</td><td>No</td><td>TSC Chair</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Wes Parkison</td><td>No</td><td>GMC Chair</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Nicolas Cerny</td><td>No</td><td>CCC Chair</td><td>Y</td></tr><tr><td>Christian Taylor</td><td>No</td><td>Head of OSO</td><td>N</td></tr><tr><td>Lorenzo Bruno</td><td>Yes</td><td>Head of Product</td><td>N</td></tr><tr><td>Matt Davis</td><td>No</td><td>Head of Tech Operation</td><td>N</td></tr><tr><td>Tim Richmond</td><td>No</td><td>Head of Comms</td><td>N</td></tr><tr><td>Lloyd Duhon</td><td>Yes</td><td>Secretary of Budget Committee</td><td>N</td></tr><tr><td>Larisa Mcfarlane</td><td>Yes</td><td>Secretary of CCC</td><td>N</td></tr><tr><td>Terence McCutcheon</td><td>Yes</td><td>Secretary of OSC</td><td>N</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Additional Attendees:

Adam Rusch - Member of the Board

Megan Hess - Vice Chair for Budget Committee

Thiago Nunes - Observer

Markus Gufler - TSC Elected Member

## Discussion/Actions

### 1. Committee Updates

Technical Steering Committee (TSC)\
The TSC discussed re-establishing the hard fork working group, parameter topics such as slot battles and execution cost changes, and security council matters including a bug bounty proposal. The committee highlighted its lack of direct budget and raised the issue of how to cover governance action deposits. Clarification was provided that deposits for committee-backed governance actions can be supported through existing processes with board approval.

Product Committee\
Workshops continue across Asia as part of the Cardano 2030 strategy process. Sessions in Singapore and Osaka refined the draft vision, with further workshops scheduled in Japan. Engagement levels have been strong, with participants returning for deeper discussions.

Community Member Update\
Community participants acknowledged recent progress, highlighting successful workshops and growing positivity across Asia, including well-attended events and engagement with the broader ecosystem.

Open Source Committee (OSC)\
Q4 events have been selected for impact and networking value. The committee is trialing a new payment platform to streamline the Maintainer Retainer Program and other program payments, aiming to address challenges with recurring contributor compensation. Interviews for MRP participants will begin soon.

Budget Committee\
Questions for DReps regarding the 2026 budget process have been translated into Japanese and are being shared for feedback. The committee is awaiting formal board approval to move forward but is continuing with data collection in the meantime.

Membership & Community Committee (MCC)\
Work continues on refining member benefits. A working group is finalizing proposals for changes and updates, with an update expected in the coming weeks.

Civics Committee\
The CIP-149 grant program has been launched, offering up to 100,000 ADA in total to support wallet providers and governance tools integrating features for donating staking rewards to DReps.

### 2. ISC Actions & Ongoing Items

* The AMM survey was published last week and will remain open for six weeks, with results to be presented at the AMM in November.
* The Committee Reward Policy is under review by a US legal team. If no major changes are required, it will be implemented; otherwise, revisions will be shared with ISC.
* ISC members were reminded to review and provide feedback on the decision-making process documentation and BPMN diagram shared previously.

### 3. Executive Director Hiring Panel

The process for selecting the next Executive Director was outlined.

* Nominations: Both self-nominations and external nominations are open for three weeks.
* Sentiment Gathering: Members and DReps will be able to rank candidates, producing two parallel lists.
* Selection Panel: Will include two ISC representatives, two DReps, two staff members, and board participation. The panel will review materials, conduct interviews, and forward the top three candidates to the board.\ <br>
* Board Role: The board retains fiduciary responsibility and final decision-making authority. If the candidate pool is unsatisfactory, the process may be extended or restarted.\
  ISC members were invited to self-nominate for panel participation, secretary will follow up via Discord, to make sure we have ISC participant selected.&#x20;

### 4. Committee Elections

Committee elections are open, but participation remains low. At the time of the meeting, only seven candidates had applied across three committees, leaving several with no applicants, including ISC (which has two open seats). Members were encouraged to promote applications actively within their networks. Flexibility was noted in extending application deadlines if needed, though the preference remains to conclude ahead of the holiday season.

### 5. Open Discussion

* Concerns were raised about the visibility of applications and the need for clearer communications to encourage candidates.
* Members discussed the importance of defining committee roles and remit more clearly to attract quality applicants and ensure committees have real influence rather than symbolic roles.
* Suggestions were made to standardize committee charters while preserving flexibility for different committee functions.
* Broader reflections acknowledged the challenges of organizational transition but emphasized the significant impact committees can already have, citing protocol change recommendations as an example.

***

### 6. Next Steps & Actions

ISC Members: Review decision-making documentation; Nominate 5 ISC representatives for ED panel.\ <br>


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