January 12 2026
Attendees:
Name
Attendance
Role
Voting Seat (Y/N)
Jack Briggs
No
Interim Executive Director
Y
Nick Cook
Yes
Director - Operations (Interim)
Y
Sheldon Hunt
Yes
Community Member Seat
Y
Fred Tanaka
Yes
Community Member Seat
Y
Kristijan Kowalsky
Yes
Community Member Seat
Y
Jose Miguel de Gamboa
Yes
Community Member Seat
Y
Elaine Cardenas
No
OSC Chair
Y
Samuel Leathers
Yes
Product Chair
Y
Maureen Wepngogn
Yes
MCC Chair
Y
Megan Hess
Yes
CBC Chair
Y
Kevin Hammond
Yes
TSC Chair
Y
Tim Harrison
Yes
GMC Chair
Y
Nicolas Cerny
Yes
CCC Chair
Y
Christian Taylor
Yes
Head of OSO
N
Lorenzo Bruno
Yes
Secretary of CPC
N
Bosko Majdanac
Yes
Secretary of TSC
N
Abhik Nag
Yes
Secretary of MCC
N
Lloyd Duhon
Yes
Secretary of Budget Committee
N
Larisa Mcfarlane
Yes
Secretary of CCC
N
Terence McCutcheon
Yes
Secretary of OSC & GMC
N
Lara Bonasorte
Yes
Secretary of GMC
N
Additional Attendees:
Kyle Solomon - Vice Chair of Product Committee
Agenda:
Update from Committees
Open Action & Work in Progress
Vision 2030 & Intersect Plan (committee planning)
AOB & Meeting Close
Discussion/Actions
1. Committee Updates
Technical Steering Committee (TSC)
Shared that the hard fork workstream is progressing, with a release candidate expected soon and the Hard Fork Working Group meeting again this week. The late-2025 incident report is finalized and will be published this week, noting no double-spends, node diversity concerns, and the need for better upgrade coordination. The committee plans a KPI alignment workshop with Product, is discussing an operational micro-budget for 2026, and supported a proposal to name the next hard fork after Max Van Rossum.
Civics Committee
Reported the publication of the first Governance Health Report, available in PDF and as a standalone page for explorers and dashboards. The Governance Health Working Group will pause until new objectives are set. The CIP-149 optional DRep compensation grant deadline was extended to the end of January due to holiday delays and pending integrations from wallets and SDK teams.
Growth & Marketing Committee (GMC)
Drafting a joint strategic growth and marketing proposal with the Cardano Foundation, including KPIs, enterprise onboarding, and broader ecosystem coordination. The committee will consult with others to avoid overlap and is planning an agency showcase series to surface capabilities from marketing and media firms operating in the ecosystem.
Product Committee
Noted that the 2030 Strategy action is currently on-chain, with positive sentiment but lower turnout due to voter fatigue and holiday timing. Outreach will continue to boost participation. A KPI workshop in Africa is planned for February, and the committee may pursue a follow-up KPI amendment proposal depending on feedback and timing.
Budget Committee
Reported that the Net Change Limit (NCL) info action is live, submitted last Friday. A more detailed budget-process info action will follow. The committee is addressing an inactive elected member by contacting the runner-up candidate from the last election cycle to fill the seat.
Open Source Committee (OSC)
Recently elected a new chair and vice-chair due to availability constraints of the previous chair. The committee also shared updates regarding budget information through public communication channels.
2. ISC Open Actions & Work in Progress
A ClickUp board of ISC actions was reviewed. Key items:
Develop long-term ISC work plan (in progress)
Committee plans for 2026 to be included
Will be consolidated into ClickUp for visibility and progress tracking
Chair & Vice-Chair Election Policy
Draft reviewed, feedback from last meeting being incorporated
Draft will be re-presented after updates
Two-Year Committee Terms Proposal
Early draft being developed to determine how April elections should be handled
Options include extending some terms to align
Committee Plans for 2026
Chairs/secretaries to share 2026 objectives to ISC secretary
Goal: single board showing all committee and ISC work for 2026Critical Integrations Budget
Board-level follow-up pending
Update expected next week from Jack
3. Executive Director Appointment – Transparency & Status
Confirmed that the Executive Director selection process has concluded internally, but the external announcement has not yet been published. ISC members raised concerns that, because ISC participated directly in the selection panel, the committee should have been informed sooner. Leadership acknowledged the point and committed to provide clarity on announcement timing within 24 hours. The intent is to improve transparency and maintain trust during transitions of core governance roles.
4. 2030 Vision, 2026 Planning & Committee Objective Alignment
Lorenzo explained how these three layers connect:
Intersect’s 2026 organizational goals
Developed during AMM + internal planning
Now published
2030 Vision (on-chain)
Sets long-term directional pillars
Committees expected to refine vision + KPIs over time
Committee 2026 plans/objectives
Will align to 2030 Vision if approved
Secretaries will facilitate planning process for each committee
Goal: Shared visibility + reduced fragmentation via ClickUp and the Member Area.
5. Participation & Member Engagement Discussion
Members discussed declines in voter turnout and uneven committee participation, pointing to complexity, holidays, and voter fatigue. Committees continue to grow in size, but onboarding and activation remain uneven. Proposed improvements include secretary training, clearer contributor pathways, and better visibility of open tasks and working groups.
8. Off-Chain Governance Tools – Trust & Participation
Concerns were raised about trust and participation in off-chain voting. Staff clarified that off-chain tools are used for alignment and drafts, while on-chain remains the final approval layer. Participants agreed on the need for education, trust-building, and future technical enhancements.
Next Steps / Actions
No new formal actions were assigned during this meeting.
Last updated