# January 12 2026 ## Attendees: | Name | Attendance | Role | Voting Seat (Y/N) | | ---------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------- | | [Simo Simovic](mailto:simo.simovic@intersectmbo.org) | Yes | Secretary | 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](https://gov-health.intersectmbo.org/) 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. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://steeringcommittee.docs.intersectmbo.org/committee-meeting-notes/2026-meeting-notes/january-12-2026.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.