Grants Council Nomination Thread [CLOSED]

[SixtyKeys]

Summary

This forum post aims to facilitate the nomination of the Push Grants Council as per PGIP: 08 - Push Grants Program v3 (PGPv3). This proposal established a standard process for electing the Grants Council, who are supposed to serve for one Push season as the inaugural iteration of PGPv3.

The nomination process described in this post will allow potential candidates of the Grants Council to nominate themselves.

Rationale

What is the Grants Council?

The Grants Council is a group of 3 people who are tasked with running Push Grants Program v3. The council will comprise three individuals, with one seat occupied by a Push team member in an observer role. One position will be designated as the Push Grants Lead Role responsible for coordination, while the two other council members will assume the Evaluator Role, overseeing the grant application evaluation process and ceremonies.

Responsibilities of the Grants Council

• Design a grants process that is frictionless, and operationally efficient to ensure that grantees have a world-class experience in terms of application process, speed, responsiveness, and communication. The grant process should be adaptable, easy to use, and able to facilitate data migration for efficient project management. This process will be transparently shared on the Push Forum.
• Conduct open ceremonies on existing Push channels where the entire community is welcome to participate and contribute insights on projects and applications.
• Generate marketing content to communicate updates and opportunities to builders. Attracting more builders to utilize the Push Protocol is a key responsibility of the council.
• Encourage and require participation in discussions on the Push Forum as an essential step in the grants process. Document the analysis and discussions related to grant applications using the chosen collaboration tool.
• Establish a transparent mechanism within the Push Forum for raising claims and lodging appeals against council decisions.
• Each member of the Grants Council should transparently share Conflict of Interest disclosure with the community on the Push Governance forum.

Terms

The Grants Council is scheduled to operate for one Push season (3 months), initially planned for Q1 2024 (subject to the program’s ability to commence in Q1 2024). One month before the season concludes, the Grants Lead must submit a renewal request to the DAO, detailing the grant budget needed for the upcoming season along with the corresponding operational budget.

Nomination Process for Grants Council members

Only two positions in the Grants Council will be open for the community Push Grants Lead and Push Grants Evaluator.

Start & End Date
Nominations start with this forum post. The deadline for nominations will be on Monday, 12th February 2024, @ 23:59 UTC.

Who is eligible?
All community members (internal and external) are welcome to come forward to express their interest in becoming a member of the Grants Council.

What do I need to do?
If you are interested in joining the Grants Council, please leave a reply below this post announcing your nomination.

All nominations should follow the template below:

Name:
Forum Username:
Discord handle:
Twitter:

Background (3 or 4 sentences for each question):
What is your involvement with Push Protocol?

What experience do you have that is relevant to the Grants Council?

What do you think a good community-owned Grants program looks like?

What are your goals for this program?

Proof-of-human

Nominees are expected to attend the weekly governance call following this post, to introduce themselves and explain why they should be part of the Grants Council. Otherwise, the nomination is not valid.

Election of Grants Council (next steps)

Once all nominations for the Grants Council have been submitted, we will publish a forum post highlighting the confirmed candidates and provide a summary of the nominations submitted by those individuals. Afterwards, the election will go live and a Snapshot vote will be created.

Token holders can then vote via a weighted choice to elect two members of the Grants Council. The nominee with the most votes will automatically get the Push Grants Lead role, and the runner-up will become a Push Grants Evaluator.

If there are any questions on the process or regarding this post, please comment below or contact, @sixtykeys (Forum / Discord / Telegram).

[fabiancripto]

Wow I love this, I think it is of utmost importance to have these roles, I would love for it to be at least 5 people so there are more points of view and from different positions so as not to focus everything on just 3 people.

Glad to see who is applying for this, I feel it is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to participate in Push Grants Council.

[christiandike]

Name: Christian Dike
Forum Username: @christiandike
Discord Handle: @christiandike
Twitter: christiandike_

Background

• What is your involvement with Push Protocol?

I have been an active community member of Push DAO, contributing meaningfully to governance discussions on the forum by providing well-researched views, solutions and ideas, consistently attending Push ceremonies, and being invested in the progress of the DAO. Despite joining only recently (December 2023), I’ve managed to maintain a relatively strong/regular presence in the DAO, and intend to continue doing so over the long haul. This is because I believe in Push’s mission as the communication layer for web3 and I am committed to fostering the continued growth of Push through my contributions.

• What experience do you have that is relevant to the Grants Council?

I possess a background in law and finance and specialise in facilitating investment operations for firms by providing legal advisory, due diligence, and other key investment management services.

I was previously in the Legal and Investments division of Asset & Resource Management Company (ARM), a traditional investment firm managing over $2 billion in assets, where I drove the firm’s venture capital operations. Specifically, I partnered with Techstars, a US-based venture capital firm, to run an accelerator program where we allocated $600k in funding to five startups in Africa, selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants.

This undertaking required me to leverage skills such as reviewing funding applications, conducting due diligence on applicants, designing evaluation criteria, capital allocation, financial reporting, post-investment support, etc., and I am looking to leverage the same skillset in assisting the Council with the Push Grants Program.

• What do you think a good community-owned Grants program looks like?

A good community-owned grants program is a grants program that is entirely community-driven in terms of operation, decision-making and strategic direction, with the freedom of each individual community member to determine the extent of their involvement or participation in the grants process (which may be direct or indirect).

Hence, a good community-owned grants program should look pluralistic by design. The reason for this is that a pluralistic grants program entails running different grant/funding mechanisms in parallel through which the community can determine the extent of their involvement in the grants process. For example, some community members can opt for very direct involvement (using Quadratic Funding) or indirect involvement (relying on elected representatives such as the Grants Council).

• What are your goals for this program?

I’ve been able to identify some issues and areas where Push Grants currently need improvement. One of my goals for this program is to take concrete steps to address these issues in order to achieve a more optimised and efficient grants program

[Sid]

I think there’s a lot of thought put in crafting the PGP v3 program run by the community for the community. To manage a grant program of such an enormous potential, choosing an equally determined and transparent grants council is cardinal and exciting!

We’re excited to see more nominations as we near the deadline today, on 12th February 23:59 UTC.

[SixtyKeys]

Name: Sixty (Brian Adam)
Forum Username: @SixtyKeys
Discord handle: sixtykeys
Twitter: sixty_keys

Background:

What is your involvement with Push Protocol?

I have been a part of the Push Community since October 2022, having joined with an interest in protocol governance.

I have been actively contributing to Push Governance for the past 4 months, having led the initiative of designing and structuring the Push Grants Program v3, assisting in hosting the Push weekly governance call, and onboarding DAO service provider StableLab (currently working with leading DAOs such as Arbitrum, Optimism, Aave, Safe, etc.) in order to design a Growth and Development Framework for Push DAO.

What experience do you have that is relevant to the Grants Council?

As mentioned above, I led the initiative of designing and structuring the Push Grants Program v3, giving me a unique perspective on how to guide the program toward reaching its goals and intended outcomes.

I also have experience in Project Management IRL and in the web3 space, which I intend to use in my role as a part of the Grants Council. In a previous role, I led a Governance Working Group for DeFi protocol Index Coop, which involved designing the Index Improvement Proposal process, budgeting, allocation of resources and administration of more than 6 contributors who worked in this working group, and regular reporting of OKRs and KPIs specific to the working group.

Lastly, I have an extensive network in the web3 space which I intend to leverage to attract high-quality projects and builders to the Push Grants Program.

What do you think a good community-owned Grants program looks like?

A good community-owned grants program for Push DAO involves four core tenets that will drive the program, namely:

• Transparent budgeting - Providing a detailed breakdown of expenses ensures clarity on how grant funds are utilized, fostering trust among stakeholders. This transparency not only informs the community about fund allocation but also establishes an accountable financial structure by demonstrating how each portion of the funds contributes to supporting the project.

• Regular reporting - Regular reporting on grant fund usage, including progress, achievements, and challenges, is essential for maintaining trust and accountability with the community. This transparent communication demonstrates a commitment to openness, actively involving the community, and ensuring all parties are informed about fund utilization and project progress.

• Strategic Milestones - Effectively managing web3 grant funds requires establishing achievable milestones tied to fund usage, serving as tangible indicators for step-by-step progress tracking. Breaking down project objectives into manageable steps ensures efficient fund utilization, providing the project team with a clear roadmap and offering the community insight into the project’s direction and the impactful use of grant funds.

• Community Input - Crucial for responsible grant management is the active involvement of the community in major funding decisions, seeking input from members, stakeholders, and contributors. This inclusive approach aligns projects with the community’s actual needs, fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration that ensures responsible fund usage and strengthens the bond between the project team and the community for overall success.

Apologies, I went over the sentence limit a bit here.

What are your goals for this program?

My goal for PGPv3 is to design a world-class grants program that provides the greatest return on investment (ROI) for Push DAO. Design a process that is accessible and frictionless to use for grantees, while providing grantees with the needed support and direction required to integrate Push Protocol into their projects. And most importantly onboard a new wave of builders, developers, and users to use Push Protocol to enable web3 native communications.

[jengajojo]

Name: jengajojo
Forum Username: jengajojo
Discord handle: jengajojo
Twitter: jengajojo

What is your involvement with Push Protocol?

I have been monitoring progress of the DAO from the outside as well as hearing live updates from @CryptoReuMD and @Rene about the work happening inside the DAO.

What experience do you have that is relevant to the Grants Council?

I have extensive experience with governance and I am an active delegate in Gitcoin, Optimism, SAFE, 1inch, Bankless and Rari DAOs. We also run the recognized delegate program at 1inchDAO and the governance department at BanklessDAO and finally I have served as a grants reviewer at BanklessDAO for 6 months. My web2 experience as an analyst and project manager compliment my web3 experience in governance and I would like to take advantage of my experience, network and skill set in helping the council make optimal decisions.

What do you think a good community-owned Grants program looks like?

A good community owned program is able to strike a healthy balance between the needs of the protocol and the needs of the DAO. The program should be transparent and the council should be able to hold public discussion and offer feedback to grantees. Any program should undergo a retrospective with its members to evaluate its effectiveness and improve upon itself based on the learnings from each iteration.

What are your goals for this program?

• Lead the creation of a objective evaluation framework
• Consolidate concrete feedback for each applicant from the council
• Assist the applicants in making better proposals
• Work with other council members to optimise response time
• Track KPIs and ensure a high delivery rate from applicants who have received grants

[emixprime]

Name: emixprime
Forum Username: @emixprime
Discord handle: emixprime
Twitter: emixprime

Background

What is your involvement with Push Protocol?

I have known Push Protocol since its early days when it was called EPNS. In 2021, when I was working at Idle DAO, I cooperated closely with @MrJaf and other guys from the EPNS team to launch the Idle DAO channel integration for its governance notifications.

I followed externally the protocol’s developments until the DAO was launched.

What experience do you have that is relevant to the Grants Council?

Grant Programs Design & Management experience

• In my experience at Idle DAO, I facilitated the creation and then managed IGP (Idle Grants Program). While working at this program, I managed tooling, budgeting and payouts, RFPs (Request For Proposals), applications’ evaluations, milestones tracking, and the entire journey of the applicants;

  • I also had experience in project evaluation and scoring in some Hackathons (ETH Global) and participating in round grants on Gitcoin;

• In my experience at Areta (formerly web3studios), I designed and implemented processes for the Uniswap-Arbitrum Grant Program (UAGP), to optimize efficiency, transparency, and accountability of a 6-month Grant Program.

Project Management experience

In my experience in the crypto industry, I have worked purely in roles such as Operations Manager and Project Manager. I have a chameleon-like experience moving from startups to DAOs and enterprises, I have experience managing cross-functional teams and short/mid/long term projects.

Having already had evidence that these skills are critical in managing a grant program, I’m confident I can bring helpful experience to the Grant Council.

What do you think a good community-owned Grants program looks like?

1. Simple, Smooth, and Clear processes
   DAOs are an outstanding pattern of organization, but the risk of inefficiency and slowness for some process steps is always around the corner. A community-owned Grant Program should not have slow and foggy processes; instead, the steps (from decision-making to organization) must be clear, simple, and fast;

2. Participatory Community
   Active community involvement is the basis for a community-owned grant program. Interaction, the injection of input, ideas, criticism, and evaluation, are at the heart of cooperation, which must be the main value of such an initiative.

3. Up-to-date Public Reporting
   Transparency and consistency in communication give the community the perception that the initiative is active, the desire to continuously engage members, and that progress of the Grant Program is moving forward (bi-weekly calls with grantees are a plus for engagement and transparency of the initiative).

   Reports must be as truthful and sincere as possible, and clearly explain the rationale for actions taken, to avoid conflict situations and deadlocks in the DAO.

What are your goals for this program?

After the two editions of the PGP, the transition from internal management to full community can be delicate in some aspects.

We should work these 3 months to:

1. Quickly analyze the previous processes and understand any possible optimization;
2. Test and verify the grant program model by distributing grants to valuable projects.

With the guidelines and the KPIs provided in PGIP-8, this initiative has already a strong basis for working in the right direction.

---

One Push DAO Season: February '24 - April '24

Goal	Making the subDAO Grant work efficiently
Rationale	The final objective is to find the working model, already operational, that can act as a subDAO, without complicating the current Push governance processes.
Achievement (1)	New projects with positive impact for Push Protocol created
Achievement (2)	Increased Push community engagement into the initiative

[Rene]

Dear community members,

I am reaching out to you with the intention of expressing my interest in participating in the Push Grants v3 program as a member of the Grants Council.

Name: René Hernández (René Hdz)
Forum Username: @Rene
Discord handle: rene__hdz
Twitter: rene__hdz

• Background:

What is your involvement with Push Protocol?
I have been part of the Push Community since May 2023, having joined with the Latam Push Ambassador program. I hold a role similar to that of a Community Manager for the Latam team Ambassadors and have taken on a leadership role from the beginning until now.

• What experience do you have that is relevant to the Grants Council?

I have been actively contributing to Push Governance for the past 4 months (in the forum) and am active in the Push Discord, where I hold a star as a Community Superstar.
Currently, I am the Lead of AV and Comms of the Nación Bankless (SubDAO of the BanklessDAO), hosting a weekly podcast and actively participating in the SubDAO until May 2023. I play an active role in grant application decisions and defining next milestones with @CryptoReuMD, @fabiancripto, and other SubDAO members.
And have a lot of experience in team leadership in the web2 MKT industry. Attached is my LinkedIn profile to search for more of me.

• What do you think a good community-owned Grants program looks like?

A good community-owned Grants program should prioritize transparency at every stage, from application and selection to the process and choice of grantees. It’s crucial to have clarity regarding the budget available for delegation, its allocation, and deliverables.

There needs to be clear expectations for each grantee regarding deliverables. Once the initiation process begins, it’s essential for grantees to maintain regular communication with the PushDAO. Therefore, it’s vital to have weekly or bi-weekly updates from each grantee on their implementations or campaigns.

• What are your goals for this program?

1. Enhance the process and transparency of grantees.
2. Select the best grantees who can help improve the Push Protocol ecosystem.
3. Increase transparency and improve governance processes within the PushDAO.
4. Facilitate communication between grantees and the Push Protocol marketing team to enhance the exposure of grantees and Push throughout the grant program process and follow-up.
5. Establish milestones for the Push Grant Program to initiate a clear, effective, and more efficient governance process.

#LetsGrow

[fabiancripto]

I have seen @Rene growth and it has been impressive and he is getting deeper and deeper into governance in BanklessDAO and the subDAO and he has a huge potential, actively helping and always with his characteristic energy, I feel that @rene would be a key piece for this position and having someone from LATAM to guide and support him would be amazing.

@Rene has 100% of my support and I am sure that if he stays he will do amazing, apart from the work within web3 he is a great person with great convictions, transparency, charisma and values, I wish him the best and he has my support.

[SixtyKeys]

All I can say is WOW! Super excited to see such a diverse group of applicants
Welcome to the community @jengajojo , and welcome back to Push @emixprime, happy to have you both!

@SixtyKeys

Proof-of-human

Nominees are expected to attend the weekly governance call following this post, to introduce themselves and explain why they should be part of the Grants Council. Otherwise, the nomination is not valid.

Our weekly governance call is temporarily on hold, so we will have the Grants Council Pitch Call on the Push Discord (PUSH Voice Channel) - Friday, 16th February @ 3 PM UTC.

Please confirm your availability for the date and time above here or on Discord.
cc: @christiandike @jengajojo @emixprime @Rene

[christiandike]

i will be available for the call. looking forward to it

[jengajojo]

I’ll be avaliable at this time

[emixprime]

Looking forward to joining the call, I’ll be available.

[Rene]

Let’s go! @SixtyKeys See u there.

[CryptoReuMD]

It’s great to see you guys here @jengajojo and @Rene you have my full support and as @fabiancripto said, also the Nacion Bankless side.
Best

[Sid]

Super excited to see everyone on Friday 16th Feb🙌
Looking at the nomination proposals, irrespective of the final result, I’m confident that, regardless of the outcome, the Grants Council will be led by an exceptional team.

[SixtyKeys]

We had our Grants Council Pitch Session today, thank you to all the nominees for attending and introducing themselves to the community and giving awesome pitches all around

cc: @christiandike @jengajojo @emixprime @Rene

[CryptoReuMD]

@SixtyKeys

We had our Grants Council Pitch Session today, thank you to all the nominees for attending and introducing themselves to the community and giving awesome pitches all around

Super Cool. Friend, do we have any recording or notes from this call. I think’s it’s super important that we have this resources for all the asyncronus people.
Best

[SixtyKeys]

Unfortunately, I did not record this session, but I will work on making sure we record any future sessions.

[CryptoReuMD]

Np Friend! Keep transforming the Push Universe =)