Gitcoin Governance Council Term 2 - Community Vote

🤖 DAO Governance and Vision
1

The Governance Council completed its first term and has published a retrospective assessment of their performance against the original mandate established in March 2025.

The council was initially created to bring “structure, accountability, and decentralization” to governance through facilitating governance processes, supporting decentralization efforts, stewarding the DAO Constitution, and enhancing transparency.

Term 1 Assessment

The retrospective documents both successes and challenges during the 3.5-month term:

Challenges Identified:

  • Token delegation delays prevented full participation until May

  • Communication gaps between council and core team

  • No designated council coordinator for deliverable tracking

  • External organizational transitions (Allo Capital spinout, Grants Labs shutdown) created additional complexity

  • Zero progress on constitutional development due to unclear guidance and scope

Achievements Noted:

  • GG23 coordination achieved 100% participation through Grant Ships

  • Successful vote participation once delegations were completed

  • Cross-ecosystem governance insights provided to the community

  • Voting power distribution helped reduce quorum dependency on large token holders

Proposed Term 2 Framework

Based on Term 1 lessons learned, the retrospective outlines a refined approach for Term 2 (August - December 2025):

Enhanced Operational Structure:

  • Self designate a council coordinator for deliverable tracking and core team coordination

  • Improved communication framework to prevent reactive decision-making

Updated Deliverables:

  • Process Facilitation: Enhanced forum participation, ensuring proposals and posts on the forum receive adequate discussion and feedback

  • Transparency Enhancement: Quarterly governance updates published on schedule (October 15, January 15)

  • Community Engagement: Documented council input on high-impact proposals and partnerships.

Success Metrics:

  • 100% of votes meet quorum

  • All quarterly updates published on schedule

  • Improved forum engagement and moderation coverage

The constitutional development mandate has been removed from Term 2 scope to better align deliverables with available resources and community priorities.

The Vote

Based on the retrospective findings and community feedback, we will be taking this to a vote with two options:

  1. Continue: Proceed with Term 2 using all five current members (Wasabi, Ivan Molto, SEEDGov, PGov, Tane) and the enhanced operational framework

  2. Discontinue: End the council program and revert to the current steward-led governance model

All five current members have committed to serving Term 2 if approved. The decision maintains the existing team composition rather than opening new nominations, allowing the group to apply lessons learned from Term 1 immediately.

If discontinued, governance will return to ad hoc coordination by active stewards, with lessons learned from the council experiment documented for future reference.

Community Input

The retrospective provides analysis of what worked, what didn’t, and proposed solutions for moving forward. The original charter outlines the initial vision and expectations that guided Term 1.

We encourage the community to review both documents and provide feedback on whether the proposed Term 2 framework adequately addresses the structural issues identified in Term 1, and whether a structured council approach can deliver meaningful improvements to Gitcoin’s governance effectiveness.

Thanks for your consideration!

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