15 May 2025 - Intersect Board Special Session

Overview

The Intersect Board held a special session to work through a number of important items related to leadership recruitment, board structure, finances, security, and upcoming governance decisions. This session followed recent community activity and was focused on practical next steps, improved transparency, and continuing to build a solid foundation for Intersect's role in supporting Cardano.

Attendees:

#	Board Seat	Designator
1	IOG	Gerard Moroney
2	EMURGO	Nikhil Joshi
3	Education	Steven Lupien
4	Membership	Kavinda Kariyapperuma
5	Membership	Adam Rusch
6	Intersect Executive Team	Jack Briggs
7	Intersect Executive Team	Nick Cook

Agenda:

• Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Board Member Updates and Outstanding Actions

• Executive Director Recruitment

  • Review of first draft job description

  • Discussion on expectations, process, and community engagement

• Board Expansion

  • Proposal to increase community representation

  • Bylaw review and next steps

• Operational and Financial Updates

  • Treasury and asset management improvements

  • Income received and financial position

  • Audit planning

• Security Considerations

  • General update on operational security

  • Board-level concerns and next steps

• Working Group Conduct and Culture

  • Review of recent concerns

  • Ensuring respectful collaboration

• Budget Process and Governance Actions

  • Structuring treasury withdrawals

  • Aligning categories with community expectations

• Action Items and Review

• Next Meeting Planning

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Proceedings

1. Executive Director Recruitment

The board reviewed an early draft of the job description for a new Executive Director. The document aims to reflect the values of the Cardano community and ensure that the next leader is both capable and aligned with the mission of decentralised, member-led governance.

Board members agreed the draft needs further refinement, particularly in making the expectations more realistic and inclusive. The plan is to review the document line by line in a dedicated session, with the goal of having a clean version ready by May 29. After that, the broader community will be invited to give feedback.

2. Board Expansion

There was broad support to expand the number of community-representing board members from two to four, to better reflect the growing and diverse set of voices across Cardano. The board agreed to look into the bylaws and any changes needed to make this possible.

There was also early discussion about improving the process for electing new board members later this year, including how to ensure the process is fair and secure for all participants.

3. Operational & Financial Updates

The team provided updates on internal operational practices, including steps taken to improve how funds and assets are managed. While some potential third-party services were explored and ruled out due to cost, work continues to improve how Intersect and its partners manage treasury and custody in a safe and transparent way.

A financial overview was also shared:

• Intersect currently holds approximately $2.2 million USD and 500,000 ADA, with additional income recently received from membership fees.

• Once incoming funds are fully received, the expected balance will be around $3 million USD.

• The board agreed it would be helpful to carry out a routine audit to give members a clearer picture of how funds are being managed and spent.

4. Security Considerations

There was a short discussion on security more broadly, including both organizational and personal considerations. Some board members raised concerns and asked for further options to be explored. The board agreed to return to this topic with more information in a future session.

5. Conduct & Working Culture

The board discussed recent tensions in one of the working groups and the need to ensure respectful, constructive engagement across all teams. A follow-up is being done to review what happened and respond appropriately. The board agreed this is important for maintaining a safe and effective working culture, especially as Intersect grows.

6. Budget Process & Governance

The board reviewed how to structure upcoming treasury-related proposals, especially those that will follow from the recently approved budget info action. One option being explored is grouping proposals into a few functional categories (e.g. governance, infrastructure, growth) to make voting and administration easier for both DReps and Intersect.

Board members raised different perspectives on the trade-offs between simplicity, accountability, and execution. A more detailed proposal will be shared for review within 24 hours, and everyone was invited to leave comments before the next meeting.

Next Steps

The board agreed to meet again the following Thursday, May 22, from 6:00–7:30 AM (MST) to continue work on the ED recruitment, board expansion, and the structure of treasury governance actions.

Several action items were assigned to board members, including drafting updated proposals, checking in with stakeholders, and ensuring that recent meeting records are published.

Thank you to all members of the community who continue to contribute to these important conversations. We’ll be back soon with more updates.