Ethereum Foundation Public Currency: Board Selection

As Ethereum approaches its first official launch with Frontier, we spent the last week of February in Holon, Switzerland, discussing what the future of the Ethereum Foundation will look like. From the beginning of the project, one of our main dreams has been to not only deliver a world-class product, but also to organize the maintenance of the Ethereum code, potentially for decades to come. To that end, we’ve taken a number of steps, including recruiting new administrative staff and changing our internal brand, and now we’re officially announcing that we’re seeking new members to join our Board of Directors.

First, we will briefly introduce how the foundation is currently structured from an organizational perspective.

Stiftung Ethereum (German for “Ethereum Foundation”) is a non-profit organization registered in Switzerland. Especially in the wonderful city of Zug:

The Stiftung is the body ultimately tasked with managing funds and determining the long-term vision and direction of Ethereum. The foundation is legally controlled by a body known as the Foundation Board. However, there is also a large advisory group that has been involved in providing input for decision making. There are many corporations registered in different countries across Europe, and each of these corporations employs individuals who are residents of those countries. The centers in Switzerland and Berlin are the largest. The Foundation Council is expected to make decisions from time to time and focus on the long term. Day-to-day decisions regarding development are headed by an “executive” consisting of Gavin Wood and Jeffrey Wilcke, with significant support from Aeron Buchanan, Jutta Steiner, Kelley Becker, Frithjof Weinert and other administrative and security officials.

We are very grateful for the continued service of our current Foundation Advisory Board and Council, and we have had a successful first year under their leadership. However, now that the scope and scale of the organization have expanded significantly, we are considering (i) adding new members to the Foundation Board while (ii) transitioning the Foundation’s activities and operations closer to that of a more mature organization. Board members must travel to Switzerland at least two to five times a year to attend official board meetings. At the board meeting, management provides updates on the current status of the project and discusses direction. Required resolutions passed regarding the foundation. Anyone on the Board is free to make additional contributions. The new board of directors is scheduled to be finalized and launched at the end of June.

The ideal characteristics we look for in potential board candidates include:

• Experience participating in non-profit boards of directors
• Ideally, a position as a leader and innovator in a sector (profit or non-profit) that can benefit from blockchain and decentralized application technologies outside of the traditional “crypto” space.
• Experience and interest in long-term fundraising activities
• Minimal conflicts of interest (according to the previous criteria, conflicts of interest are unavoidable), but this means that we prefer individuals who primarily engage in non-profit activities or whose for-profit activities we could reasonably expect will not significantly intersect with their own activities. (Location on Ethereum)
• Interest and interest in decentralized technology
• There has been no prior unethical or illegal conduct, particularly in the areas of embezzlement, insider trading or fraud.
• We hope to have a balance between diverse industry backgrounds and national and cultural backgrounds (e.g. North/South America, Europe and Asia)

If you think you meet most or all of these requirements, or know someone who does, please feel free to email us at: kelley@ethereum.org.