Leadership Transition: Mayor & Council

Abstract This proposal outlines a process and framework for upgrading FWB DAO’s leadership structure under the new FWB UNA by introducing a Community Council made up of qualified FWB members to collaborate with and provide guidance to FWB’s Mayor and Core Team.

Background As the first full-time contributor role at FWB, the Mayor has been responsible for developing FWB into a cohesive community-led organization. Prior to any legal formation or capitalization, the Mayor’s directive was to lead the Founding Team in establishing a vision for FWB, and to hire, organize, and inspire talent from within the DAO to execute that vision.

In order to further decentralize the organization as an UNA, the time has come to establish a new, flatter leadership structure with a council of community members elected by other constituent members. This council will provide guidance, input, and accountability to FWB’s operating Mayor and Core Team.

After thoughtful discussion with the community and Core Team, the first Leadership Transition proposal—which recommended a three-seat Council instead of a Mayor—failed to pass. Nearly 59% of community members who voted felt that the proposed iteration of a three-seat leadership council was not an adequate way to structure the DAO’s leadership.

This proposal puts forward a promising new option that emerged during governance discussions. It merges the pros of a single Mayor (one highly qualified, full-time leader dedicating 100% of their energy to furthering the DAO’s mission and sustainability) with the benefits of a more decentralized leadership council (a guiding body of 5 diverse community members who are compensated for their time working to shape and oversee FWB’s future).

Overview This proposal establishes a Community Council that collaborates with a singular Mayor. The domain and responsibility of the Community Council would be (1) to represent the diversity of the DAO’s interests and (2) to collaborate with the Mayor on establishing a unified vision and strategy for the future of FWB DAO. This leadership structure is designed to drive community alignment with the Mayor and Core Team’s future goals, such as increasing developer and creator activity within the FWB ecosystem. The Community Council would also be responsible for reviewing, refining, and stewarding proposals within the DAO and shaping how proposals from the Core Team are co-created and shared with the community.

Given that the Community Council would exist within the context of FWB as an Unincorporated Nonprofit Association, it is essential that the roles evolve within the context of the association agreement where decision-making authority for the organization lies with the members through validly enacted governance proposals (which are essential to maintaining decentralized governance), and not through wide grants of authority to individual members (as found in typically centralized operations).

Overview of DAO Functions

Community Council Role Description

• Operate as a community board of advisors that helps steward long term FWB direction.

• Define FWB DAO’s community initiatives through listening and understanding in order to stimulate strong community participation, high morale, and strategic projects with successful outcomes.

• Engage the FWB community in ways that surface the DAO’s collective vision and desires; collaborate with the Mayor and Core Team to design strategies and programs that bring the DAO’s collective vision to life.

• Vote to approve or reject a Mayoral candidate nominated by the Core Team. Note that Core Team will conduct a rigorous interview process (on par with CEO-level candidate screenings) before bringing them to the Community Council to vote. Community Council will also be provided the opportunity to interface with the Mayoral candidate prior to voting.

• Maintain, improve, and evolve FWB governance to encourage more community proposals and voter engagement.

• Steward Code of Conduct committee and process.

Community Council Responsibilities

• Participate in all governance discussions and votes. (Pending extenuating circumstances.)

• Actively engage with the community by organizing and hosting a minimum of 1 community call per month to discuss proposals, projects, and new initiatives.

• Collaborate with Core Team to communicate about and promote community initiatives.

• Report back to the Core Team on a bi-weekly cadence on community issues, feedback, and discussions.

Failure to participate in responsibilities without adequate messaging will result in a warning issued by the Mayor and/or Core Team.

If council members collect three warnings through CoC submissions, they may be removed at the discretion of the Core Team, who will nominate a replacement within one month. Replacement candidates will then need to be approved by the remaining Community Council members with a majority vote.

Community Council Compensation

• 5 members paid 500 $USDC monthly
• Minimum time commitment of 2-3 hrs/week

Community Council Election Process The 5 seat FWB Community Council election process will involve the following:

1. Candidate submissions open to anyone who is an FWB member that submits an application

2. Core Team will use a codified rubric to approve Community Council candidates (See below section, “Community Council Member Qualifications”)

3. 4 council members will be elected by the DAO community via a 1-wallet 1-vote ranked-choice Snapshot vote

4. 1 council member selected by Core Team based on an approved rubric

5. Core Team will use a codified rubric to approve Community Council candidates (See below section, “Community Council Member Qualifications”)

6. Once the Council is in place, the existing Core Team puts forth a mayoral candidate that the Community Council votes on. To be approved as Mayor, a majority of the Community Council must vote in the candidate’s favor (at least a 3-2 vote).

7. The Mayor will work alongside the Core Team that currently includes Ops (Izzy), Marketing (Drew and Willa), Finance (Vasanth), Partnerships (Greg), and Events (Paul).

8. Community Council members will need to run for re-election each year. Should a Community Council member need to step down from their role mid-term, the Community Council will be responsible for running a new election cycle to replace the Council member.

Community Council Qualifications

In order to run for the Community Council, Members must…

• Not have an active Code of Conduct submission related to issues of harassment within the community

• Be an active member of FWB, with a history of participating in votes

• Agree to follow our Code of Conduct

FWB Mayor Role Description

This proposal would keep the FWB mayor as a full-time role that leads the Core Team. As this role will be instrumental in leading FWB’s vision, growth strategy, and business development, they would be sought out in a more traditional way (i.e. head-hunted and put forward by the Core Team, with key team leads interviewing the candidate) and not elected by the FWB community. However, the elected Community Council would be tasked with approving the proposed new Mayor with a majority (at least 3-2) vote. The previous Mayor will be available for a minimum of 3 months to ensure a smooth onboarding and transition process.

• Create, pilot, and sustain innovative revenue streams for the FWB DAO

• Develop, collaboratively refine, and execute FWB DAO’s vision being the social convening point for creatives, artists, and technologists who believe in the promise of a better internet.

• Increase creator and developer activity within the FWB community.

• Identify new opportunities to help grow and expand the DAO’s influence and reach.

• Participate in FWB community spaces on a regular basis

• Serve as the FWB DAO board representative for SIC, Inc.

• Full time role with a salary of $150,000 plus 3,500 $FWB token grant subject to a 2-year vesting schedule.

• Mayor to serve a two-year term, with ability to be re-elected by Council vote.

FWB Mayor Role Target Qualifications

• Leadership of a small- to medium-sized organization for at least 2-5 years

• Experience with growing ecosystems around web3 products or services

• Strong entrepreneurial skills, self-starting work ethic, and ability to drive results

• Strong communication and collaboration skills with a specific focus on operational excellence and building high-functioning small teams

• Broad and diverse network of relationships spanning web3, culture, arts & entertainment

Transition Timeline

Target transition date will be the end of Q3/beginning of Q4.

Community Council Proposed Application Rubric