In the Founding Document: Levels of Engagement, voters agreed that three levels of engagement accurately represented the different levels within the Centrifuge DAO.
The objective of this discussion is to review that decision and by reflecting together, discover if this concept is helping us meet our needs and mission and to brainstorm new ways to bring clarity to ‘who is doing what, and who can do what’ in the Centrifuge DAO.
Discussion: New Levels
The idea of there being ‘levels of engagement’ in an organization is not new. We know that in hierarchical organizations there are a great many levels. This does not mean though that in decentralized organizations there should be no levels or boundaries. How we choose to organize and design our way into thriving decentralized organizations should not be the result of ‘doing the opposite’ of what hierarchical organizations do. Instead we can look to the design constraints and opportunities that we have, and treat them as our first principles, rather than simply reacting to or creating false binaries.
In Elenor Ostrom’s 8 rules for commons, Number 1 is:
Commons need to have clearly defined boundaries. It is particularly important that these boundaries define who is entitled to access what. Commons need a specified community of benefit, otherwise a resource risks becoming a free for all.
The original levels (Daily, Active and Passive) can be confusing because of the very close overlap between daily and active contributors, and due to the realization that if one is ‘passive’ one is not contributing and thus should not be named as a ‘passive contributor’.
The existing founding document refer to:
Daily Contributors: These are people or entities who contribute to the protocol and or DAO on a daily or near daily basis. They form the foundational working groups of the DAO, working actively and consistently to achieve Centrifuge’s shared mission. These contributors typically work on Centrifuge full-time.
Active Contributors: These are people/entities who actively contribute to the Centrifuge protocol and/or DAO. These contributors engage in forum discussions, governance calls, token voting, pool launches, integrations, and Centrifuge promotions.
Passive Contributors: These are typically community members who hold tokens but are not actively engaged in the project and thus not invited to the DAO Slack or Core Contributors call.
There may be a clearer way to segment our contributor groups by having TWO levels - that of ‘Active Contributor’ and ‘Inactive Contributor’.
The two levels
Active Contributor
Active Contributors are token holders who are actively stewarding the protocol and ecosystem should be given the title of Active Contributors and higher levels of access to information and strategy via the Centrifuge Slack and Active Contributor Call.
They can use the title of Active Contributor at Centrifuge when dealing with external parties and representing Centrifuge. See more here for the guidelines for representing Centrifuge.
Inactive Contributor
An inactive contributor is someone who has indicated interest of some kind but who is not actively engaged in the DAO but who do not have access to higher levels of information and activity
Why are Active Contributors so important?
Active Contributors uphold the processes of the Centrifuge DAO and drive it’s activity.
They contribute to the development of the protocol, marketing and other various functions. The list of people/groups who would be included in this category would be:
- The CNF team
- Ambassadors
- k/f team
- Moderators
- Credit Group members, Governance & Coordination Group members, Protocol and Engineering Group members, and members of any other groups that form
- Partners
- VCs
- Protocol and DeFi partners
- Collators
What are the criteria for becoming an Active Contributor?
Active Contributors are those shaping the direction of Centrifuge. They are CFG holders as well as major contributors to the protocol. Active Contributor status could be gained by doing a number of the following points:
- By being an ambassador
- By investing in Centrifuge
- By introducing new DAO members to Centrifuge
- By having high and quality participation in governance
- By bringing assets and capital to the platform
- By ensuring the security of the protocol
- By championing Centrifuge in other DAOs, networks and ecosystems
- By technical development of the protocol
- By being a member of one of the groups in the previous list
Overall, an Active Contributor is someone who is clearly committed to Centrifuge and shows their commitment through action. They should display an understanding and commitment to the Shared Mission to bring the world of credit onchain, and is generally someone whom we trust and who does not pose undue risk to Centrifuge.
This is a significant role: our goal is for Active Contributors to help guide and develop the Centrifuge protocol and community, however, they have no additional authority (i.e. all proposals are still privy to the defined Governance Process, which anyone can participate in and any token holder vote in).
Please deeply consider if the person you wish to invite meets the above criteria. If they are a big supporter but have no time or capacity to be Active, let them know they could be an Inactive Contributor (see more below).
What is an Inactive Contributor and how do I become one?
If someone is interested in contributing but there is no availability they can ask to be listed as an inactive contributor that is open to opportunities.
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No special access
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Recommend introducing yourself and sharing your professional experience
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Be part of a pool of candidates first in line to be considered for opportunities
How does an Active Contributor move to Inactive?
If an active contributor decides to stop contributing on a regular basis for whatever reason they are moved to the inactive contributor level. This indicates that they, at some point, were contributors, but that things have changed. This could mean they took another role, divested their stake in Centrifuge, stopped being a technological partner, or, more generally, no longer fit the criteria listed above.
Alternatively, if someone is interested in contributing but there is no availability they can ask to be listed as inactive contributors that are open to opportunities.
Who can invite an AC and what is the process?
Any Active Contributor can invite another active contributor, the process is as follows:
- Identify your proposed invitee and chat to them about the level without guaranteeing that they will be invited
- If they indicate interest go to #new-member-invitations channel and propose them, stating how they meet the criteria and why you want them to be given the level
- Your proposal will be considered by the Governance and Coordination Group (GCG) who seek advice from other DAO and Governance coordinators.
- If approved, please send the new AC the invitation text below and ask them to make a forum introduction here.
- The GCG will ensure they are invited to the correct slack channels and to the Active Contributor monthly call
- Lastly, please intro your invitee in the slack #general channel with some words of welcome
A new potential role to support the Levels of Engagement: The Opportunity Master
There has also been discussion about adding a new role to the DAO: the Opportunity Master.
The deliverables of the Opportunity Master might involve:
- Manages the entire active contributor list
- Follows up with passives/formerly interested parties
- Helps understand compensation options and paths
- Mentors and guides: connect to the group leads, the groups and opportunities and links people to opportunities
- Makes personal connection and introductions and in the process learns about the individual who is being connected
- Creates and maps opportunities do jobs in the DAO
If you think this sounds like a helpful role (or not) discuss below, if you are interested, please let me know below…
And please let me know your thoughts on this discussion before it moves through the next stages of governance! 
Ambassador Guidance!! 
