Our team
The current list of Atom Accelerator DAO Contributors, working daily to drive value to the Cosmos Hub.
If you share our commitment and vision, explore our career opportunities and join us in building a thriving, innovative Cosmos Hub and AEZ.
Youssef Amrani
Youssef is a core contributor to Cosmos Hub and Founder of AADAO, as well as serving on the Economic Committee of the IST stablecoin.
Previously a Community Analyst at Messari, Youssef is a self-described futurist with a passion for how exponential technologies will shape humanity’s future. Youssef firmly believes that effective decentralized governance is possible and the best path forward in an AI-driven world.
Carter Woetzel
Carter is the Founder and a Core Contributor to Shade Protocol – the leading suite of private DeFi apps in the Cosmos. Carter was previously the Marketing and Community Manager at the Secret Foundation.
With over 7 years of experience in web3, Carter is a published author and researcher, and among other things, was the author of the Secret Network whitepaper.
Carter is a part-time contributor to the AADAO, invited to the Strategy Committee for their knowledge, experience and insights.
Mark
Mark has built and sold three software companies, hosted 120+ Cosmos teams on podcasts and is passionate about helping teams succeed.
Mark has previously co-founded Wiredelta, Blockbasis and WAGMI and was the CTO at a fintech that got Visa to use blockchain. Mark firmly believes that blockchains and dApps are the antidotes to a centralized and censored internet.
As Grants Lead, Mark is a member of both the Strategy and Grants Committees.
Reena Shtedle
Reena is a Co-Founder and Head of Business Development & DevRel at Citadel One – a leading validator in over 85 networks with 300M TVL
Reena has been in web3 since 2018, blending academic expertise in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Social Theory. Reena is also the CEO of Zomet – a web3 Shortcuts platform, and co-founded a Cosmos female empowerment entity. She was previously an investment analyst at Paradigm Research.
Reena is also a member of our Operations Committee.
Joni
Joni has over seven years of experience in cryptocurrency markets and a strong commitment to the Cosmos community. He is also the Co-Founder of Blockchain Insight Group – an organization that offers courses and support to individuals on navigating the crypto industry safely and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Originally from a clinical research background, Joni transitioned to the blockchain space, finding greater fulfillment in educating others and contributing significantly to the Cosmos Hub through Atom Accelerator DAO.
Facundo Medica
Facundo is a Core Contributor to the Cosmos SDK at Binary Builders. Previously, he was an Engineer at Umee.
Facundo is a part-time contributor to the AADAO, as part of our Grant Committee, providing his technical expertise and perspective to all applications that have an engineering element.
Jordan Andrews
Jordan has over 8 years of experience in Business Development and Venture Investments including working with builders from over 13 ecosystems.
Jordan has previously been a Venture Associated with Republic, a Senior BD Manager with NodeReal, and the BD & Partnerships Lead at DCENTRAL Global.
As Ventures Lead, Jordan is a non-voting, observer member of our Strategy Committee, providing insights and perspectives to help guide AADAO and the Cosmos Hub.
Patricia Mizuki
Patricia has over 10 years of experience in audit, risk management and process improvements. She was previously an Auditor with PwC – one of the leading Big Four accounting services companies.
Patricia is a part-time contributor to the AADAO, invited to the Oversight Committee for her expertise and commitment to maintaining high standards and accountability within our organization.
Grace Yu
Grace is a Strategy Consultant, previously the Head of Growth & Strategy at All in Bits, as well as Head of Growth at NFT Oasis and Pylons.
Grace is a part-time contributor to the AADAO, elected to the Oversight Committee through the Cosmos Hub’s first-ever onchain election. Grace brings with her expertise and commitment to maintaining high standards and accountability within our organization.
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What is the role of the Oversight Committee?
The Oversight Committee is effectively independent of the Atom Accelerator DAO’s “executive” teams. It conducts random spot checks on grant-funded projects to ensure compliance with terms and monitors the performance of the Grant Committee and other AADAO committees.
Specifically, the Oversight Committee’s role is to:
- Provide internal controls of the ATOM Accelerator DAO such as expenditure controls, monitoring of conflicts of interest as well as publishing of transparency reports.
- Oversight & accountability of grant recipients through follow-ups on milestones and deliverables
- Interface with the ATOM community at large to inform of the latest developments.
Enshrined in our Internal Protocols is to have one Oversight member directly elected by Cosmos Hub governance onchain – thus providing direct community oversight into our operations. For a list of current members of the Oversight Committee, see our Team page.
How do you handle conflicts of interest?
All the Contributors at AADAO hold themselves to a high level of conduct, especially when acting as stewards of the Cosmos Hub. In the spirit of transparency, you can view the internal policy that we use to ensure compliance here.
Who will review my application?
Applications will be initially screened by two members of our Grant Committee team, chosen by their expertise in the grant category that you applied for.
Should your grant application pass this initial screening, you may be invited to an interview or we may request further information by email.
After the interview, there will be a vote within our Grant Committee – with the grant being approved once there is a majority consensus. Any member with a potential conflict of interest will be recused from the vote.
You can view our Grant Committee members here.
