Bridge Builders: Open Mastermind Workshops for the Cardano Community

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Nori Nishigaya

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

4

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

We will hold open Mastermind workshops where we present learning materials to attendees and allow them to have deep conversations on these topics with peers and experts on the topics.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

For the workshop materials and recordings, we will use the Creative Commons license - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

We are committed to open-source principles. This license grants users the freedom to use, modify and distribute the project freely, provided that the modified works use the same license.

To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

The LLM Agent will be open and free to use under the use policies of Open AI.

[METADATA] SDG rating

SDG Goals

4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

SDG Subgoals

4.7 - By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

8.3 - Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

9.b - Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

Bridge Builders will hold six open, free mastermind workshops for anyone in the Catalyst community who is interested in learning more about:

1. Discovering Your Why - finding alignment and deep purpose for your group or organization to provide solid foundations for strategy
2. Emergent roles and teams - Many teams operate in a decentralized manner. Traditional roles and “departments” no longer make sense or are suboptimal. This workshop will help groups find an organizational strategy to launch work groups/circles/teams, ensure maximal autonomy for these teams, and focus deeply on the real interdependencies between teams to coordinate work and move as quickly as possible.
3. Agile Methodology - Learn how to build in short iterations, focus on what’s most important, establish a culture of innovation and experimentation, learn and grow from obstacles and experiences, and create a cadence or heartbeat that your team can lean into to create value on a repeatable basis.

Each workshop will take place in a given month and each will be offered twice to accommodate different schedules. 

We will record the sessions and create learning guides and materials that will be shared with the Catalyst Community to help those who cannot attend the workshops benefit from the content. We will also commission the translation of these materials into at least 3 other languages.

Based on the content of the workshops, we will also create specialized LLM AI agents to answer questions and act as a guide for community members who wish to dive deeper into these topics. These AI agents will be trained on the source materials for these workshops and contain much more detailed information.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

We will enable teams to understand their purpose, align their efforts, collaborate more effectively through the enabling of autonomy and understanding interdependencies, and learn Agile development methodologies so they can create value on a regular cadence and learn from small experiments and reflection.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

We have been delivering these workshops to clients for 18 months and have been fine-tuning and refining our methodology as we go. We have had many successful workshops and engagements with clients to teach them the key concepts and practices that make up these workshops.

The Mastermind format allows both peers and experts to work together to discuss and dive even deeper into these topics in a safe and generative space. These have been private engagements in the past, and we hope to open them up to the broader community through Project Catalyst funding.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

This milestone will focus on a series of team meetings to set up project management processes and everything necessary for the project to be fully operational and to go to work and action.

Milestone output(s)

• A document outlining the project management processes, roles, responsibilities and workflows.Initiated, aligned and fully operational team & project
• A document outlining protocols, channels and frequency of communication

Acceptance criteria 

• Defined processes, roles, and responsibilities and workflow.
• Defined communication channels.

Info provided to verify the milestone achievement 

• Project initiation report.

This milestone will focus on creating the learning content for and delivering two sessions of the Discovering Your Why Workshop (finding alignment and deep purpose for your group or organization to provide solid foundations for strategy).

Milestone output(s)

• Learning aids and materials for the workshop;
• Two workshops held for the community

Acceptance criteria 

• Record the two workshops held for the community
• Publish Learning aids and materials

Info provided to verify the milestone achievement 

• Recordings of the workshops
• Learning aids and materials

This milestone will focus on creating the learning content for and delivering two sessions of the Emergent roles and teams (Many teams operate in a decentralized manner. Traditional roles and “departments” no longer make sense or are suboptimal. This workshop will help groups find an organizational strategy to launch work groups/circles/teams, ensure maximal autonomy for these teams, and focus deeply on the real interdependencies between teams to coordinate work and move as quickly as possible.)

Milestone output(s)

• Learning aids and materials for the workshop;
• Two workshops held for the community

Acceptance criteria 

• Record the two workshops held for the community
• Publish Learning aids and materials

Info provided to verify the milestone achievement 

• Recordings of the workshops
• Learning aids and materials

This milestone will focus on creating the learning content for and delivering two sessions of the Agile Methodology (Learn how to build in short iterations, focus on what’s most important, establish a culture of innovation and experimentation, learn and grow from obstacles and experiences, and create a cadence or heartbeat that your team can lean into to create value on a repeatable basis.)

Milestone output(s)

• Learning aids and materials for the workshop;
• Two workshops held for the community

Acceptance criteria 

• Record the two workshops held for the community
• Publish Learning aids and materials

Info provided to verify the milestone achievement 

• Recordings of the workshops
• Learning aids and materials

This milestone will focus on translating the Learning aids and materials into at least three languages (TBD) as well as to use the Learning aids and materials, workshop transcripts, and source materials to train an LLM Agent on the content of these workshops.

Milestone output(s)

• Translations of the workshop content
• Trained AI LLM Agent on the course content

Acceptance criteria 

• Translating the course content into three languages
• Training an LLM Agent in the course materials

Info provided to verify the milestone achievement 

• Translated course content
• Publically accessible LLM Agent

The final milestone will be administrative to write the closing report and providing the Catalyst Community with a summary of what was delivered and providing links to all of the output and artifacts. We will also record and share a close-out video.

Milestone output(s)

• Close out report
• Close out video

Acceptance criteria 

• Submission and acceptance of the closeout report
• Uploading and sharing of the close out video

Info provided to verify the milestone achievement 

• Close out report
• A summary of all the workshops
• Links to the workshop materials and translations
• Close out video
• link to the YouTube video

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

The team is:

Nori Nishigaya - Content Lead

Nori is the Founder of the Salmon Nation Decentralised Alliance (SANADA) and co-founder of Bridge Builders. He is a member of the Governance Guild, a core member of the Andamio team, organizes meetups and events as a Cardano Ambassador, and is a funded proposer. Nori brings over 30 years of experience in software development, agile methodologies, leadership in managing teams, and founding and running technology startups. His passion is discovering governance and organizational best practices for radically decentralized and self-managed communities through experimentation and hands-on practice.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishigaya/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Xeeban

Felix Weber – Community Lead 

Felix has a strong track record of leading and implementing community governance, infrastructure, and innovation funds, demonstrating his passion for driving constant progress in the field. He is a Cardano and SingularityNET Ambassador, co-founded Catalyst Swarm and has initiated numerous grassroots projects and networks in the DLT ecosystem.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felix-swarm-339590209

Yoram Ben-Zvi - Strategy Lead

A social entrepreneur. In the last five years, Yoram has been focusing on combining impact and business. A mentor with international board, operations, and startup experience. Yoram is an active Connector in Cardano ecosystem, onboarding investors and companies (i.e. seedstars.com, goodwall.io, Digifam.com).

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoram-ben-zvi-446836

We will all be developing the workshop content and delivering the material jointly.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Online Budget spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mt2nwPyeEniW4tx0vJmWxwkeyeQcB9_yYIgFuc0ab88/edit?usp=sharing

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

We are providing deep expert and specialized knowledge and have decided on a rate of 300 ADA per hour to reflect this, while providing a substantial discount on our normal workshop rates to the community. We feel that this information will enable teams to be more effective, organized, and aligned on purpose which will lead to greater flourishing and success. Thus we are happy to provide the same content and experience to the community at a lower rate while still recognizing and incentivizing the work as these workshops require many hours of preparation and represent the synthesis of many years of experience in these topics.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept