Total to date

The roles and contributions of CC Admin team members include: Veteran Swarm Members, Community Advisors, Veteran Community Advisors, Funded Proposers, Stakepool Operators, IdeaFest and Governance Day Hosts, and ADA Holders.

The CC Admin team is the administrative arm of the Catalyst Circle. Its primary functions are to:

• Support Catalyst Circle meetings directly by providing vital facilitation and secretary services;
• Act as the memory layer to the Catalyst Circle by ensuring that all meetings are documented and stored in a manner that is open sourced and available for community consumption and/or comment.
• Organize, Facilitate, and Confirm the election of Catalyst Circle Members;
• Onboard Catalyst Circle representatives once elected and ensure continuity of operations;
• Track and report key deliverables and outcomes from the Catalyst circle
• Provide administrative support to Circle members by facilitating interaction with the broader community.

Like the Circle was born out of a need for communication between key stakeholder community groups within Catalyst, the CC Admin team was created to facilitate, track, and record interactions within the Circle itself. We strongly believe that this is the exact type of grassroots organizing and social development that Catalyst is designed for: a group of like minded individuals identify a problem, band together, and work to solve that problem. By stepping up and fulfilling this role, the CC Admin team allows the elected Circle members more time to focus on finding solutions to community identified problems, rather than spending that time completing tasks which are administrative or operational in nature.

Initially, CC Admin team members fulfilled the necessary functions on an interim and voluntary basis, however, this was deemed as unsustainable due to the significant amount of time and effort required. Moreover, CC Admin team members are expected to have a significant amount of accountability, not only to each other but also to the larger community; a level of commitment that we do not believe can be sustained on volunteerism.

We also started out with thinking that we would only need one facilitator and one secretary to cover the entire Catalyst Circle but we learned very quickly that we needed to bring on more people on board, to ensure continuity and coverage. That is why we have expanded the team to 3 secretaries and 3 facilitators. True to Catalyst, we are constantly learning, iterating, and experimenting with innovative ways to work together in pursuit of our mutual goals.

For the reasons explained above, and for many others we probably forgot to list, we are requesting that the Catalyst Community provide CC Admin team members a modest stipend for their efforts in delivering critical support to the Circle.

Member duties and responsibilities

Due to the emergent nature of the CC Admin team, current members have been self-identified or selected via the Swarm and Project Catalyst networks after seeking for additional ways to support and participate. This approach was necessary to ensure that the tasks were completed appropriately and on time. In order to continue providing services, these members will stay on while we introduce a new system for selecting the CC Admin team.

Starting with the election of CCv4, we are proposing to move to an election process similar to that of the Catalyst Circle, whereby CC Admin team members will submit their name for nomination and the winning individuals will present their case, and then be selected by the community. We believe that this is the most fair and open way for interested community members to be provided the opportunity to participate on the CC Admin team should they so choose.

All CC Admin team members, existing and future, are expected to:

• Have 10+ hours per week available for CC Admin Team duties and meetings.
• Have solid experience with Project Catalyst
• Have a working knowledge of the Catalyst Circle and what it does
• Be willing to work on their own facilitation or secretary skills

Each member also has the responsibility to:

• Regularly attend meetings every weeks (2-4 hours)
• Maintain an agile backlog list to track issues between meetings
• Review and comment on agenda issues, documents, and other materials ahead of time
• Learn and practice effective meeting procedures
• Attend training sessions focused on inclusive and lean startup leadership techniques
• Provide feedback on the effectiveness of the Admin Team

Roadmap (6 months) November 2021 - April 2022

November 2021

• Onboard CCv2 Members
• Develop Catalyst Circle Website
• Create Catalyst Circle Emails for Community Engagement
• Submit proposal to Fund 7

December 2021

• Launch Catalyst Circle website and make it accessible to the community.
• Organize, run, and finalize election for Catalyst Circle versions 3.

March 2022

• Organize, run, and finalize election for Catalyst Circle version 4.
• Organize, run, and finalize election for CC Admin team v3.

KPIs

• Number of Catalyst Circle Meetings facilitated.
• Number of Catalyst Circle meetings recorded and listed in github repository for community consumption.
• 2 completed elections for CCv3 and CCv4.
• Successful onboarding of 6 new CC Admin Team staff.

Accomplishments of Admin Team version 1

Risk Assessment

• Lack of Support for Catalyst Circle

• Without a CC Admin Team, the Catalyst Circle representatives would become responsible for the administration and operation of the circle, which would limit their time to work with the community and thereby reduce their impact. By removing this responsibility from CC representatives and shifting this to the CC Admin Team, CC reps are able to focus more attention to finding solutions. 

Budget breakdown:

Admin staff - Facilitators: $7500 (2500 x 3 Facilitators)

• Be present in all the Catalyst Circle meetings, every two weeks
• Create open and inclusive environment
• Ensure all voices are respected and Involved in the discussion
• Keep meeting focused and productive on the task at hand
• Capture action items and highlight outstanding items for action
• Support the Catalyst Circle in defining Agenda items for the next meeting(s)

Admin staff - Secretaries: $7500 (2500 x 3 Secretaries)

• Be present in all the Catalyst Circle meetings, every two weeks
• Coordinate CC Meeting agendas with the meeting facilitator
• Set up and record CC meetings on Zoom with the meeting facilitator
• Take notes and record comprehensive minutes from Catalyst Circle meetings
• Document & Track CC actions (e.g by git, Trello).
• Publish CC meeting recordings on IOHK YouTube
• Follow up on action items between meetings

Internal/external communication and organization tools: ($1000)

• Video conference/meeting (Zoom/hangout) x 3 months
• CC email hosting (google/zoho/etc)
• Domain purchase
• Otter AI
• JIRA