Season 7 Nominations: GrantNerd on the Grants Council

[Sov]

Hello,

First, thanks for the opportunity to serve as a Mission Reviewer on the Grants Council during Season 6. It has been an enriching experience working with the council.

As we move into Season 7, which is focused on driving TVL growth across the Superchain, I’m excited about the possibility of continuing to serve the Collective in a GrantNerd capacity. Below, you will find the details of my application:

Please link to your Optimist Profile or Organization ID:

Atlas

Please link to any contributions that demonstrate you meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the Charter for the specific Grants Council team you’re applying for:

• I am an experienced grants program operator and reviewer, having worked around grants in crypto since 2021 through multiple roles:
  • Experience as both grantor and grantee (secured funding from Polygon, Aave, Ethereum Foundation, Optimism, Uniswap, and more)
  • Led design and implementation of small and large-scale grant programs across web3, overseeing millions in funding allocations for public goods.
  • Served as Mission Reviewer for Season 6 Optimism Grants Council
  • Maintained a high review completion rate and participation metrics throughout the season.
  • Grants Researcher with published work at sov.mirror.xyz
• I have helped improve Season 6 both in community and operations by:
  • I led the council in rubric evaluations and completed 100% of my timely reviews.
  • Creation of OP Grants Council-specific documentation and process development including walkthroughs on Mission Reviews
  • 100% Participation Rate across proposals for Optimism Governance during my tenure.
  • Provided feedback to help applicants successfully navigate the Intake Review and Metric Verification stages and offered constructive suggestions to strengthen applications and align with mission objectives
• Helped improve evaluation criteria with regular feedback. Proposed specific improvements including the following:
  • Proposal: Improving Previous Funding Disclosure for Grant Applications
  • Optimism Grants Council Review Guidelines
  • Hosted two episodes of the Green Pill Podcast focused on the Optimism Grants Council
    • S6. Ep. 5 - Intents, Missions, and Metrics: Exploring OP GC W/ Jesse, Gonna
    • S6. Ep. 4 - Downstream Grant Programs - Expanding the Superchain with Katie & Paperimperium

Please disclose any anticipated conflicts of interest:

• Currently, I serve as Head of Grants at Gitcoin
• Active delegate in multiple ecosystems, including Radicle, ENS, and Arbitrum
• Serve as Optimism Grants Councilor/Delegate/Citizen in Season 6

Please verify that you understand you may be removed from this role via the Representative Removal proposal type in the Operating Manual

I understand

Please verify that you understand KYC will be required to receive Council rewards at the end of Season 7:

I understand

Please verify that you understand you may need to sign an agreement with the Foundation prior to onboarding:

I understand

Please verify that you are able to commit

~40 hours per month (10 hours per week) for the Final Reviewer role

~60 hours per month (15 hours per week) for the GrantNerd role

~120 hours per month (30 hours per week) for the Operations role

I am able to commit the necessary time each week to Council operations