Please indicate if you are running to be the Council Lead or a Council Member:
Council Member.
Does this nomination represent an individual or organization:
On behalf of Agora.
Candidate country of residence (or, if an entity, incorporation and principle place of business):
Canada
Have you previously served on Optimism’s Security Council:
No, I haven’t.
Have you previously served on any other Council or Board in the Collective:
No, I haven’t.
Are you a representative of OP Labs:
No, I am not.
Are you a representative of another OP Chain:
No, I am not.
If you are a delegate, please provide the link to your delegate profile:
I am not a delegate.
If you are a member of the Citizens’ House, please link to your most recent attestation here:
I am not.
Please outline your contributions, and their impact, to the Optimism ecosystem to date:
I am the Chief Technology Officer at Agora. Agora is a Core Dev of the OP Collective and builds cutting edge governance solutions for the health and security of the OP Collective. In short, we were pivotal in moving OP Governance Onchain, let me explain how we did that.
Our primary contribution in the past few years has been: vote.optimism.io and the work we did on the Foundation Mission #64 in 2023. This lead us to the rebuilding and design of the advanced delegation schema for OP delegates and the launch of a new governor. Each day, each week, we ensure that the team at Agora is doing all we can to make the voting and delegation experience better for OP Delegates, and that the vote is strong, and secure. Whether we are building new voting modules like our Approval Voting module in 2023 (Pick a choice voting) or our new Optimistic Voting Module in 2024, we are pushing the boundaries and delivering quality service that gets better each week.
We were also the team behind: https://retrofunding.optimism.io/, the website and app that powers the new OP Project creation schema on EAS. We also built and maintain the OP Atlas Github repo that powers the code for the RetroFunding website. and the API that powers the RetroPGF Voting process over here: https://vote.optimism.io/api_v1.
We are deeply proud of the work we do for the Collective and we are humbled to have the opportunity to work so deeply with so many great Collective members.
Finally, at Agora we work with other incredible DAOs (Uniswap, ENS, Nouns) and are able to bring their ideas to the OP Collective and export what works for OP to other communities, making the entire Web3 ecosystem better and expanding the Collective.
Please demonstrate any non-Optimism experience you believe is relevant to this role:
Over the past two decades in the tech industry, I’ve established myself as a leader in building and scaling complex, real-time financial systems and large-scale platforms. My experience spans from innovative startups to established tech giants, always focusing on creating solutions that empower users and foster collaboration.
At Clearco, as VP of Product and Growth, I spearheaded the development of groundbreaking financial products like Invoice Funding and Buy Now, Pay Later. These initiatives supported over 5,000 founders and facilitated the movement of nearly $500 million in capital. The core of my work involved constructing scalable systems capable of handling intricate financial transactions in real time, ensuring both seamless operations and sustainable growth.
Prior to Clearco, I played a pivotal role at Tilt, where I managed and scaled a robust system enabling peer-to-peer payments. This work contributed significantly to the platform’s success, ultimately leading to its acquisition by Airbnb. Throughout my career, I’ve consistently leveraged my deep technical expertise and strategic understanding of product growth to build and lead teams that deliver cutting-edge solutions in the fintech space.
My professional journey extends beyond these roles. I’ve founded over 10 startups, successfully exiting from two. This entrepreneurial experience has honed my ability to manage and optimize large, complex systems requiring real-time processing and high reliability.
What truly drives me is a passion for grassroots growth, community building, and collective decision-making. This enthusiasm fuels my commitment to creating products that genuinely empower users, particularly in the Web3 space. Here, decentralized governance and community-driven initiatives are not just buzzwords, but the foundation of innovation.
As I continue to lead and innovate in the tech space, my focus remains on creating value through technology while fostering strong, collaborative communities. It’s about building systems and products that make a tangible difference, all while remembering that our most valuable resource is time - and how we choose to spend it.
Please elaborate on your technical background, including your github handle (this will be used to calculate your github expertise score and will be added to your nomination before it goes to a vote by the Foundation):
My github handle is @kent on Github.
Throughout my 20+ year career in the tech industry, I’ve cultivated a deep and diverse technical background, specializing in building and scaling complex, real-time financial systems and large-scale platforms.
My expertise spans across multiple programming languages and frameworks, with a particular focus on those commonly used in fintech and blockchain development. I’m proficient in languages such as Python, Ruby, JavaScript/TypeScript (including Node.js), and Solidity for smart contract development. I’ve also worked extensively with frameworks like React for front-end development and Next.js for building robust back-end services.
In terms of database technologies, I have hands-on experience with both SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (MongoDB, Cassandra) databases, crucial for managing the vast amounts of data in financial systems. My work often involves designing and implementing scalable architectures, utilizing microservices and containerization technologies like Docker and Kubernetes.
At Agora, I was foundational is designing and building our onchain and offchain platform architecture to ensure that we were able to work with different DAOs, on different chains in a fast, and effective way to deliver the test technical governance solutions we can.
I’m a strong advocate for clean, maintainable code and have implemented rigorous testing and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines in my projects. I believe in the power of open-source collaboration and regularly contribute to community-driven initiatives.
Please elaborate on your experience with relevant member (or Lead) requirements:
At Agora, we regularly work with and listen to various stakeholders at OP including members of the security council and protocol work. We will read their thoughts and listen when they weight in on designs or future protocol directions.
In fact, a big learning we had when we rolled out our new governor was not getting enough feedback from the security council and we are continuing to redouble our efforts there. as we try and bring as much transparency and collaboration to our complex governance decisions.
Please describe your philosophy on what makes a good Security Council member:
Council members need to be:
- Informed
- Opinionated
- Have strong opinions loosely held
- Listen more than speak
and ultimately integrate a bunch of information along with the goals and mission of the Collective and make the right recommendation or decision for the better of the Collective regardless of what that means for you personally.
The proposals and decisions that we will put forth / vet will shape the future of the OP Collective and not something I take lightly.
Please disclose any anticipated conflicts of interest:
I will act with the Collectives best interest at heart, but also want to acknowledge that Agora is a governance software provider and may at in the future be deployed on other applications and ecosystems that could have competing interests with Optimism.
Please verify that you understand you may be removed from this role via the Representative Removal proposal type in the Operating Manual:
I do understand.
Please verify that you understand that election is subject to successful completion of a Foundation screen which may include KYC/AML, sanctions screening, and a requirement to sign a standard contract: [No/Yes]
Yes
Please verify that you are able to commit ~5 active hours / month to fulfill the Member Responsibilities. Please note that there is an “on-call” aspect to this role that is not fully encompassed in the active hours estimate: [No/Yes]
Yes