[Approved] She is Near DAO: NDC V1 Application [NDC Budget Subcategory code HOM-004P-1-1 Ecosystem]

Near Community and nodes She is Near
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She is Near

V1 Funding request

Section 1. Introduction

Our group was founded at the time of the first NDC election. We noticed the disproportionate amount of women running for office relative to the ecosystem women participation. By voicing our options in public channels we found ourselves united in similar thinking, and started a women in NDC telegram group; we invited a few women, and those women invited more and more women until we could see both the need and the impact we could make.

Women offer unique, collaborative, and vital perspectives to businesses they lead. The Harvard Business Review highlights, “firms with more women in senior positions are more profitable, more socially responsible, and provide safer, higher-quality customer experiences” (Research: Adding Women to the C-Suite Changes How Companies Think). Inspired by this insight, SHE IS NEAR, our new DAO, recognizes the perfect timing with the NDC v1 launch to integrate women’s leadership strengths into this new phase of self-governance on NEAR.

We aim to:

  1. encourage professional growth and networking among women on NEAR and partnerships with Women in web3 organisations at large.

  2. ensure a supportive and secure environment for women to express themselves and build freely.

  3. function as a dynamic grassroots DAO to bolster women-led initiatives and give them professional training

  4. Help to attract and grow women devs and builders to the Blockchain

Our Mission is to become a grassroots DAO to gather, support, fund, and amplify women led projects. NEAR has a very mixed reputation as a protocol for diverse voices, and women feel this acutely. Although women and men can, do and should work together women ex

So, we got to action:

  • The first thing we decided as a group was our need to support and amplify the women running for the NDC;
  • we created original aspirational graphics, shared them in our personal social media channels, and they in turn were picked up by the NDC Mods;
  • we shared throughout the ecosystem. We had great feedback from women around the world that we had captured the vibe and feeling of being on chain.

Based on this we started to meet onchain, online, and in calls. The conversations were amazing, and the women who wanted to both support NEAR and each other was clear. We then decided to become a DAO:

  • We prepared our Charter and budget, then had our first meeting with HoM on the 20th of October 2023.

  • We voted for an interim council for 3 months to help support the infrastructure of the initiative as well as the needed brand and marketing

  • We chose to put in “sweat equity” our time and resources: we created a brand in a “Co-branding” innovative fashion, which was showcased at NEARCON.

  • We had a booth at NEARCON where we distributed 80 t-shirts and over a 100 stickers to eager men and women coming forward to know more about us. Link to activation here

  • Attended NDC Spaces- Women in Near - 142 people tuned and 808 views

Moving forward to are looking to impact NEAR in the following concrete ways that will align with both the NEAR goals and the NDC:

  • Identify the best and the brightest
  • Empower and train
  • Create NEAR-centric education programs
  • Support the best projects that leverage BOS

Partners:

She Is Near will focus our efforts to create highly strategic partnerships that will support our members and impact NEAR. The critical missing link for women on the Blockchain is not having a powerful networking mechanism. Women In Web3 groups exist all over the world, acting as business development, education and developer recruitment.

We will be partnering with individual small groups to draw them to She Is Near, while also developing partnerships with major Layer 1 players to ensure a diverse set of people, projects and insights

Target platinum partners:

  • SheFi
  • HerDAO
  • BluDAO
  • Polygon
  • DisruptorDAO
  • TechEquity
  • SuperTeams

Section 2. Previous Funding

We got seed funding from MDAO in November: 4,500USD. Proposal here.

Section 3. DAO URLs

Is Your DAO/Project Targeting a Specific Country?

No, we are an international group.

Which region will your DAO/ Project support?

We support all the regions since women live all over the world and are half of the world population. Currently we have core members representing LATAM, Africa, US (west coast and east coast), Turkey, Eastern Europe and UK.

Section 4. Applicant Information

Section 5. Team Members

Please provide information about Team Members. Information should include (name, roles, near.social profile handles)

Section 6. Experience

What related qualifications, experience, or track record does your team bring to this initiative?

Short Summary of Your Councils Professional Experience

Blessed: Council and marketing lead for C1 guild, Rising DAO. I served as the lead marketer for the NFT series"Artist from a new planet" and currently leading marketing for Hackbox Hackathon (WebFusion Lagos). I contributed to NDC MarCom with focus on election education and OG nomination. I’m passionate about sound communication and strategic Marketing which I believe influences the success or failure of every project. https://www.linkedin.com/in/blessed-ohadoma-42272923a/ 4

Dabbie: Council and Education Lead for Spirityut DAO founder reconciliation WG over 3years experience in teaching, a writer, completed the Near Technical Speaker program member of the Near research collective, contributor to Near Africa. https://www.linkedin.com/in/daberechi-emmanuela-619316236/ 2

Krik: With over 15 years of diverse experience in global companies and NGOs, including Project Management, Governance, HR, and PA. I am passionate about crypto, communities, and NFTs. I serve as a Community Manager to Mr. Brown, creating engaging content and inviting guests for Near at Night Spaces and Core Contributor to NFT WG.

Johanga https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanga-om/ 4
https://twitter.com/johanga108

Sarah Sarah Kornfeld - Founding member and Strategist, United States - RISING Partners | LinkedIn 3 Sarah is an innovation marketing executive with 20+ years in positioning and marketing internet, media and insights technology platforms. She has worked/at Netflix GoogleEarth, Sun, NearPod and over 15 startups with two acquisitions. She co-founded Rising DAO, a content innovation DAO that is currently in development for the RISING TREND TRACKER for cross-platform tracking of creative/entertainment projects onchain. She was communications lead for the GWG, and co-ran the AMA’s for the NDC. She has international training in public relations, producing and writing in New York, Silicon Valley and London. Her journalism on the Creative Economy can be read in the Los Angeles Review of Books. She has published two books in the United States and Europe. Sarah Kornfeld - She is Near | LinkedIn

Lex: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lex-431933121/ 1

I am the co-founder and creative director of NEAR studio, a creative agency exclusive for the NEAR ecosystem. Just before that I was a NEAR Foundation full time employee as senior graphic designer for a year before spinning out with NEAR studio. I am the founder of DeeDee a BOS first dApp project that just got a grant from MDAO. I was the creative for the NDC brand, a core contributor for the GWG in its first 5 months and an active contributor to the marketing team for 3 months after that. I have a BA in marketing and I have worked in advertising agencies for clients such as Adidas, Nike, Uber, Deliveroo, and Samsung. I have worked in Fintech and Edtech as an UX product designer, and design manager. All together, I have 13 years of experience in marketing, design and communications. Links: www.nearstudio.co www.heylex.uk DeeDee white paper

Section 7. DAO/Project Charter/White or Litepaper and Goals

Project Overview: Presentation with a short High-Level 6 bullet points summary

  • See our full Charter here
  • Lite White Paper here
  • See our HoM presentation here

What Problem Are You Aiming to Solve?
The lack of gender diversity Ain the NEAR ecosystem, toxicity and unwelcoming culture that women on NEAR encounter… Though, big picture, attracting the best and brightest women devs, founders, marketers and investors to NEAR, and to amplify our work.

She is NEAR Mission
Our aim is to develop a comprehensive network with multi-platform partners, investors and projects that leverage the best of NEAR technology.

How can your DAO / Project achieve NDC priorities, goals, and KPIs?

She is NEAR Vision
She is NEAR DAO’s vision is aligned with NDC Core Values, as outlined by the CoA for NDC V1.

I. Empowering the Ecosystem (for the people, by the people)

  1. Attraction of Women in Web3 influencers from outside the ecosystem.
  2. Collaboration with famous women and media outlets.
  3. Support for existing ecosystem women.
  4. Implementation of NDC marketing strategy and content plan to She is NEAR marketing activities.

II. Respected by the Ecosystem (fair, accountable, transparent, and reliable)

  1. Comprehensive support for ecosystem women-lead projects in marketing and development, including consultations (mentorship).
  2. Weekly/monthly workshops with women-experts.

III. Dedicated to the Ideas of Decentralization (antifragile, scalable, with collective decision making).
Unification of She is NEAR activities for women in different routes, including consultations and strategy development/mentorship.

IV. Efficient Operation (don’t be a burden, instead help the community to be more efficient).
Goal: Fast and efficient payments and resolutions.

V. Continuous Improvement via Weekly Iterations (plan ahead, measure results, and adjust continuously)

Metrics

  1. Accounts retention after 1/2/4/8 weeks — the percentage of accounts that continue interacting on-chain over a given time period (higher is better).
  2. Account acquisition cost — budget divided by the number of accounts interacting through the funded initiative (lower is better).
  3. Median number of dApps used by P95 accounts retained for 1+ week (higher is better).
  4. Number of accounts retained for 1+ week using at least 3 dApps (higher is better).
  5. Social engagement score — a compound metric of the number of posts, likes, and followers/views in social media produced by users.

CoA Priorities that She is NEAR is going to realize in our work:
P-1: Widening Adoption of NEAR
P-1.1: Outreach to New Audiences

Continuous engagement with diverse audiences serves as a cornerstone for attracting new community members and fostering innovative ideas.

By forming working groups creating their programs for education, partnership and onboarding we will achieve our goals. Each working group will set up their KPI’s and create detailed budgets to achieve those.

Roadmap of your DAO/project, Milestones, and achievements

  • Promote awareness of the NEAR ecosystem and community, as well as the NDC, by collaborating with different Women in Web3 groups.
  • Establish a strong presence within NEAR, providing a supportive, educational, and incubative environment for women in the ecosystem.
  • Demonstrate measurable and objective KPIs to showcase the impact of women’s participation and contributions.

Section 8. Budget

For a full breakdown of the budget for the next three months, see link here.

3 months overview

She is Near DAO December 2023 January 2023 February 2023 % per month
Description Amount USD Amount USD Amount USD Amount USD
Social Media, Marketing & Communications 6000 4500 4500 5000
Partnerships and Media 11000 10000 10000 10333.33
Technical 10000 6000 6000 7333.33
Educational Programs 3500 10000 10000 7833.33
Retroactive payment 2500 2500 2500 2500
Council 7000 7000 7000 7000
TOTAL 40000 40000 40000 40000

What is the length of Commitment to Delivering Your Project? Will your team be working on this project full time?

Our core team will work part- time. We have committed to 2 more months in our positions, and in January we will do an election for the next council and advisor members for the next 6 months.

Will your team be fully remunerated from this budget?

The council, consisting of 6 members, will receive monthly 7000 USD to divide among themselves, which is a symbolic amount because their efforts and value are higher than that.

Section 9. Project/DAO longevity

  • Does your project/DAO require one-time or continuous funding?

Continuous funding

  • Will your DAO/Project device way of sustaining itself after this round of funding?

We need NDC’s support for starting up and working towards sustainability. We foresee the partnerships and media sponsors to add revenue to our DAO.

What are the possible roadblocks to the success of your project/DAO?

More hate attacks, intimidation of members, lack of security and protection, bullying that will disencourage women to be part of DAO. That is why is important to:

  • Increase representation of women in the next NDC election by 5%
  • Create a solid position inside NEAR of a supportive, educational, incubative space for building women led programs
  • Increased industry and media awareness of NEAR as women friendly
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Good morning! I am happy to support and nominate your DAO for NDC !

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Great proposal for the benefit of NDC ecosystem I believe

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As an NDC House Of Merit member, I happy to recommend sponsorship of Women DAO.

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Thank you @Dacha we appreciate

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Can you clarify what the Retroactive Payment item represents? Also, why is it a recurrent monthly item?

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Cant wait to see the magic this brings to the ecosystem…:fire::fire::100::100::100:

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Congratulations for all the work you put into this proposal and bringing “She is NEAR” to life!
I have faith that with this initiative we will help to bridge the gap for women to join NEAR’s community and have more representation on web3.
Wish to everyone the very best on this journey :purple_heart:

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Hi @satojandro,

Retroactive payment budget is design to give us some room for those active members that work on an initiative that might arise, that might be outside the proposed initiatives breakdowns.

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When women build, expect magic. I’m super excited about this initiative.

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On chain poll created

https://near.org/astraplusplus.ndctools.near/widget/home?page=dao&tab=proposals&daoId=congress-hom-v1.ndc-gwg.near&proposalId=7

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Hi :seedling: The proposal is excellent! Well done :+1:t4:

I was wondering if you could edit it or add some information to ensure a commitment to diversity and inclusion of the LGBTIQ+ collective. neurodiverse individuals and non-English speakers.

In order to include the Lgbtiq+ collective in the project, it should be explicitly mentioned and elaborated on, rather than assumed, specially in terms of including non-binary people. They might not identify as “women” as some peole do not like the use of a binary gender language. Some members of the LGBTIQ+ might feel completely comfortable and able to express their personal traits in She is Near DAO.

Also, it would be interesting to mention that we need to promote the use of local languages besides English. It’s very important in terms of on-boarding. She is Near Dao is an international project, but it is very common to overlook the use of English in an overwhelming way.

Neurodiversity is an issue that I believe should also specifically be addressed in order to support the DAO members, specially in terms of diverse communities, as it affects those differently. Thank you for your hard work! :muscle:t4::cherry_blossom::sunflower:

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The purpose of this Proposal is clear.

It will be unfair to people and community who pushed for this to now include the LGBTQ int this.

What this means is you will be opening the door to men and people that does not identify as female/She to get into a program thats directly dedicated to women and by extention Trans-women. Men can decide to identify as gay just to get access to this program. What stops them?. Or what stops a man to simply identify as a woman even when not trans to just to get access to the resources of this program. Its imperative we follow the laid down purpose and rules of this program so as not to open the doors to non isses…

While the LGBTQ community is a valuable community of the ecosystem, it is imperative no one from any section impede on the purpose of this program

Best thing is for you or any other person interested to draft out a program that adds value to Near and its dedicated to the LGBTQ community…

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Hi,

As a member of the LGBTIQ+ community and proposer of our inclusion I’d like to clarify that I did not mean that gay men would be an active part of She is Near, as the DAO is for women, including transwomen. I use the abbreviation as a practical way, but I do think that non-binary (NB) people have a right to be in She is Near if they want to explore their femininity. When NB wish to do this, where do you propose for them to go? She is Near is the logical place.

This whole issue of men masquerading is a very tired and mangled argument that goes nowhere, in my opinion. If I wanted to be controversial, I could argue for the opposite. The fact of the matter is that the queer community exists and we need a place to feel at home, and so far, I’ve felt fantastic interacting in Near, that’s why I am so keen in proposing my two cent to any debate, etc.

If you believe that I should draft out a program that includes me and LGBTIQ+ and allies that believe our collective has a right to belong to She is Near, you are in fact disenfranchising a big part of the Near community by casting us out from She is Near. I could of course create such a program, however I am the founder orf Dao Ashé which is an international multilingual inclusive Dao for Bipoc, LGBTIQ+, neurodiverse and allies who are artists, developers and buidlers, and I welcome everybody to join, however Dao Ashé is not only for women.

I would like to know what other people think about this, and I suspect there is a variety of opinions. I would also like to know @chloe stand on this, if she cared to elaborate. Cheers

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Lots of interesting discussion here. I was tagged so I shall respond with my personal opinion.

At the end of the day, I generally feel as though each we’ve community should try their best to be as inclusive as possible, while sticking to the goals of their community.

If She is Near is mean to support those who identify as “women” specifically, then those that do not feel comfortable with that designation might not feel comfortable joining the DAO, and that’s alright imo. As you stated they could join the DAO that you help to manage and there is a place for them within the near ecosystem.

Maybe there needs to be a Near is Queer DAO for more generalized queer founder/builder support or if there’s a large enough community of NB individuals specifically who want to ensure their voice specifically is heard, should maybe create the NBDAO :woman_shrugging:t5:.

Either way, I think it is relatively straightforward for the She is Near DAO to support those that self identify as women and the DAO has trying to use research as well to highlight the importance of gender diversity (specifically highlighting the role or women) in the web3 space.

I’m all for supporting the LGBTQ+ community, but not every DAO needs to have a specific LGBTQ+ funding plan. Just my opinion and I’m definitely not the near trans spokesperson :sweat_smile::smiling_face_with_three_hearts:.

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As I said to Chloe, of course she’s not the trans spokesperson LOL, but she has been in Near for a long time, and she has an idea of the type of discussions and debates that may have occurred already in the space regarding this issue. Thank you, Chloe, for your response and engagement. It does clarify things to me. I however believe that the LGBTQI+ community is just part of our diversity, and should feel welcome in most collective groups. There’s no reason not to. Thanks, everyone for reading my opinion :pray:t5:

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Hi these is a decentralized system and we can prefer to remain anonymous, pseudonymous and also disclose information too.
Introducing gender identity isn’t making any point make a system opened for all however the vision and purpose can still be focused on Near.

No need for the emphasis, Saying Men identifies as women can join this program meaning all men can also participate, cause I really don’t know what you’re heading at or trying to promote.

Are we trying to promote Near or something different?? If Men identified as women can has access to this project I insist Men as a gender can also have same access if not so I would assume this is to support Men Identifying as women.

In summary

  • If Men identified as women can participate then Men identified as when can also participate.
  • If Men identified as woman can participate, then Other Men in the Ecosystem would want to participate too and they would want to identify as women since that’s the only way they can participate.
  • Please be specific if this Project is for only women then it should be for only men.
  • I love the concept of this project but right now allow room for Men cause they identify as women is like allowing room for all.

I can see you’re a big supporter of LQBTQ which is nice.

IMG_1515
IMG_15151170Ă—1001 213 KB

However if you want Men identified as women play a role in “SheisNear” then to make the system at equilibrium you also have to allow Men identified as men partake also.
Its an open web it’s either you are supporting women with this project or vice versa, lets not get confused here.

But if you want to support LQBTQ also make it known in your charter so we know.

I just noticed you’re not even a council in this DAO, I wonder why you requested to edit information in support to your initiative.
Thank you :raised_hands:

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I’m really sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean by men identifying as women … I was referring to non-binary people who would want to express their femininity. Please, clarify, if you may.

I am responding to a call by She is Near in their Telegram chat asking for feeback and support for their application.

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Lets stop this here as this is a really sensitive topic that will offend people not matter what. We will just let Paloma talk it out with sheisnear council in dms instead and not continue on with this discussion. Lets make NEAR as inclusive as possible to everyone no matter what they identify and develop NEAR :pray:

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