September 8th, 2025 Budget Comm Minutes

Attended (Members)	Kristijan Kowalsky	Chair
Attended (Members)	Mercy	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Megan Hess	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Rita Mistry	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Pepe	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Dimmitri	Committee Member
Attended (Members)	Chris Baird	Committee Member
Attended (Guests/Staff)	Jack Briggs	Executive Team
Attended (Guests/Staff)	Tex McCutchen	Intersect Staff
Attended (Guests/Staff)	Dave Dionisio	Observer
Attended (Staff)	Lloyd Duhon	Secretary
Absent (Members)	Jose Velazquez	Committee Member (Not listed in attendance)
Absent (Guests/Staff)	Nicolas Cerny	Observer (Not listed in attendance)

Agenda:

• Status of Treasury Withdrawals and Smart Contract Development: Updates on the progress of contracts on hold (IOG and Intersect), the launch of new proposals (ADAT, Jono), TWE's stablecoin minting process, and the development roadmap for smart contract features (V2 in 2026).

• Defining the 2026 Budget Strategy and Oversight: Presentation of the initial framework for the 2026 budget process (start-to-end cycle) and discussion on the committee's role in providing oversight of Intersect's own finances and performance for the board.

• Intersect's Organizational Vision and Core Focus: Discussion of Intersect's proposed strategic pivot into three divisions (Committees, Administration, BAU) and the call for committees to define their 2-3 biggest challenges/opportunities to focus on for the next 12 months.

Decisions/Actions

Smart Contract Deployment & Proposal Status	Jack Briggs provided updates on the smart contract deployment. 22 proposals have been successfully raised, and some have claimed their first milestones. Contracts on hold are primarily IOG-related (due to operational checks) and the Intersect contract (held to prioritize community proposals). Legal issues regarding the CDH contract structure have been resolved.	Jack Briggs to update the knowledge base with Intersect's contract details once signed this week.
Current Withdrawal Schedule	The ADAT proposal and Jono (Harmonica Labs) proposal are targeted for smart contract deployment this week. The TWE proposal (stablecoin minting) requires an operational call tomorrow.	Lloyd Duhon to share the outputs of this meeting with Nick to maintain communication while Jack is catching up.
TWE Stablecoin Minting (Disperse Function)	The TWE proposal will be denominated in USDM and USDA via a new mint (approx. $7.3M) rather than using existing liquidity. This requires utilizing the smart contract's disperse function, a new feature needing extra checks and an operational call tomorrow.	Jack Briggs' team to hold an operational call with the TWE team tomorrow to finalize stablecoin minting process.
Smart Contract Dashboard & Features	The committee inquired about dashboard development. Jack confirmed both the Cardano treasury.fi (for drawdowns) and Zerus dashboards (for performance) are being maintained. Planned features include calling up milestone reports via IPFS links and developing new features (like multi-role milestone submission) for a potential V2 smart contract in early 2026.	Jack Briggs to confirm funding for Sunday Labs and Zerus to continue development and maintenance of the dashboards.
Retrospective & Future Budget Process Framework	Rita Mistry reported on her work with Nico Cerny to develop a holistic framework for the 2026 budget process. This covers the full cycle: initiative to budget template, review, approval, withdrawal, payment, and monitoring.	Rita Mistry to present the initial framework for the 2026 budget process to the committee next Monday.
Board Presentation for 2026 Strategy	Gerard Moroney (Board Chair) requested the committee prepare recommendations for the 2026 budget process to present to the board at the end of September. He stressed the need for the committee to take on an oversight role of Intersect's own finances/processes.	The committee to prioritize preparing the 2026 budget process recommendations for the end-of-September board meeting.
Intersect's Organizational Strategy	Jack Briggs outlined his vision for Intersect's structure into three divisions: 1) Committees (solving core Cardano challenges), 2) Administration (contractual/legal, held accountable by members), and 3) BAU (upgrades, repos). He stressed that the Administration function should be held accountable by members but not be the primary focus for member effort.
Revenue Streams & Administration Role	Chris Baird challenged the risk of Intersect taking on too many external administration roles (like SNEK's), suggesting it could divert resources from the core convening/facilitation role. Jack acknowledged wrestling with the sustainability of the admin function and the potential for a dedicated, separate revenue stream for future administration services.
Solving Core Challenges (Member-Driven)	The primary focus for members should be solving 10 big challenges/opportunities for Cardano, with committees driving the solutions. Intersect staff's role is to support the momentum, research, and basic administration for these member-driven initiatives.	All committees encouraged to define 2-3 big challenges/opportunities they will target in the next 12 months.
Committee Oversight of Intersect	Dave Dionisio and Gerard Moroney suggested the committee should take on an oversight role for Intersect's internal finances, acting as a subcommittee of the board to advise on spending and performance.	The committee to define its advisory and oversight role regarding Intersect's internal budget.
Budget Survey Update	The internal budget committee survey results were released to the committee for review, and this data will be used to help design the 2026 process framework.	Committee members to review the internal budget survey results before next Monday's meeting.