Talking Teal and Community

Anna Alexa is a Developer Relations Partner leading developer community programs at the Celo Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting the development of the Celo blockchain. Celo is a layer-1 protocol on a mission to help build a carbon-negative financial system that creates the conditions of prosperity for all.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Anna led Community Growth at the Maker Foundation, an organization supporting MakerDAO, the decentralized lending protocol on Ethereum. She assisted in community efforts to fully decentralize the project. Anna is a mentor at Kernel Community, an educational fellowship, and an active contributor to Meta Gamma Delta, a DAO funding women-led projects. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York, where she created an Interdisciplinary major in Media Studies and Entrepreneurship.

#FridayFutures Highlight 35: Anna Alexa, Developer Relations Partner - Celo Foundation

How did you get into the Web3 space?

It's a long story but the thread of community runs through it all. I had a seed of community planted early on. One of my first internships was back when I was finishing high school, maybe my senior year before going off to college. I interned at a small startup housed at General Assembly in Flatiron, New York. They were running coding boot camps and leasing space to startups. I remember they were looking for an intern to work under their community manager. At that time, I wasn't even sure what a community manager did; it was a relatively new role.

I applied and got the internship, spending a semester there during the spring. I learned a lot about user-generated content because this startup focused on users creating whiteboard-style tutorials for iPads. They needed people to moderate content, build a community, and encourage more content creation. This was a new field and industry at the time.

After that internship, I graduated and didn't immediately pursue community management. The seed was planted, but it didn't manifest until later. In college, I studied media. I wanted to be in the media studies department, but I was also fascinated by how technology would change the nature of work.

I even remember writing at a job fair that the job I would have didn't exist yet. I believed something would change how we work, and it did. I found a way to create my major, combining media studies, marketing, and entrepreneurship. It was intellectually stimulating because there weren't courses to teach what was happening in the field and one of the best way to learn was by doing.

At the end of my college journey I joined a startup accelerator program, exploring my own ideas, and learning more by doing than in classes. After graduating, I didn't see a traditional job path. I ventured into consulting and started a boutique agency focused on media consulting. That's when I discovered a significant overlap between marketing, travel, and crypto enthusiasts. Falling down the crypto rabbit hole was the beginning of the rest of the story.

How did you find MakerDAO?

I started attending a lot of meetups while traveling and doing freelance work for traditional Web2 companies. Then I discovered this whole other community, and a light switch went on. I realized this was what I meant when I said new technologies would change the nature of work. It wasn't just Web2 companies; although they evolved, creating new roles like social media manager, a role that didn't exist when I was in school.

I felt like I was constantly on the fringe exploring this new industry.. That's when I started a blog as a way to learn more about the space, which allowed me to get press passes to attend conferences and write about them. I got to attend the Malta AI and Blockchain Summit in 2018 or 2019, which fueled my interest but I was still just an observer, not yet working in the field. At the beginning of 2020 I was looking to stop traveling and move back to New York City and find my next full time role, but shortly after the world went into quarantine. Suddenly I had more time on my hands, and friends in the industry encouraged me to pivot into crypto since I'd always been interested. I spent several months diving deep into it. I found the MakerDAO community because they had an amazing contributor program. You could contribute as a freelancer and learn simultaneously. It was a great way to onboard people into the crypto industry through work and meaningful contributions.

I had the skills needed for the work since I'd been doing similar tasks. We were building a community portal to onboard more people through documentation. I jumped into that work, found it fascinating, and was intrigued by the idea of onboarding newcomers. I started creating more programs and eventually got noticed for my contributions. I ended up getting hired by the Foundation to lead community programs because Maker was transitioning from the Foundation to a DAO. They needed people with a passion for community to navigate this transition and turn it into a fully DAO-operated organization. It was a wild ride, and I learned so much.

What’s the story behind your transition from Maker to Celo?

I spent over a year at Maker, and it was a pivotal time. When I was at the Foundation, my role was unique because I knew that my purpose there was to decentralize my own job. I had a timeline, and I'd be successful when I'd essentially decentralized my own role at the Foundation. I feel incredibly lucky because I was there at the right time, in the right place, with the right people. I learned so much working with the Foundation team as they gradually decentralized.

I knew my role would end, so I had a deadline in mind. I knew I'd only be there for a relatively short time. I had options, like joining the DAO and contributing to one of the pathways I was creating. At the time these pathways were called core units, where people would receive funding from the DAO and work for the DAO on specific projects. It was one of the early experiments of individuals working for a decentralized organization, not a traditional company. It? was also an uncertain path, with many questions about salary, taxes, and benefits.

I also had a personal fork in the road. I could jump into the DAO experience headfirst or take a pause, reflect, and explore other opportunities. Many companies were interested in speaking to someone who had experienced what Maker had gone through which was the transition from foundation to being a DAO. I had some conversations, and Celo ended up recruiting me. It was intriguing because they were much earlier in their journey. I was one of the first hires at the Maker Foundation when they split from cLabs. It was an opportunity to apply the skills I had developed to an earlier stage project.

At Celo, I joined the ecosystem team where my role was similar, focusing on community programs. It was an exciting transition.

What’s the difference between Celo and Maker? What sets them apart from other protocols?

Maker is a borrowing and lending protocol on Ethereum, with stablecoin DAI as one it’s core products.? But it has since evolved so much that it's challenging to keep up with all that Maker has become today.

Celo is a layer-one blockchain? that also has stablecoin protocol, Mento. . I used to describe it this way: Mento, is to? Celo, what? Maker is to Ethereum. There's now a proposal for Celo to become a layer 2.?

Can you share more about why Celo is looking to become Layer 2?

The proposal came around in July, announced by cLabs during the EthCC this year. Originally, cLabs was the technical partner that bootstrapped Celo protocol. The idea has since evolved into a governance proposal that went through a vote and passed a temperature check indicating that the community wanted Celo to move in that direction.

It’s an interesting? time to be a layer-one protocol. When Celo initially launched about four years ago, it was the first EVM-compatible layer 1 with proof of stake, long before Ethereum made the transition to proof of stake. It offered EVM compatibility, low transaction costs, and fast settlement , but it was only? possible as a separate layer 1 blockchain.

However, in the years since, Ethereum has moved to? proof of stake, and there are now several other layer 1 solutions with similar features. This shift has led Celo to align more closely with Ethereum and focus on scaling Ethereum rather than becoming a standalone layer 1 ecosystem.

There's a lot more to learn about this proposal by reading the forum posts and discussions. But in summary, it's a significant change for Celo, reflecting the evolving landscape in which it operates.

What is the role of a Foundation?

Typically, in cases like Maker and Celo, a Foundation plays a key role in stewarding the ecosystem around the protocol or layer 1 blockchain. This often involves a setup where there's a technical partner, like labs or a similar entity, responsible for engineering, product development, and sometimes research or other technical aspects. Simultaneously, a Foundation is usually responsible for managing the ecosystem and guiding its growth.

When I was on the ecosystem team at the Foundation, I used to describe our role as the bridge connecting the technical protocol and the community. Back when I focused on community work, my primary goal was to facilitate the flow of resources. This included funding, knowledge transfer, technical talent, or even forming teams within the community. Our aim was to empower the community to take action and contribute to the growth of the ecosystem. Foundations often act as catalysts, jump-starting ecosystem growth and providing the initial support needed for sustainable development.

What’s the most exciting thing you’ve learned that you want others to know?

To help you understand better, I'll provide some context on what I do now and how it's different from my previous role in developer relations. I transitioned to my current role at the beginning of this year, around January. I made this move because I realized that for a company like Celo, which is a layer 1 protocol, one of the most critical communities is the developer community. While users, ecosystem partners, and startup founders are all essential stakeholders in growing the ecosystem, developers are often the most crucial segment.

In my current role as a developer partner, I've been working on executing a roadmap for events and thinking about how to create in-person activations for developer onboarding. One of our most successful strategies has been participating in ETH Global hackathons. These hackathons have been instrumental in onboarding new developers to Ethereum and have provided us with invaluable feedback. It's during hackathons that you discover what breaks, what needs improvement, and what tools are genuinely effective for building.

Even for the transition to layer 2 solutions, we've received so much feedback by being present at hackathons. We've also gained insights into developer tooling and what works best. Ultimately, our goal is to have the developer community use our tools to build products and applications on top of our platform.

My biggest tip would be to engage in hackathons as they're an excellent way to discover new potential builders and founders and to receive critical feedback on what's working and what's not. Additionally, I've had the privilege to travel and attend conferences that are less hackathon-focused, which has provided further insights into the developer ecosystem.?

How do you decide which conferences to prioritize and how do you measure the success of these engagements?

In the past, the strategy across the crypto space was often to be everywhere because it helped with awareness. However, people have become more selective and tactical in choosing which events to sponsor and participate in. There are now a few key events throughout the year that have become schelling? points for the community. Even if a company doesn't sponsor a big conference, they know it's a significant milestone event, and there are usually good side events or partnership opportunities.

When I look at the calendar, I focus on those key moments, those keystone events that we know will have a big impact. For example, DevCon 2024 is a massive focal point for people. So, the first task is identifying these keystone events and then determining if there are opportunities to participate in the main event or create smaller but meaningful activations.

Not every event or activation is suitable for every company. Sponsoring a large event might not make sense for an early-stage company that doesn't need extensive product feedback. In such cases, hosting a smaller, intimate event like an ecosystem dinner could be a more effective choice. It all comes down to understanding your priorities, your timeline, and the needs of your community. Being clear about these factors helps determine the right activations.

What approaches are most successful in driving user adoption within ecosystems?

Adoption primarily comes from the development of high-quality application layers built on top of a protocol. One of the most exciting use cases in our ecosystem is the recent partnership announced with Opera Browser, creating Mini Pay. This partnership aims to provide millions of users with access to a wallet directly in their browser on their phone. This infrastructure enables developers to build more apps and create additional use cases on top of it.

In essence, it's the ecosystem partners and founders who are driving adoption. Our role is to support them and create pathways for these founders to thrive and build successful companies that can onboard users. We don't directly onboard users ourselves. Instead, it's a multi-step process, starting with hackathons to bring in talented builders, followed by accelerators or programs to take ideas to market or develop minimum viable products. Ultimately, this indirect path leads to acquiring users. We play a crucial role in ensuring these factors are successful.

What is the "teal" leadership structure?

At the Celo Foundation, we encourage people to bring their whole selves to their work without feeling that they have to leave any part of themselves behind.

Both Celo Foundation and MakerDAO have been pioneers in this kind of organizational structure. At Celo, we practice something called Teal, which is part of the Holacracy framework. In Teal, we don't think of the company as a traditional hierarchy with leadership at the top and descending levels of control. Instead, it's more like a network, interconnected circles or teams. We see ourselves as a network, and this concept draws inspiration from nature that spreads from trees and plants. It's become a mental model for organizations.

At Maker, there was a similar concept in play as the DAO was forming. They were also thinking about transitioning from a foundation to an organization that resembles a network of interconnected sub-organizations, each with its unique purpose. The ideas of uniqueness and connectedness have been recurring themes in the work I've been involved in at these organizations. I consider myself fortunate to have been a part of these experiences and witnessed how they function in practice.

What are the pros and cons of innovative structures like "teal"?

The pros of working in such systems are that you have a lot of agency, but with agency comes great responsibility. To handle this responsibility, you need a high level of self-awareness. It takes a deep understanding of yourself to function effectively in these systems. You must assess your work and, as a leader, help cultivate this self-awareness within your team.

It's a bit self-selective because not everyone thrives in these systems, but those interested in them naturally gravitate toward them. In environments with high agency, you need a strong sense of personal awareness and responsibility for your work. It's about proposing ideas, taking initiative, and being proactive rather than waiting for instructions.

As a leader, it's essential to encourage people in their self-awareness and mindfulness journey, not just at work but also in their personal lives. Having other practices outside of work contributes to success in these environments.

If you're interested in learning more about Teal structure in more detail, you should check out the book called Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness.

How can we stay in touch?

The easiest way to connect with me is on Twitter @AnnaAlexaK.

For Celo, you can find updates on Twitter @CeloOrg, and the website at celo.org. Most discussions happen on the forum, which is just forum.celo.org. With the L2 proposal, there will likely be many discussions, so I encourage you to check it out if you're interested.

Have thoughts on this week’s topic or question for me or Anna? Post your thoughts in the comment section. Until next week.??

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