Release 1

About Pando DAO
1. Vision
  1. We believe that the future of Africa will be built by technology founders, innovators, and those who support them across borders. As technological growth has throughout history, this future will improve the fortunes and quality of life of members of society far beyond those directly involved in innovation.
  2. Our vision is that Pando DAO will deepen connections between members of Africa’s tech community and accelerate our scale and impact in order to realize this continent-wide, positive-sum future together.
2. Mission
  1. Pando DAO supports members of the Pando ecosystem to invest in each other, find connections and resources through our networks, and assist each other in scaling technology companies as entrepreneurs, employees, and investors.
3. Defining Success
  1. If Pando DAO is successful, our community will have an outsized influence on the future of technology & business in Africa. We will do this while building a positive-sum community & ethos.
  2. Pando DAO will measure success as described in section 2.4 DAO Health.
Member Privileges and Obligations
1. Like in a cooperative, members have the privilege to enjoy rewards. In return, they have shared responsibilities toward a common goal. Pando DAO requires high member participation to be successful; it is not for spectators. Therefore we as members:
  1. Participate in the discussion, creation, voting and documentation of proposals.
  2. Make friction, tension and inefficiencies known to all DAO members, so that changes, improvements and learning can take place.
  3. Monitor and record progress, for the creation of metrics to measure DAO health.
2. Membership Requirements
  1. By joining the DAO, you agree to:
    1. Abide by this Charter,
    2. Share the values of the Code of Ethics,
    3. Act in accordance with the Code of Conduct,
    4. Participate in the official communications channels on a regular basis.
3. Membership
  1. Pando DAO is open to:
    1. Founders & CEOs of technology companies in Africa who have raised a $2M or greater equity investment round.
    2. And others as authorized by the DAO.
  2. Pando DAO is managed by teams of elected members that serve the DAO.
4. DAO Health
  1. Pando DAO will measure its health in the following ways:
    1. Members are participating.
    2. Membership is growing.
    3. Startups are supported by the DAO and its members.
    4. The DAO financially supports its own operations.
    5. Documents and code are created, amended, and published as lessons are learned.
5. Removal of Members
  1. Members may be removed by Governance Committee vote for violating the Code of Conduct or Code of Ethics.
    1. Removal of membership is defined as the exclusion of the member from DAO spaces, processes, and tools. If the removed member has been asked to give up their DAO tokens but refuses to do so, the DAO may deploy software updates to exclude that member.
6. Resolving Conflicts
  1. Conflicts and disagreements are normal and part of any human endeavor. As a brand new organization, Pando DAO doesn’t have all the answers yet. Members are expected to apply our values in creating and modifying the instruments for conflict resolution. See Resolving Conflict.
7. Taxes and Legality
  1. Taxes and legal compliance are a Member’s own responsibility.
  2. Nothing published or claimed by the DAO or its members constitutes legal or tax advice.
DAO Operations and Governance
1. DAOs are decentralized and member-governed
  1. Pando DAO builds on shared interests managed through open and secure software that will help in the DAO’s governance. As we experiment with day-to-day operations, we should always consider:
    1. Is our operation following the mission and vision of Pando DAO?
    2. Is the solution repeatable and should it be coded into software?
2. Effective Date
  1. The Effective Date means the calendar date upon which this Charter has been approved by a majority of participants in the DAO’s Discord channel by emoji vote, at which time the articles of this Charter will be activated.
3. Seasons
  1. Seasons are a defined time period of DAO operations.
  2. Seasons must be consecutive without a gap in dates unless otherwise decided by the Governance Committee.
  3. Season 1 is from the Effective Date of this Charter until 12-31-2022.
    1. The following Season starts at midnight the day after the end of the previous Season.
4. Branding
  1. The DAO shall use the “Deciduous Tree” emoji (🌳) as its branded emoji. “🌳DAO”, or “Pando DAO” as typeset are acceptable. Use of the DAO branding requires the DAO’s approval. For example, you cannot use the DAO’s branding in a way that implies that the DAO supports another project without the approval of the DAO.
5. Committees and Teams
  1. To aid the operations of the DAO and to safeguard its integrity and assets, the DAO will establish a minimum of three (3) permanent committees.
  2. The three permanent committees are:
    1. Governance
    2. Programs
    3. Treasury
  3. Each committee will be staffed with a minimum of three (3) DAO members.
  4. To ensure a separation of powers, no member may serve on more than one committee in any term.
  5. A committee member may serve under a subcommittee of the same committee, but cannot serve in the subcommittee of another committee.
  6. A term is a Season or the remainder of a Season.
6. Governance Committee
  1. The Governance Committee builds trust between its members and between the DAO and other entities.
  2. It ensures the integrity of the charter, proposals process, voting, and discussion.
  3. It resolves any conflict of interest, rules on ethical questions, and disagreements.
  4. It is responsible for the structure and maintenance of the DAOs legal entities.
  5. It keeps this Charter up-to-date when proposals require the amendment of this Charter.
    1. All changes to the Charter must be passed through the proposal process.
7. Programs Committee
  1. The Programs Committee oversees the creation and maintenance of software, tools, and documents that support the goals of the DAO.
  2. It oversees the growth of the DAO’s membership and capabilities through direct development of programs and partnerships.
  3. It is responsible for maintaining the DAOs membership information and processes and safeguarding information.
8. Treasury Committee
  1. The Treasury Committee:
    1. Safeguards the DAO’s assets
    2. Distributes tokens according to the will of its membership, proposal processes,
    3. Manages its finances,
  2. The Treasury Committee members are required to be on the DAO multisig wallet(s).
  3. Prior to the end of the current season, the Treasury Committee will propose the allocation of a pool of tokens for subsequent seasons.
    1. It is the Treasury Committee’s responsibility to propose the minting of new tokens beyond the current limit of 100 million tokens.
9. Election of the Committee Members
10. Power to Form Teams and Subcommittees
Proposals and Quorum
Delegation
Initial Token Distribution
Building the DAO Future
Investments & Fellowship
Legal Agreement

Member Signatures

By signing this Charter, I agree to become a member of Pando DAO and pledge to support and advance the vision, mission, and goals of this DAO.

Footnotes

Attribution
License