Meet the Team: Shannon Wells
Community is key to Livepeer’s continued growth and success — which is why we are happy to announce that we have appointed a true Web3 champion, Shannon Wells, as our first-ever Head of Community and Governance.
A veteran strategist and governance expert who has distinguished herself at major global organizations, Shannon has gained a deep understanding of the huge potential of Web3 through two years of active exploration at the intersection of community and innovation across multiple blockchain and application layers.
Since plunging into Web3 in 2019, Shannon has operated and staked to validator nodes on Tezos, Polkadot, Cosmos and The Graph; contributed to communities including DXdao, SeedClub, HicEtNunc, and Jovian Research Network; and built stand-out creator economy and NFT applications at no fewer than five ETHGlobal hackathons.
In May, she took top honors at the Scaling Ethereum hackathon for Devolution, a novel Layer 2 DAO protocol with a user-friendly interface and universal reputation management, which allows communities to reward non-financial contributions.
Shannon’s crypto conversion was preceded by an extensive career that saw her hold senior roles at global organizations in the public, private and non-profit sector and offer strategic advice to figures ranging from the CEO of the multinational media and information firm Thomson Reuters to the Prime Minister of Canada.
A thought leader on how business and technology can deliver positive social and environmental change, she has been a sought-after advisor to start-ups, social enterprises and private investors, a past member of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, and a Fellow of both the World Economic Forum and the Public Policy Forum.
The Livepeer ecosystem will benefit from Shannon’s knowledge of the elements of great Web3 governance and the characteristics of successful communities. Please join us in welcoming Shannon to the team.
Q & A with Shannon
How did you arrive at Livepeer?
I could not be more thrilled that my crypto journey has led me to Livepeer and the opportunity to serve such an amazing community.
I’ve been on a voyage of Web3 discovery for the past two years. My dual goal was to learn about the lightning-fast pace of innovation happening at the infrastructure and application layers and to understand how both technical and non-technical people can make valuable contributions — financial or otherwise — to communities.
Over the past five months, I’ve been particularly focused on DAOs, and on developing tools at the protocol and user interface levels that can give communities the flexibility to create and evolve their own unique governance models.
It was actually during the EthGlobal HackMoney hackathon that I met Chris Hobcroft, a Livepeer Orchestrator and one of Livepeer Inc’s first employees. Chris encouraged me to read the Livepeer whitepaper. I was blown away, both by the sophistication of the protocol’s design and its application in providing a valuable service — decentralized video streaming — to real customers. It was one of the first projects I encountered where crypto economic incentives were being used successfully for something other than pure speculation.
What is your role at Livepeer?
I see myself as a bridge between Livepeer Inc and the broader Livepeer community. My aim is to expand information channels and opportunities for knowledge-sharing between these two groups and to empower the community to drive the growth and long-term success of the Livepeer project as part of the decentralization roadmap. As Livepeer is part of the broader Web3 ecosystem, I also see my role as one of facilitator: making connections and forming partnerships in the context of Web3’s expansion that can create more opportunities to grow and strengthen community engagement in Livepeer.
What do you hope to accomplish?
The very best and brightest minds in Web3 technology are building the Livepeer protocol and supporting products. At the same time, the protocol is powered by an incredible and diverse community. My goal is to ensure community members, particularly our public network participants, feel continuously supported and informed on both technical and non-technical matters important to them. I also want to create opportunities for more individuals in the Web3 ecosystem to identify and be rewarded for their unique contributions to a growing Livepeer community.
My first priority is to meet with as many of our community members as possible and to hear their unique Livepeer stories and their hopes for Livepeer’s future. Above all, I want to hear honest feedback on their experience and learn how I can be most helpful to them in my role. My DMs are always open!
What are some early highlights?
Although I’ve only been on the job for two weeks, I have already had the privilege of meeting with some of the most passionate and committed community contributors. The belief in the Livepeer project and its potential is incredible. It’s been inspiring to meet the individuals (sometimes whole families!) who are backing Livepeer’s success — whether by contributing capital, by buying and staking Livepeer tokens, or by putting time and effort into delivering a real and meaningful service to users.
But what’s been most remarkable to witness so far, and what I think makes Livepeer an incredibly special project to be a part of, is how community members are helping one another to succeed, even in cases where they are competitors. We are still in the early stages of Web3, but I truly believe that Livepeer offers a glimpse of how decentralized technology will change our economic and social fabric. This is the future of work in action and an illustration of the transformative potential of decentralized computing.
