Updates to Interchain Foundation Council & Presidency

The Interchain Foundation (ICF) is delighted to announce that Josh Cincinnati has been elected as the new president of the Interchain Foundation, with Ethan Buchman continuing as Vice-President, and with Maxime Monod as a Council Member. This follows Fernando Pedone’s departure as Interim President, whose main focus was facilitating a transitional election process following Brian Crain’s exit from the Presidency in the past month.

A member of the foundation since 2020, Fernando Pedone served the Foundation Council and the interchain through his academic research and support, bringing deep technical expertise and vision to the interchain. Fernando has decided to continue his path outside of the Interchain Foundation, having served the interchain diligently for four years and helping to facilitate this presidential election with neutrality and transparency — for that, his academic contributions, and overall dedication as a council member, the ICF is deeply grateful.

Welcoming the New Presidency

Josh Cincinnati, newly appointed as president of the Foundation Council (FC), will drive continuity to the Foundation Council’s growth, and governance responsibilities — with the expansion of the Foundation Council as a number one priority for the coming months.

Josh’s background as a cryptocurrency privacy advocate, former founding Executive Director at the Zcash Foundation, and experience in board governance and advisory across a variety of web3 projects (including the Mina Foundation) will be of extreme value in building the sound governance structures for the Foundation Council to support the ICF’s Board of Management, in shaping the guiding mission for the interchain ecosystem.

Josh Cincinnati arrives at the presidency at a time of growth, where the role of the Interchain Foundation is evolving by welcoming new leaders in key areas of responsibility to further its impact. More pointedly, the ICF aims to place the sustainability of the ecosystem, and market-driven product development at the core of its strategy, better aligning the future of the Interchain Stack to the builders and the ecosystem’s needs.

This commitment to change and growth is also reflected in the Foundation Council, dedicated now to growing in diversity of representation and expertise, reaching governance excellence, and helping to set and align the Interchain’s Stack vision — three key goals for the period ahead.

Josh Cincinnati, incoming President of the Interchain Foundation, expressed:
“I am profoundly grateful for the trust placed in me to represent the Interchain Foundation as its President. I renew the commitment the ICF has made toward sound governance, maturing its operations, and positively impacting the interchain, and look forward to guiding the ICF to new heights. During my Presidency, I will focus on the expansion of the Foundation Council — both in diverse representation and to bolster its operational efficacy. Trust, stability, and empowerment — these are the values we want reflected in the Foundation Council’s role at the ICF.”

Ethan Buchman, Vice-President of the Interchain Foundation, said:
“Fernando Pedone has been an outstanding member of the council and ecosystem for the last four years, and his contributions were invaluable — we are extremely grateful for this, and for setting the ground for the new members to come. The ICF has evolved in the last two years, distributing its development, standardizing operations, and learning a lot through the opportunities and challenges it navigated. Now, we build on the momentum and lessons learned to build the next chapter for the interchain, and bring new areas of improvements. I am extremely enthusiastic about the impact Josh can bring to the interchain ecosystem through his presidency — working together with the ICF, the ecosystem, and forthcoming council members in bringing the broader interchain ecosystem together, and onwards.”

The Foundation Council’s Next Steps

In the short term, the Foundation Council will continue to work with the ICF, its stakeholders, and the extended Board of Management to drive the Interchain Stack’s goals and objectives for the remainder of 2024. Among these goals, we highlight:

• The search for new Foundation Council board members through a new public recruitment drive, with plans to welcome several new council members in the coming months. We will share the process, guidelines, and an application form soon — prioritizing diversity, and complementary backgrounds.
• The strengthening of the Foundation Council’s governance guidelines to better the working relationship between the board, the ICF, and its involved actors — in preparation for the new members.
• The support of the Board of Management, stewards, and ecosystem in developing the main vision and strategy for 2025 — iterating on the existing public roadmap process, and communicating around it.
• The hiring of several key positions at the Foundation, to further develop the organization’s service-driven role to the ecosystem.

As we traverse this new phase, we are thankful for the dedication shared across all of the teams of the interchain, as well as for the feedback and contributions of the community. Let us guide the interchain forward into its next chapter of growth and resiliency.

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