Celo Regional Council Season 1 Funding Request

Proposal Key Aspects

  • Receiver Entity: Celo Governance
  • Status: [FINAL]
  • Author(s): Rica (@ricaax), Joan (@Joan_DeRB), Brisa (@Brisa), 0xj4an (@0xj4an-work)
  • Type of Request: Funding
    • Intent: Season 1
    • Funding Category: Regional Community Growth
    • Funding Request: 452,450 cUSD + 114,000 CELO ($34,200)
    • Total value of $486,650

Summary

The Celo Regional Council requests funding for Season 1 operations to serve as a decentralised coordination and growth layer across the Celo ecosystem. Evolving from a loose collective into a structured body, the Council now acts as a strategic layer localising impact, harmonising proposals, and onboarding users and builders through a shared framework.

This proposal consolidates ecosystem funding for all Regional HUBs under a single banner while establishing a governance structure that promotes transparency, alignment, and long-term sustainability.

Season 1 goals

  • Execute a regional governance model with voting representation from four macro-regions (Africa, Europe, LatAm, Asia)
  • Empower local nodes to activate ecosystem intents (Grow TXs and TVL)
  • Standardise metrics, tooling, and community contribution infrastructure
  • Drive ecosystem growth through events, integrations, and protocol onboarding, always aligned with S1 Intents

Motivation

Over the past seven months, the Council has transitioned from experimentation to execution, moving from regional silos to a networked model of cooperation. This evolution surfaced the need for a clear governance structure and a sustainable flywheel to power long-term growth.

Key insights from Season 0:

  • Fragmented local efforts created duplicated work and coordination gaps
  • High-context contributors need lightweight, supportive governance—not bureaucratic overhead
  • Grassroots wins (e.g. wallet downloads, protocol pilots, txs growth) often lacked visibility or support at the global level

The Regional Council directly addresses these challenges by:

  • Translating global strategy (e.g. Vision 2030, Season Intents) into regional tactics
  • Supporting local nodes to engage real communities, not just run paid activations
  • Embedding promising builders within high-context regions for long-term impact

Specification

At the end of Season 1 we expect to formalize the Regional Hub + Local Node structure. Each macro-region (Africa, Europe, LatAm, Asia) will have a representative with voting rights, ensuring all regions contribute to ecosystem-wide decisions. Local nodes execute region-specific programs, report impact, and co-develop tooling and strategy.

Future Governance Structure

  • 4 Voting Members (1 per macro-region)
  • Open Participation from all regional nodes
  • Internal Governance Models per region (to ensure local voice, shared coordination, transparent reporting)

Metrics & KPIs

The following KPIs reflect the collective goals of all regional hubs together participating in Season 1 of the Celo Regional Council. Each hub has committed to aligned, onchain-impact-driven activities tailored to local realities. For a detailed breakdown per region, please refer to each regional proposal.

Metric Target
Onchain Transactions 50,000+ cumulative transactions across regions
Developers Onboarded 100+ developers via workshops, sprints, and incentive campaigns
Smart Contracts Deployed 50+ contracts deployed by local contributors
GitHub Repositories / Apps Tracked 20+ active projects tracked on KarmaGAP & GitHub
Projects / dApps Launched 25+ deployed dApps or protocol integrations
MCP-Compatible Miniapps 10+ deployed and tracked via KarmaGAP
Wallets Created 500+ wallets activated through events, raffles, and campaigns
TVL Onboarded $50,000+ in DeFi protocols via staking, LPs, or integrations
Merchants Activated 20+ merchants using Celo assets with measurable retention
Contributors & Ambassadors 50+ onboarded, with deploy-to-earn or local coordination roles
Campaigns & Activations 10+ content-led or peer-led campaigns driving measurable TXs
Tracking Infrastructure 100% of activities tracked via KarmaGAP + public dashboards

Current Status

For insights into Season 1’s journey, lessons, and foundational work, as well as broader context and strategic basis, refer to the Celo Regional Council — H1 2025 Report.

Regarding S1, after carefully reviewing all proposals, we added comments and assessed each using the “ChatGPT test” provided by Celo Growth team alongside our own judgment to evaluate alignment with the Intent for Season 1.

Only the proposals that met these criteria have moved forward to the voting phase.

The result is a total approved budget of $486,650 (452,450 cUSD + 114,000 CELO in CELO at 0,3 US/Celo rate).

Please note:

  • Special thanks to Celo Philippines for their cooperation during the voting process. Koh Celo was initially not approved but was eventually included with a smaller budget and improved alignment with the Season 1 intents.
  • Celo Mexico presented a special case. The Council identified ongoing internal conflicts and instances of unprofessional conduct, which prevented us from approving the proposal in its original form. These issues must be resolved before any future funding discussions. Their budget has been reduced to 15,000 cUSD, which will be managed by the LatAm Regional Hub and disbursed based on clearly defined milestones.
  • Celo Turkey’s proposal was approved, but with a reduced budget to align with the process we started seven months ago with India and Arabia, establishing a limited initial budget for new regional openings.

This has been a challenging yet constructive process. We’ve all worked hard to bring greater transparency, alignment, and efficiency to this phase.

In the accompanying spreadsheet, you will find:

  1. Season-to-season budget comparisons
  2. Draft 1: including all submitted proposals
  3. Final Draft: only the approved and voted proposals
  4. Budget comparison for Intent 1, including CPG, Stabila, Prezenti, and the Regional Council

We believe this proposal reflects the community’s strong intention to work closely with the Celo Foundation’s goals, strengthen the ecosystem, and bring more professionalism and improved methodologies. Our current proposal is solid and will be publicly defended in the upcoming days.

Thank you again for your trust and support. We believe this final agreement shows a strong commitment to the Intent of Season 1 while maintaining a lean structure focused on key growth and community activities such as Celo Gather in Africa and DevConnect 2025 in LatAm.


Funding Breakdown

Regional Council Operations

  • Core Ops (coordination, reporting, governance): 10,000 cUSD
  • Celo Gather LatAm: 20,000 cUSD
  • Celo Gather Africa: 16,000 cUSD
  • Rewards, ops and buffer: 50,000 Celo

Hub Budgets

As illustrated in the chart above, the Regional Council has succeeded in aligning proposals across the ecosystem while reducing or stabilising budgets in nearly all regions. Most proposals experienced budget cuts ranging from 5% to 30%.

Despite these reductions, the Council prioritised retaining key activities and ensuring continuity in high-impact regions, especially those with demonstrated alignment with Season 1 Intents.

This outcome reflects not only a collective commitment to lean and accountable spending, but also an improved shared understanding of how to frame regional work within a global strategy. The Council has shown its ability to make difficult decisions, balance diverse priorities, and uphold the long-term sustainability of the ecosystem.

We believe this is a clear sign of governance maturity and a solid foundation for continued decentralisation.


Team

Region Hub Lead Forum Handle
LatAm @CeLatam Susanne szapelao
LatAm @CeloColombiano Ximena Ximemonclou
Europe @Celoeu Rica ricaax
Europe @CeloTurkiye Barış Parlan bparlan
Africa @CeloAfricaDAO Brisa 0xBrisa
Asia Celoindia Chitty Chitty
Asia @CeloArabia Mustafa CeloArabia

MultiSig

We propose a 4/7 multisig for Season 1. This ensures fair oversight and geographic balance:

  • 2 Europe
  • 2 Africa
  • 2 LatAm
  • 1 Asia (as smallest region)

Multisig Wallet: 0x90860C778a8A69380376BAab6ac7Fec5daff4Ab5


  • Umar (Africa) - 0xb27BE3DFaf0AE70A64568eb216AfC08566596c8A
  • Brisa (Africa) - 0xCDB4932164F6ee22f34d7718373C58934FE2a050
  • Susanne (Latam) - 0xC689451CAA770c36fc94A02068A5CaE21EEcDDe4
  • Ana (Latam-Colombia) - 0x12BD1596d7cfbf7c18F08499B54A31C980989070
  • Rica (Europe) - 0x7F2053A876Cb053d8BB122Bde961F6ec5Fb6fFc5
  • Joan (Europe) - 0x5d1ed874ea2f4269c2e1D075973c7fdb7b39154A
  • Vow (Asia) - 0xb791cd0A3501e60798Cb477FD69406F5422BB25c
20 Likes

Celo Mexico: A Strategic Partnership for Regional Growth

Subject: Reconsideration for Celo Mexico Funding - Regional Council Season 1

Dear Celo Council @celocouncil,

This message serves as a formal request for your reconsideration of Celo Mexico’s inclusion in the Season 1 funding. We have actively addressed and put on the past the previous internal challenges, allowing us to fully focus on our future initiatives.

Our reports consistently demonstrate impactful on-the-ground execution, significantly contributing to Celo’s growth in Mexico. Continuing Celo Mexico’s operations is critical to safeguard these ongoing contributions and support our dedicated community. Our strategy is now sharply focused on Transaction Generation and TVL-oriented projects and workshops, and we firmly believe that disrupting this established momentum would undermine our collective regional strategy.

We are fully committed to upholding professionalism, transparency, and timely delivery, incorporating input from all Council members. This collaborative approach further aligns us with both Celo and Ethereum values. We are confident that a renewed inclusion will yield substantial benefits for the ecosystemm allowing us to build more synergies with the region and exponential growth happening in the region.

“What does not break us, makes us stronger.”

We welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategic vision and operational advancements.

With best regards,

Thank you for your attention.

The Celo Mexico Team

4 Likes

Thanks @celocouncil and team for the proposal, at my end this proposal is fulfilling all the requirements:

  • Post a proposal in the Celo Forum and leave it for discussion at least for seven (7) days.
  • Present Proposal in a Governance Call and address the feedback received: Proposal was presented during Celo Governance Call #74 | Jul 31st, 2025

With the above said, from my end the proposal is ready to move into the voting phase when proposer wants to move forward or consider is appropriate.


:bangbang: Remember Current Celo Governance Overview & Procedures

To proceed to the submission and voting phase at least two Celo Governance Guardians must post explicitly that the proposal fulfills the requirements to be able to move into the Voting Stage in the proposal thread on the Celo Forum.


Remember next steps

  • Submission of PR to Celo Governance Repository
    Proposers needs to fork the Celo Governance Repository and add a PR including the proposal .md file and json file.
  • Approval of PR by Celo governance Guardians and merge into main branch of Celo Governance Repository.
    Celo Guardians are responsible for conducting a comprehensive review of every Pull Request (PR) to ensure that there is complete alignment and consistency between the final proposal posted in the forum post and the specific files that are being requested to be merged.
    This review process is strictly technical in nature, focusing solely on verifying the authenticity and good faith of the proposers. It does not involve any personal opinions or biases regarding the merits or content of the proposal itself. To maintain the integrity of the Celo Governance repository, it is mandatory to obtain approval from a minimum of two Governance Guardians for each PR before it can be merged into the main branch.
  • OnChain Submission of Proposal
    After PR is merged into main Governance Repo the proposers needs to fork locally the Celo Governance Repository and submit the proposal onchain using the guidelines described in the Celo Docs.

CC: Governance Working Group (@annaalexa @Wade @0xGoldo)

8 Likes

It was presented during Governance Call #74

on July 31st, 2025, and the feedback gathered during that session has been incorporated.

With these steps completed, as a celo governance guardian, I consider the proposal ready to proceed to the voting phase at the proposer’s discretion.

9 Likes

gm Team @celocouncil

Thanks for the given space during the call held on 31 of July, 2025.

We are awaiting for you guidance/instruction. Should we post our our KPI-oriented proposal inhere? As we do not see it on the list. Celo Mexico team is holding up and ready to continue our roadmap and milestones for H2. We are so bullish for this H2.

Looking forward to hear instructions from the Council.

With best regards,

Celo Mexico Team.

3 Likes

Hello :colombia:

I am confirming I have control of this wallet and can participate as signer.

5 Likes

I am confirming I have control of this wallet and can participate as a signer.

5 Likes

confirming my address as a multisig:

0xCDB4932164F6ee22f34d7718373C58934FE2a050

7 Likes

confirming control of

0x5d1ed874ea2f4269c2e1D075973c7fdb7b39154A

6 Likes

I confirm control of 0x7F2053A876Cb053d8BB122Bde961F6ec5Fb6fFc5

5 Likes

GM, I confirm that I have control of this address.

6 Likes

I confirm that I have control of this wallet and can participate as a signer.