Hello Potential Validators!
Applications for the Celo Foundation Voting Program are now open for Cohort 14. 
To encourage financial inclusion and the participation of secure, reliable validators, the Celo Foundation will vote for validator groups according to the updated Foundation voting policy. Validators are encouraged to be active in the community through governance proposals, forum discussions, governance calls, or vibrant exchanges on Discord.
NOTE: To ensure that validators are engaging with and receiving votes from the community at least 150k CELO voted for your validator by an entity that is not the Celo Foundation.
Applicants, be sure to read the Foundation’s forum post outlining program updates.
- The application deadline is Monday, Dec. 18, 2023.
- New validators NEED to apply on the application form here. As well, please complete the self-audit checklist prior to starting as it is uploaded as part of your application.
- New applicants will be evaluated on their validator performance. Baklava testnet uptime will be used for new validators interested in receiving votes.
All application details can be found in the Foundation Voting Policy docs. Docs on running a validator on Baklava testnet can be found here.
If you have any questions, feel free to tag post a message in the #validators-operators channel on Discord, or email foundationvotingprogram@celo.org.
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Hi Dave, do current cohort members have to re-apply?
There was a cohort ending a couple of months ago and we had to wait for news for a while to learn the future of the program. It’s clear now that it’s being phased out but just want to know if we are already in the program until the tentative close next year.
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Hi Thylacine, thanks for the message. If your validator is/was part of Cohort 11 then you would need to re-apply as part of this cohort.
Please let me know if you did not receive an email last week and I would be happy to share the re-applicant form.
Dave
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Thanks Dave, I did receive an email, however we are part of Cohort 10, not 11. So no action for us is that right?
Correct! Yes, you would have received a general update.
Grassroots Economics Foundation has applied using the form. Below is our proposal. Thanks so much!
Validator Proposal for Celo Network \
- Grassroots Economics Foundation
Introduction
Grassroots Economics Foundation is committed to uplifting marginalized communities by leveraging the power of blockchain technology. We have successfully transitioned to the Celo network and have been actively contributing back to its ecosystem. We now seek to deepen our involvement by becoming an elected validator on the Celo network. This proposal outlines our vision, capabilities, and the mutual benefits that our election as a validator would bring to the Celo community.
Objectives
- Financial Inclusion: Distribute CELO tokens to enable more people to participate in the Celo ecosystem. See Social Gass gifting: https://youtu.be/4Vp5BWSh1Cg?si=cSUiqnLxHZCk4KNj&t=185
- Community Asset Vouchers: Utilize CELO to develop, use, pool, and connect Community Asset Vouchers into a global network. (see same video)
- Network Stability and Diversity: Contribute to the Celo network’s stability and security by running a validator node.
- Global Outreach: Expand our gas faucet and dApp, Sarafu.Network, to serve communities globally. See current vouchers created: https://sarafu.network/vouchers
Why Grassroots Economics Foundation?
Technical Competence
- Successfully transitioned to Celo this year with over 80k blockchain transactions, over 80 ERC20 vouchers and 20k+ (1000 active weekly) users.
- Running an existing dedicated node infrastructure on both mainnet and Alfajores.
- Registered a validator and validator group on Celo Mainnet (GrassrootsEconomics).
- Developed a comprehensive suite of software components tailored for the Celo ecosystem.
- Core team:
Diversity and Inclusion
- As a non-profit foundation based in Kenya and run by Kenyans, our election as a validator would add a layer of diversity to the Celo network.
- Running on an alternative hybrid cloud provider, Netcup GmbH, adding more network diversity
- Our focus on financial inclusion aligns perfectly with Celo’s mission.
Community Impact
- Our gas faucet already serves numerous communities spread across Kenya and will soon go global.
- We plan to distribute CELO tokens to people worldwide, enabling them to engage in local economies of mutual aid.
- Please see our 2023 end year impacts including utilizing Celo blockchain to revive over 1,200 indigenous mutual aid practices. https://grassecon.org/2023-report
Request
We kindly request the Celo community and Foundation to support our election as a validator. We have secured a stake of 20k CELO but require approximately 2 million CELO to be elected as a validator. We believe that we must be part of the network of elected validators to fulfill our dream of serving global populations.
Benefits to Celo Community
- Network Resilience: Our technical competence ensures a reliable and secure validator node.
- Global Outreach: Our global initiatives will introduce Celo to new communities worldwide via humanitarian, mutual aid and development work.
- Alignment with Celo’s Mission: Our focus on financial inclusion and mutual aid resonates with Celo’s objectives.
- Technical contributions back to the Celo developer ecosystem specifically around node infrastructure
Conclusion
We are excited about the prospect of becoming a Celo validator and are committed to contributing positively to the Celo ecosystem. We believe that together, we can create a more inclusive and resilient network that benefits communities worldwide.
We kindly ask for your support in fulfilling this vision.
Thank you for considering our proposal.
Sincerely,
Will Ruddick
Founder and Co-Director
Grassroots Economics Foundation
https://grassecon.org
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Grassroots Economics is officially an elected Celo Validator!
As a Kenyan non-profit foundation all our block rewards go toward supporting people utilizing Celo for cultural, economic and environmental regeneration. Thanks to all our partners and the Celo community for making this dream a reality. 
Earn 3.8% APR and help us reach over 1 Million acres of agroforestry and 10,000 daily p2p Celo transactions.
Read about how we will use our block rewards and stake on us! 
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