Towards Celo's Cultural Manifesto

Governance
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:cyclone: Towards Celo’s Cultural Manifesto

Dear Celo Community,

As we settle into this new chapter as an Ethereum L2, we have a unique opportunity to reflect on who we are and what we stand for.

:seedling: Why a Cultural Manifesto? Why Now?

From its inception, Celo has been guided by a powerful mission: to create the conditions for prosperity for all. This purpose has shaped our technology, governance, and community efforts. Now, as we grow and welcome new builders, contributors, and users, it’s more important than ever to articulate the values that make Celo unique.

As @rene_celo wrote in his Vision 2030 post: Celebrating Celo’s Five Years & Vision 2030: A Trillion-Dollar Onchain Economy Built on Celo & a Battle For Crypto’s Soul, we’re entering a phase where Celo must define its soul.

We’re also inspired by Vitalik’s reflections on L2s as cultural extensions, and also @marek’s framing of Celo as a cultural extension. Now is the time to make our shared values explicit—to shape the cultural layer that sits alongside our protocol.

:ballot_box_with_ballot: Introducing the Celo Culture Poll

To begin this process, our team at DeepGov is launching a community-wide culture poll using Pol.is — a collective intelligence tool that helps large groups find consensus.

The poll includes statements across several categories:

  • :compass: Mission & Identity — What makes Celo distinctive
  • :busts_in_silhouette: Community Values — How we organize and make decisions
  • :globe_showing_europe_africa: Equity & Inclusion — Our approach to accessibility and global participation
  • :herb: Regenerative Values — Our commitment to sustainability and ReFi
  • :light_bulb: Openness & Innovation — How we build and share technology
  • :handshake: Norms & Behavior — How we interact and collaborate
  • :rocket: Future Directions — Where we’re heading next

:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: How It Works

  • Vote: Agree or disagree with each statement
  • Contribute: Add new statements you feel are missing

:link: Take the poll now: polis.deepgov.org

:bar_chart: Early Momentum

Thanks to the amazing research on Celo by @Marie-Claire and the support of @sophia - so far, we’ve received over 80 responses from across the Celo community. These insights are already painting a picture of our shared values and aspirations.

We plan to publish the results right here on the Celo Forum. The findings will help guide both human and machine decision-making processes—from governance discussions to the design of onchain funding mechanisms.

:yellow_heart: Why Your Voice Matters

As we deepen our integration with Ethereum and work toward serving a billion users, a clear cultural compass will help us:

  • Make better governance and funding decisions
  • Welcome newcomers with clarity and intention
  • Represent Celo’s distinct identity within the broader ecosystem
  • Remain grounded in purpose as we scale

:compass: What’s Next?

The poll will remain open for two weeks. Once complete, we’ll analyze the results and begin drafting the Celo Cultural Manifesto based on areas of strongest community consensus—while honoring the diversity of perspectives that make Celo special.

We invite everyone—builders, founders, validators, users, artists, and allies—to join in.
Let’s co-create the cultural foundation for Celo’s next chapter—together.

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This is great. Excited to see the results!

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Thanks, David. This is a thoughtful and timely initiative. I participated in the Pol.is poll and added several statements I felt were missing. It’s clear there’s appetite for clarifying Celo’s cultural compass … but also urgency in making sure that compass isn’t just symbolic.

What we’re ultimately navigating here is the disconnect between voice and responsibility, and I believe Commitment Pooling offers a regenerative path forward.

:warning: Risks and Limitations

1. AI Agents Must Reflect Commitments, Not Replace Them
AI representation is promising but risky. Without grounding in real, traceable commitments, we risk abstracting responsibility away from the people who hold it. We can’t simply let AI do what only humans in relationship can: promise, show up, and be accountable.

2. Culture Without Commitments Is Just Branding
Even if the Cultural Manifesto surfaces shared values, it won’t mean much unless those values become operational … influencing how funds are allocated, how trust is earned, and how governance is exercised. Culture must shape how commitments are made and kept.

3. Pol.is Participation
While I value the process, it’s unclear how many perspectives are being missed. Without a relational layer … who these values come from, what they’ve contributed … the output risks being flattened and unanchored. Also not clear to me how much new additional statements added to the poll will get answered.

4. Narrative Can Be Co-opted Without Structure
If we don’t bind values to actual commitments (labor, land, care, endowments), the manifesto could become a story told by a few, not a fabric held by many. Without structure, we invite drift and capture.

:compass: Strategic Advice

Commitment Pooling invites us to see governance not as voting, but as the visible coordination of shared care.

  • Let people pledge labor, trust, and resources into living pools tied to the manifesto’s values.
  • Use these pools to evaluate proposals, fund contributors, and track relational trust, not just metrics.
  • Let AI agents support this … but only as tools to amplify human commitments, not replace them.

Imagine a Cultural Manifesto that isn’t just read or signed … it’s lived through pooled action, stewarded by the community, visible on-chain, and accountable off-chain. That’s how we make culture more than consensus … we make it co-creation.

Happy to work with anyone interested in prototyping this layer as we develop @ Grassroots Economics’ Sarfu.Network.

Let’s not just define who we are … let’s practice it together.

TLDRs…

1. Reframing the Governance Problem

TL;DR: Governance isn’t about whales vs. retail — it’s about responsibility. CELO holders, especially large ones, are stewards who can’t delegate that responsibility. Let’s shift the frame from disempowerment to shared accountability.

2. **Risks & Limitations of Cultural Manifesto **

TL;DR: Great initiative, but risks remain if culture stays symbolic. AI reps, Pol.is reach, and narrative all need grounding in real commitments. Let’s tie values to action and accountability.

3. Strategic Advice Featuring Commitment Pooling

TL;DR: The Cultural Manifesto will only matter if it’s lived. Use Commitment Pooling to bind values to real labor, care, and trust. Let’s co-create a governance culture based on visible, shared commitments … not just statements.

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Thank you David and team for putting this together! I think this is a very relevant and timely initiative as we are entering the planning phase for Season 1. Looking forward to seeing results of this.

Some questions and feedback that I hope could be helpful in shaping this further:

  • I think our four Community Tenets, listed here, are a good start for some explicit values as well as of course Rene’s post Vision 2030.
  • It’s great to see the traction this survey is already receiving, is there any insight into who these responses are from? It sounds like a great opportunity to utilize Celo’s own primitive like Self to verify unique human participation.
  • I’d also love to see if there’s a way to tie responses to ecosystem participation (i.e. how many responses are coming from someone who is a founder in the ecosystem, grant recipient, user, governance participant, etc) to get deeper insight into what this manifesto should look like. I wonder if you have any thoughts on how we can make this process more representative of voices of those deeply involved in the ecosystem?
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DeepGov has analyzed all of Celo’s forums and websites, including the tenets and vision to derive the initial seed statements in the polis survey. However, if any are missing, anyone in the community can submit additional statements.

If using Farcaster to answer the survey, we can track the wallet address of the responses.

The manifesto’s goal is to collect as much information as possible to provide consensus/legitmate place for values that any newcomer in Celo can find and learn about.

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