What is the VELA DAO?

The VELA DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is funded by VELA, where past VELA grant recipients gain funding and an online support network. The DAO provides opportunities to learn and use web3 tools, participate in a token-based system, and contribute to the VELA community's long-term goals.

Eligibility Criteria for VELA DAO Grant Application

To be eligible for the VELA DAO grant, applicants must meet the following criteria:

1. VELA Grant Recipient Status: Only previous VELA grant recipients are eligible to apply for this grant.

2. Charitable Purpose Requirement: Applicants must use the grant funds exclusively for charitable purposes, primarily to support K-12 learners or programs outside traditional public, private, or charter schools.

3. Participation in VELA DAO: Applicants must be willing to participate in the VELA DAO, contributing to decision-making and the development of community resources. As well as willing to share expertise with the VELA community in the form of content on VELA’s new resource platform in one of these key focus areas (Operations, Revenue, Academics, Coaching).

4. Web3 Education Commitment: Applicants should be available to attend introductory sessions on web3 technologies if awarded funding, to set up a Web3 Wallet.

VELA DAO Participation Tiers

Active Voting Member

As an active voting member, you are able to discuss and vote on open proposals, sharing your feedback on initiatives proposed by core contributors. An active voting member doesn’t necessarily have to be an active member of the DAO activities, such as working groups, bounties and the grant funding program.

Time bandwidth: up to 1 hour per month.

Knowledge Giver

Givers are members who committed to sharing their knowledge and experience with upcoming DAO members. Host sessions about their learning, artifacts (e.g a post on Mighty), and work on resources that support new DAO grantees to grow and flourish throughout their journey.

Time bandwidth: up to 3 hours per month.

For current members, this is a requirement, as stated in the past grant application.

Core Contributors

As a contributor of the DAO, members are able to cast their votes, initiate discussions and propose changes/improvements for the DAO. The contributor, as a proposer, needs to be involved in at least one of the DAO activities: working groups; grant funding process and selection – actively supporting in the program design, application, and selection process; bounties – actively participating in tasks and activities of the DAO;

Time bandwidth: 3 to 5 hours per month, it varies to more or less depending on the DAO’s schedule.

Veterans

Members who chose to not continue with the DAO after becoming grantees and delivering any milestones agreed during the application process.

No matter the tier, all of the members can vote. As a voter, they, with no exception, can comment, question, and give feedback to proposals. However, not all members can initiate proposals. To propose, the members need to be actively involved in the DAO activities to understand pain points of the DAO and areas of improvement.

Note: any member can change tiers at any time, according to their availability.