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Introduction: Current State & Challenges

The current OP GovNERDs program is structured in tiers: wannabe GovNERDs, govNERDs-in-training, Core GovNERDs, and govNERDs Lead.

New contributors begin by handling basic tasks (e.g., data gathering, verifying proposals, forum moderation) and advance through mentorship and set time-based criteria. While this model has lowered entry barriers and eased some of the Foundation’s workload, several challenges remain:

• Unclear Roadmap: New contributors often struggle to determine which tasks to pursue, leading to misaligned or duplicated efforts.
• Inefficient Onboarding: A largely self-directed process—with scattered documentation and minimal prequalification—can waste time and result in suboptimal contributions
• Misaligned Efforts: Some contributions do not directly support Optimism’s high-impact governance needs without proper matching, creating “noise” rather than meaningful outcomes.

While the wannabe-govNERD role remains open to all interested contributors, progression to in-training status will be limited to ensure quality mentorship. We'll maintain a ratio that matches the number of in-training govNERDs to available Core govNERDs, ensuring each participant receives adequate guidance without overloading mentors. This approach balances inclusivity with the practical constraints of providing effective mentorship.

Our goal for Season 7 is to refine the onboarding and contribution pathways by aligning efforts with core governance priorities, matching tasks to individual strengths, and streamlining processes to prevent wasted effort.

Proposed Improvements for Season 7 📈

Aligning Contributions with Optimism’s Needs 🤝

Gather Stakeholder Input on Priorities:

• Engage key governance stakeholders—including delegates and the Foundation team—to regularly update a “Wishlist.” Conduct structured planning to identify pressing needs (e.g., review, tracking, analysis). Consolidate these priorities into a centralized task board, so GovNERDs know which high-impact tasks to tackle (Example Framework: Arbitrum Onboarding Working Group Experiment).

High-Impact Task Focus & Educational Content:

• Funnel contributions towards tasks that directly reduce the Foundation’s workload. Some examples include (but are not limited to) the following:
  • Gradually transition responsibility for Token House voting cycle execution in Agora
  • Build capacity to manage Citizens House veto cycles on Snapshot
  • Develop expertise to support the [email protected] inbox
  • Create systems for more autonomous contribution path management
• For any contributor-generated educational content, institute a review process with experienced GovNERDs to ensure high-quality, genuinely helpful materials (avoiding generic, underutilized guides, as in some past efforts).
• Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (e.g., proposals shepherded, delegates onboarded, quality educational materials produced) to track impact and review progress regularly (L2Beat Governance Review #11).

Matching Contributors to Their Strengths 🦾