The Cardano community answered the call in the 2025 Q1 committee elections, with 522 members, 27% of eligible voters, casting a total of 11839 ballots among 119 candidates competing for 36 seats across eight committees.

Intersect hosted five X Spaces as a facilitator where candidates could introduce themselves, and electors could inform their decisions. This strong turnout is a fantastic result not only for Intersect but for the broader progress of Cardano governance, and we’re grateful to everyone who participated in strengthening our democratic foundations.

Results

Congratulations to the elected candidates.  All the members listed below have received their onboarding information package, along with congratulations and thanks from Intersect on behalf of the Cardano community.

The official final numbers are as follows: 

Intersect steering committee (ISC) - 711

• Sheldon Hunt - 230

Founding Head of Membership and Community, Intersect, now founder of Sundial Protocol 

• Fred Tanaka - 153

Communications and business development executive, Japan and USA

Cardano civics (CCC) - 1811

• Nicolas Cerny - 314

Governance Lead, Cardano Foundation, re-elected to CCC

• Ken Erik Ølmheim - 267

Co-founder Krypto Labs, Norway

• Nana Safo - 215

Cross-community liaison officer, Wada Global Ltd

• Randy - 179

Cardano Hub Indonesia Project Manager

• Joseph Mermoz Dzubang - 173

Constitutional delegate from Cameroon

• Aleksei Seregin - 170

Seasoned sales and leadership professional, Russia.

Membership and community (MCC) - 1839

• Maureen  Wepngong - 228

The StakeLess - DRep

• BANDU Boaz - 210

Fostering growth and inclusivity in Africa

• Fanny Wijaya - 176

Cardano Ambassador from Indonesia

• Laurentine Djatsa - 173

Hosted the constitutional Workshop in Burkina Faso

• Nathan Angelo Kanapi - 172

Philippines delegate for the constitution

Growth and marketing (GMC) - 1740

• Tim Harrison - 300

EVP Community & Ecosystem, Input | Output

• Laura Mattiucci - 209

Director of Marketing and Communications, Cardano Foundation

• Andy Hung - 186

Web3-focused business development & marketing professional, Tokyo, Japan

• Hasitha Raymond - 144

Sri Lanka Hub member since 2024

• Anuj Chaudhary - 138

Content/marketing lead at Cardano Spot, working with EMURGO and Yoroi wallet

Technical steering committee (TSC) - 1624

• Duncan Coutts - 292

Founding partner of the Haskell consultancy Well-Typed LLP, re-elected to TSC

• Sebastian Nagel - 278

Technical architect and software engineering consultant, Input | Output, Book.io, Sundae Labs

• Nicolas Biri - 258

Director of software architecture, Input | Output

• Alex Moser - 244

Head of Infrastructure at Cardano Foundation

• Neil Davies - 241

Influential Cardano developer, UK, re-elected to TSC

Open source (OSC) - 1574

• Philip Disarro - 279

Founder of Anastasia Labs

• Arnaud Bailly - 249

Cardano pioneer developer, Cardano Foundation

• Elaine Cardenas - 238

Long time Hydra contributor, CTO at Aira

• Georg Link - 227

Influential contributor to the paid open source model, re-elected  to OSC

• Niels Mündler - 223

Created and maintains the OpShin project

Cardano budget (CBC) - 1598

• Kriss Baird - 277

GM, project Catalyst, re-elected to CBC

• Rita Mistry Spada - 216

Global Finance Director, Cardano Foundation, re-elected to CBC

• Megan Hess - 196

Regional Lead, Wada x Intersect partnership, Cameroon

• Dmitry Shibaev - 181

CEO, Dynamic Strategies

• Rajitha Wickramasinghe - 176

Manufacturing and Product Development,  OREL Corporation, Sri Lanka

Cardano product (CPC) - 942

• James Meidinger - 254

Business Development Lead & Principal Member at USDM/W3i, USA, re-elected to CPC

• Carlos Lopez De Lara - 219

Cardano developer, Input | Output, Mexico

• Tegegne Tefera - 164

Longtime Cardano enthusiast, DRep, Ethiopia.

Verification of results

Intersect engaged Dquadrant to conduct an independent audit of the votes between the close of voting on May 7 and the announcement of results on May 12. Dquadrant is a Netherlands-based Web3 and enterprise software firm that has been active in the Cardano ecosystem since 2017 (public launch 2021).

Dqadrant performed a tally and reconciliation count of all valid votes by candidate and then compared these totals with Intersect’s internal results.

An outline of the audit process:

1. Input data - Dqadrant receives vote exports (CSV & JSON) by position and records cryptographic hashes.

2. Schema validation - Each voting record for each candidate must contain at least member_id, membership_type, membership_buy_date, and voting_date.

3. Eligibility checks - Membership status is verified, and its purchase date must precede the registration cutoff.

4. Timing verification - All votes must fall within the authorized voting window.

5. Tally and reconciliation - You can download the complete results here

Lessons learned

With every election cycle, Intersect studies the election process in detail to discover what went well, what could be improved, and what needs to be included in the next cycle. 

What went well:

• The X Spaces were an excellent way for candidates to introduce themselves and for electors to inform their decision
• Reaching out to members was essential to encourage candidate registration - 119 candidates for 36 seats was an excellent result
• Extending both the application and voting periods by a week gave members more time to participate during a busy time with other initiatives happening then

What needs improvement:

• Voter turnout can be better than 27%
  
• Intersect needs more members
• More support for candidates’ campaign efforts

Additions for the next cycle:

• Intersect is planning to reach out to the Cardano community through more channels, earlier and more often
• Candidates should be helped to create a one-minute video supporting their campaign

Thank you to our outgoing committee members

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all outgoing committee members whose terms have ended. These individuals have been instrumental in shaping the first iterations of decentralized governance on Cardano, offering strategic input, building working group infrastructure, and helping define each committee's operational models.

These are the individuals: Alexandre Maaza, Ben Hart, Danielle Stanko – Secretary, Eystein Magnus Hansen, Vaibhav S. (Gintama), J.J. Siler, Jose de Gamboa, Katarina Ciric, Martin Marinov, Mercy Fordwoo, Michael Madoff, Mike Ward, Moritz Angermann, Nicholas Clarke, Nicolas Henin, Nori Nishigaya, Robin Boening, Romain Pellerin, Saman Farr, Sandip Pandey, Shunsuke Murasaki, Simon Fleck, Thiago Nunes, Yuki Oishi, Zachary Soesbee.

Their dedication laid the groundwork for what Intersect and Cardano governance have become. We recognize the time, energy, and care each member brought to the role and thank them for their lasting contributions to the ecosystem. As we welcome a new wave of committee members, we carry forward the legacy of those who helped build the path we walk today.

Thank you to all participants

In conclusion, the Intersect team offers our warmest thanks to all who participated in these elections: the elected candidates, everyone who graciously offered their services as a candidate, and all those who took the time and trouble to record carefully considered votes.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the strong debates on Discord and X. Please continue to share your perspectives with the rest of the community.

A fresh round of elections will be held in the fourth quarter of 2025. With the experience gained so far, the Cardano community will reach amazing heights.