Hi Issou,
Thanks from coming over from ProximaX to spend some time in the NEM Forums. It’s been a while and it seems there’s some frustration you carry from 2018-2019 when last we talked.
Attacking my character in an attempt to undermine my years of contributions to NEM is more of a reflection on you than me. We’ve just announced the biggest change to the NEM ecosystem since 2014 and your energy is focused on my sabbatical rather than the significant change to governance and improvements forthcoming. That’s weird. The attacks don’t amount to anything and I’m as much part of the change as the other leaders. We have a common goal – to improve the governance and future of NEM. Attacking me doesn’t provide any positive value to the future of NEM. I hope you attend the AMAs, Natta.
I’m not greedy but I have heard this from you and others in the past. I think having a female in a high salaried leadership position makes some people uncomfortable because it seems to be the one thing they focus on. I’ve worked hard for years on NEM (including happily contributing to NEM without pay in the beginning) to being paid a fair salary to lead the NEM Foundation. (Note: I chose to take a pay reduction from what the former Presidents in 2017 and 2018 made.) I worked tirelessly as a dedicated community member to communications director to being nominated President. Over 200+ people recognized I was the right person at the time to help NEM governance transform to help get where it is today. That’s not a power grab – that’s working hard and being recognized. And now, I’m thrilled to see (and been a part of) the governance improving again under the leadership of David Shaw as CEO.
2.) My sabbatical is fair and warranted. I would not have received a sabbatical if there wasn’t agreement from other leaders that I provided value to the ecosystem and teams. There was no power struggle with contracts. There was – and has been – an open discussion around improving the system and governance for over 6 months with various leadership team members across the entity including Jag, David Shaw, Council, NV, NS and more. In the end, we all recognized we wanted to do better and that the bylaws and governance needed to be modernized from what was established in 2016. So we did that. Together. I look forward to coming back after my sabbatical and continuing support of the NEM ecosystem.
3.) The claims about lack of ROI and transparency is moot. You can see the contributions of the NEM Foundation in the Year In Review Report and ROI Report. Did we fail in some areas? Yes. Did we succeed in areas? Yes. Am I proud of the collective work we did? YES.
4.) Foundation was awarded funds to operate in 2019-2020. We’ve shown where the funds went and also stretched out those funds beyond what they were originally awarded for (see ROI report above.) As of today, we still have funds to operate and transition to NEM Group. Core team and also the Trust has visibility into budgets/audits (from PMC).
5.) Foundation is not a scheme. It’s a company and companies abide by rules and there are rules about salary disclosures. Salaries range based on region and my salary has been market rate from the time I’ve worked at NEM. Many men in the same roles made much more than I did.
6.) I see rants in ProximaX about me supposedly saying things I never said (mostly from you Natta) and I have no idea what the hell folks are ranting about. Lon left years ago. I don’t see how these rants about Lon are relevant to the future governance and plans for Symbol.
If the only negatives from this forum post are about my sabbatical, that’s good. It means that folks agree we need to change the system. I encourage folks to come to the scheduled AMAs to ask more questions.
-Alex