Governance¶
1. Overview¶
As a public benefit corporation, we’re accountable not only to shareholders, but also to the broader public interest our work affects. A transparent and clearly defined governance model is essential to making that accountability real rather than symbolic.
Clear governance helps ensure that decisions are made deliberately, documented openly, and evaluated against both our mission and long-term impact. It reduces ambiguity about who decides what, how trade-offs are handled, and how disagreements or conflicts of interest are addressed.
By defining governance structures up front, we aim to build trust, enable meaningful participation, and prevent the concentration of authority as the ecosystem grows.
This document defines how the Brax Technologies projects are governed.
Projects can have different governance structures across various operational areas. Each area may be governed independently based on project needs and sponsor involvement.
2. Types of Governance Areas¶
Our governance is organized around three distinct areas. This separation helps keep decision-making clear, balanced, and accountable, while avoiding the concentration of power in any single domain.
| Governance Area | Description | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Technical & Product | This area covers decisions about how the technology is built and how the product evolves. It includes architecture, standards, feature direction, security practices, and release processes. | The goal is to ensure that technical decisions are driven by quality, usability, and long-term sustainability, with room for independent review, contribution, and disagreement. |
| Business Strategy | This area focuses on how the ecosystem grows and interacts with the market. It includes partnerships, distribution approaches, go-to-market decisions, and long-term strategic direction. | The goal is to align business decisions with the project’s values, while keeping strategy adaptable and responsive to users, developers, and institutional stakeholders. |
| Financial | This area governs how money is raised, allocated, and managed. It includes budgeting, funding models, revenue allocation, and financial transparency. | The goal is to ensure long-term sustainability without allowing financial influence to override technical integrity, user interests, or governance independence. |
3. Governance Models¶
Governance models describe who participates in decision-making within a given governance area. These models apply independently to each governance area.
A single project may, for example, be community-governed for technical decisions while remaining Brax-managed for business strategy and financial matters.
| Governance Model | Description |
|---|---|
| Brax-Managed | Brax Technologies PBC holds primary decision-making authority for the governance area. |
| Co-Managed | Governance authority is shared between Brax and another organization or foundation. |
| Community–Brax | Governance authority is shared between Brax and the project community through defined structures and processes. |
| External | Independent project with no governance involvement from Brax Technologies. |
4. Community–Brax Governance¶
Community–Brax governance applies to governance areas where Brax and the project community share decision-making authority. This model is most commonly used for Technical & Product Governance, but may be applied to other areas where appropriate.
The goal of this model is to combine open participation with clear accountability, while preserving the ability to resolve disputes and evolve governance over time.
Decision-Making¶
- Day-to-day decisions are made by maintainers through consensus
- Major decisions are reviewed through defined community governance structures
- Strategic or structural matters may be escalated to a governing body when required
- Sponsor veto rights, where applicable, are strictly limited to legal, security, and brand-protection concerns
Voting¶
- Voting rights are defined by project governance documentation
- Each eligible participant holds one vote
- Votes may occur via public discussion forums or community calls
- Motions pass by simple majority unless otherwise specified
Transparency¶
Transparency is a core requirement of Community–Brax governance.
- Governance discussions, decisions, and outcomes are documented publicly
- Periodic governance summaries are shared with the community
Ongoing Governance Development¶
We are actively working toward enabling Community–Brax governance across most of the technology we build. This includes designing the structures, processes, and safeguards needed to support shared governance responsibly and sustainably.
Because meaningful community governance requires clear roles, documented processes, and reliable participation mechanisms, this work is being approached deliberately. Further details and project-specific clarifications will be shared in due course, once the necessary structures are in place and ready to operate as intended.
5. Amendments¶
Changes to governance structures require:
- A documented proposal
- Review by the relevant governance participants
- Approval by:
- The community governance body (for Community–Brax governance areas), or
- Brax Technologies PBC (for Brax-managed governance areas)
All amendments are documented publicly.