Hi everyone - Since I came close in the last election (5th place behind Fehz by 57,742 VP), I thought I would reapply from a Finance perspective, with a “minor” in Marketing & Growth. The reason I am applying for a council role versus an OpCo role is that I may have future work independence issues in 2026 (not confirmed). As a result, I may be only limited to a council role, acting as a council liaison to the OpCo to help or communicate any financial reporting/budgeting/treasury management needs between the OpCo,Council and community.
Regarding Marketing & Growth, I am confident in my vast network across various projects in the space to help grow the DAO (i.e. finance, legal, gaming, direct contacts at certain chains).
(From my old postulation):
Decentraland Background:
My name is Maryana. I joined Decentraland as a user in December 2021 and have been involved in the community such as by streaming, social media/content creation, learning the SDK(6) and builder tool, and hosting events. I’ve worked with reputable brands throughout the years for events or content creation. I serve as the Ohio President for Stand with Crypto, which allows me to work with major crypto platforms, policymakers and wallet & crypto users in my state, as well as with the SWC executive team and Coinbase Policy Team. I recently was able to bring Stand with Crypto into Decentraland, with education as a focus in the coming year(s).
In January 2022, I got involved in the Decentraland DAO as an observer at first, and began to dive deeper into the accounting and governance issues beginning in 2023. I held a DAO position as a Revocation Committee Member from May 2023 - May 2024, where I worked with the committee to address revocations. This role required careful analysis, decision-making, and adherence to the legacy grant program.
I’ve engaged in the Financial Planning groups (moderated by @web3nit & @Fehz) throughout the year, providing insight when possible, and led the Lisbon financial planning discussions, and run ad-hoc analysis reports for myself to understand current expenditures. To this day, I’ve continued to explore and consult with other finance professionals on DAO accounting, and how we can bring financial reporting and treasury management into the DAO. My professional network is highly extensive, ranging from Big 4 professionals, to web3 finance professionals and policymakers.
As an opening to my postulation, my passion for finance, blockchain, and the Decentraland community & platform, paired with my extensive experience in financial reporting, auditing and governance positions me to contribute to the growth and sustainability of the Decentraland ecosystem as a DAO council member.
Disclaimer: I am specifically applying to be a subject matter expert for Finance. My primary goal is to keep the OpCo accountable over the adoption of treasury management, financial reporting policies and budgeting practices to the DAO, and advise with this process. The finance portion is crucial to ensure DAO governance policies have appropriate funding and resources allocated to make the optimize the overall strategy we achieve. My involvement with the community also allows me to understand what our current community needs and has issues with. I have an understanding of our protocol and see the crucial need for strengthening our platform features. I am not a programmer or dev ops engineer, but understand the technology at a high-level. I’ve also been an unofficial ambassador for Decentraland in a few web3 conferences and local meet-ups discussing the technology, and DAO governance of Decentraland.
Resume & Relevant Experience:
I hold a MBA in Accounting & BA in Accounting, and held a full-time accounting position for 8 years, ranging from public accounting (audit & analytics), internal auditing & SOX compliance in industry, and financial reporting & budgeting, and individual taxation. Most of my 2025 has been dedicated to studying for my CPA (3/4 done) and some event management with Stand with Crypto. I’ve also was able to attend a few conferences, allowing to network with more projects in the space. My professional experience has allowed me to contribute to the DAO’s previous financial planning and treasury management discussions.
My understanding of the COSO - Integrated Framework & COSO for Blockchain ensures that we have a proper control environment over our governance & culture (tone at the top), strategy and objective setting, risk assessment and performance, control activities and reporting (financially, to external and internal stakeholders of our DAO).
I have extensive knowledge on the application of accounting standards by FASB, the AICPA (i.e Auditing standards, reporting standards, and quality control), and IT policies for managing risk. I also stay informed on crypto regulations that are released either by the SEC or international regulating bodies.
Beyond Decentraland, my involvement in the a Web3 Finance community (@web3financeclub) led by Request Finance, has deepened my understanding of decentralized finance and its application in various reputable DAO ecosystems (Arbitrum, Solana), and virtual ecosystems. There are members with executive positions at these crypto companies, to crypto policy makers. Our group shares emerging accounting standards relating to crypto regulation regularly.
Overall, my experience equips me to bridge traditional financial principles with innovative DAO models, ensuring that Decentraland’s financial resources are optimized to serve its diverse stakeholders.
Alignment with Council Criteria:
Should I be elected, I commit to be accountable and transparent with my role in the council, assist with the quarterly meetings and financial reporting management, and contribute to the budgeting and financial strategy.
As a longstanding contributor to Decentraland, and the DAO financial governance discussions, I have a nuanced understanding of its technology, audience, and stakeholders, ensuring informed and holistic decision-making. My active engagement with Decentraland’s stakeholders will help achieve the overall goals of the DAO. With a strong foundation in finance and a proven track record of managing complex budgets in my professional experience, I am equipped to guide the DAO’s treasury toward sustainable growth while mitigating risks.
Cover Letter for the Vision for Decentraland’s Future:
My vision for Decentraland centers on improving the protocol while maintaining financial discipline. By enhancing the DAO’s financial infrastructure, we can empower creators, support critical protocol & client projects, and ensure that Decentraland aims to continue its presence in the virtual experiences aspect of the blockchain. This innovation includes ensuring all aspects of blockchain is able to exist or be represented in Decentraland by welcoming or producing the technology to support DeFi, gaming, socialfi, emerging new topics such as AI agents, DePins, and education & research (DeSci has been a recent focus for me as I come from healthcare).
My vision also includes seeing the DAO/Foundation providing the proper support and resources to transition projects from SDK6 to SDK7, to reduce obsolete grant projects in the legacy grant program. Further, bring visibility to the project with key strategic partnerships.
I am committed to consulting & engaging in the following:
- Financial Reporting & Treasury Management: Developing policies and working with the Finance OpCo to keep record of the DAO’s expenditures, grant programs, and treasury sustainable while aligning it with community values and ensuring the Foundation and DAO do not duplicate efforts. In addition, ensuring there is an off-chain tracking of the expenses made related to our future DAO’s objectives. I’d aim to achieve that our dashboard is more insightful for each DAO stakeholder.
I also believe we can keep our treasury management in-house as much as possible, but engage with professionals on guiding that strategy.
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Enhanced Governance: Promoting transparency, inclusivity, and accountability in all Council activities. Discuss with other DAO councils in the ecosystem on DAO governance & grant programs. Work with the community on the governance that should be implemented.
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Synergy with Creators, Developers and Platforms: Strengthening relationships with the current builders, developers and other blockchain platforms to ensure Decentraland’s innovation in the space. The most crucial aspect is that the SDK and protocol is able to merge contributions, connect features requested by current users and external projects in the various aspects of blockchain listed above.
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Sustainable Growth: Discussing initiatives that drive user adoption and strengthen Decentraland’s position as an open source protocol in the blockchain metaverse space.
Closing Thoughts:
Serving on the Decentraland DAO Council is a responsibility to the community and our ecosystem. I am eager to bring my financial expertise, passion, and commitment to this role.My traditional finance experience will help bring core principles to DAO accounting needed here. I hope to see an efficient and professional Finance opCo with the help of the DAO council.
Maryana