Since the passage of SIP-031, which created the Stacks Endowment and called for the creation of a streamlined organization to execute on key ecosystem functions (now, Stacks Labs), core contributors have been working behind the scenes to bring the proposal to life. To further accelerate this work, Alex Miller, co-author of the SIP and CEO at Hiro Systems, has stepped up as Interim CEO of Stacks Labs to organize the setup, lending his expertise as an operator going back to his days as GM at Stack Overflow.

Meanwhile, volunteers from various organizations have taken responsibility for key steps, including the hard fork which included the coding, audit, and setup of the Endowment’s contract and wallet, arrangements for the registration and setup of the new Cayman entities themselves, planning for people movement and upcoming hiring, and development of short-term solutions to cover time-sensitive efforts until it is reasonable to expect the Stacks Endowment or Stacks Labs to integrate them into their programming.

Alex’s knowledge of the ecosystem and deep understanding of the actions called for in the SIP make him well-suited to position Stacks Labs for maximum impact as quickly as possible. The interim role has emerged as a natural extension of the work he’s already been doing, which includes the onboarding of various experts and resources for Stacks Labs. Having an experienced go-to person who already understands the ecosystem will enable the fastest sign-offs and setup of highly buttoned up and well-structured organizations that serve the purpose of the SIP and will stand the test of time.

In this role, Alex has already started leading the initial setup of the organization including overseeing the necessary legal processes, placing the company’s initial leadership team, and hiring and onboarding of operational necessities like bank accounts, custody providers, and more. Of course, among Alex’s major responsibilities will be hiring key leaders such as the permanent CEO at Stacks Labs, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Security Officer, and other positions including but not limited to a Developer Relations, Blockchain Engineering Manager, Technical Product Managers, additional Core Developers, and more. As an initial Treasury Committee member named in the SIP, Alex will recuse himself from any Stacks Labs related funding the committee may have in making allocations from the Stacks Endowment.

In other areas, the Stacks Foundation and Bitcoin L2 Labs are ensuring momentum remains strong in the ecosystem while Stacks Labs and the Stacks Endowment are setup. In addition to being counterparties on new partnerships and integrations, the two organizations are finalizing plans to address key short-term needs in the ecosystem such as grants for builders and community functions until Labs and/or Endowment are setup to make payments and enter agreements. Specific announcements about these efforts are expected before the end of August.

Everyone in the ecosystem, and especially those involved in the setup of these entities understand the importance of deploying SIP-031 resources to high-impact areas as quickly as possible. It is also important that any grant program from the Stacks Endowment is well-reasoned, scalable, and transparent.

To bridge this gap, the Stacks Foundation will host a one-time grant program focused on the top applications and priorities in the ecosystem (indicate your interest here). This program will be executed in partnership with community leaders via groups such as the SIP-031 Appointments Committee, existing CABs, and others who want to weigh in on grant applications via public forums. In addition, we (Stacks Foundation) have doubled the budget allocation for the next round of DeGrants and will be working with community leaders to share details before the end of August, with applications expected to open in September.

Between the two programs, short-term needs of a wide variety can be addressed. Being an existing entity with legal resources and existing infrastructure, the Stacks Foundation is able to serve this temporary function while the Endowment forms and staffs up. Those interested in offering input as to the eventual grants program powered by the Stacks Endowment should engage with this forum post.

Given that a key goal is to both ensure that there are no disruptions to key ecosystem functions and that Stacks Labs is able to have an immediate impact, leaders have been collaborating what functions and capabilities should be spun up first, and what contributors from existing organizations should move over to support Stacks Labs work.

The first functions at Stacks Labs will include core protocol engineering (including the existing core devs from Bitcoin L2 Labs, Hiro, and Trust Machines), ecosystem marketing (including existing contributors from the Stacks Foundation), Developer Relations, and Strategic Partnerships. These initial team members will continue the important ecosystem work while beginning to hire new contributors and run experiments like new marketing & KOL engagements, new developer engagement points, community grants, and more.

In addition to the work mentioned above, the Stacks Foundation has been discussing the ‘Stacks Labs’ brand with its community creator, Eniola Samuel (aka Sam). Stacks Labs has been the desired name for the ‘Operational Entity’ mentioned in the SIP given its alignment in scope to many other ‘Labs’ type entities in other ecosystems. This baked in context keeps things simple for prospective partners and positions Stacks Labs to act with the necessary authority on behalf of the ecosystem in the areas it is contributing.

Last week, the foundation struck a deal with Sam to use the brand and acquire key properties and we should all thank him for enabling this powerful alignment. Sam is an extremely special and dedicated contributor to Stacks, his work is highlighted by efforts in Africa training developers to use the Clarity smart contract language. Under the Stacks Labs brand he’s built a vibrant community of passionate developers, work which will continue to be supported even as the Stacks Labs brand will transition to refer to the operational entity described in the SIP. A future announcement from the Stacks Foundation and Sam will provide further updates about future work supporting the developer community in Africa.