ENS Foundation Update: Team, 2026 Stand-up Budget, and What’s Next
The DAO executed Next Era of ENS DAO: Empowering the ENS Foundation ([Draft] [Executable] Next Era of ENS DAO: Empowering the ENS Foundation) on 11 August. The Board held its first meeting on 15 September, adopted the Foundation’s bylaws and core governance policies, and approved the stand-up budget published below.
Team
The Foundation now has two full-time staff members:
- Dan Horne, Chief of Staff. Dan leads operations, Board processes, and cross-team coordination. He is also the Foundation’s Conflicts Officer.
- Colton Liberacki (coltron.eth), Governance & Special Projects Lead. Colton leads governance work and DAO relations, and supports the Foundation’s special projects.
Moving forward, many Foundation updates will come from Dan and Colton. I will continue to update the community on major matters and participate in discussions as always.
2026 stand-up budget
The Foundation proposal set the following requirement:
The Foundation will receive no operating funding under this proposal until the Executive Director has presented a projected budget to the Board and a high-level version has been published to the DAO forum. Pending that publication, aggregate transfers from the Endowment to the Foundation may not exceed USD 500,000, covering standup costs only. The first annual budget will be published within 60 days of adoption, and annual Foundation spending thereafter is bounded by the published budget.
This post fulfills that requirement. We presented the budget to the Board, the Board adopted it on 15 September 2026 (Resolution 10), and the high-level version is below. It covers September through December 2026.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Headcount | $294,520 |
| Professional services | $56,500 |
| Travel and expenses | $24,049 |
| IT and software hosting | $7,172 |
| Miscellaneous | $400 |
| Total | $382,641 |
Headcount covers the Executive Director, two full-time staff, part-time advisory support, independent director compensation, and all employer costs for the period. Figures are in USD, paid in USDC, rounded to whole dollars; totals are as approved by Board Resolution 10.
The Board may amend the budget as needs develop; any amendment will be published here in the same manner.
What’s next
We’re preparing the 2027 budget and strategic plan for the Board and will publish the high-level budget here once it’s adopted. We will publish quarterly treasury reports and annual financials.
Sincerely yours,
Alexander Urbelis
Executive Director & Chief Legal Officer, ENS Foundation