ZUG, 4 DECEMBER 2019. The Cardano Foundation – in line with its goal to strengthen and diversify its highest supervisory body – has appointed Tamara Haasen and Nicolás Javier Arqueros Rojas as new Council Members, effective immediately. The latest addition comes as the Foundation set to assume more responsibilities ahead of the transfer of custody of Cardano and smart contracts rollout in 2020.

Tamara is the first woman to hold the post and Nicolás is the first South American national to become a Council Member. Together they will focus on advancing the Foundation’s mission.

Tamara and Nicolás join the existing Council – Nathan Kaiser, Chairperson, Manmeet Singh, Vice Chairperson, and Domino Burki, Treasurer – to further bolster the Foundation’s objectives as the project heads into the Goguen era. Both new Council Members come from within the Cardano ecosystem: Tamara is a Chief of Staff at Input Output HK based in Toronto, Canada, and Nicolás is a Chief Technology Officer at EMURGO based in New York, United States.

The appointments are a direct response to the Foundation’s priorities of timely and orderly transfer of full custody of Cardano next year, acquire additional expertise and skillset, and formalize and solidify structural relationships within the ecosystem, as well as maintain robust operational links between the three entities.

Nathan Kaiser, Chairperson of the Cardano Foundation, says:

"This year has been transformational for the Cardano Foundation on multiple accounts and 2020 promises to be even more monumental. We have built our team and grown our collective skillset. To continue our expansion, the new Council Members will empower the Foundation to have even more holistic decision-making, provide additional expertise and bring new perspectives. “Tamara brings business development and growth, systems integration and talent acquisition experience to the Foundation. Nicolás will provide his technical expertise based on his entrepreneurial engineering, startup, app development and emerging markets knowledge. Both Tam and Nico will be key for the progression of Cardano.”

Tamara, a native of Toronto, Canada, has a Juris Doctor degree from the Bond University in Queensland (Australia) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Toronto in Ontario (Canada). She is also a certified audio engineer and holds theater credentials.

Nicolás, a native of La Serena, Chile, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Electronic Engineering with a minor in Business and Economics from the Federico Santa María Technical University in Valparaíso (Chile).

Under the current Council’s leadership, the Cardano Foundation expanded its team to 16 locations across 12† countries, and has strengthened its communications, legal, technical, operational, administrative and community management functions by bringing new talent in key departments.

As a result, the Foundation has increased its presence across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe with a diverse set of individuals representing 17‡ nationalities, of which women make up almost a third, with more hires and geographic expansion planned for 2020.

This year, the Foundation also became a member of leading industry bodies and will continue to do so going forward.

About the Cardano Foundation: The Cardano Foundation is an independent Swiss standards body that oversees and supervises the advancement of Cardano and its ecosystem. The Foundation’s core focus is in developing a Cardano adoption strategy through to integration and execution, to enable fast-track value creation for inclusive and equitable growth. As the legal custodian of the protocol and the owner of the Cardano brand, the Foundation works to drive adoption and partnerships, grow the wider blockchain community, shape legislation, and commercial standards, and ensure stakeholder accountability. Find out more: www.CardanoFoundation.org

† Canada, China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. ‡ American, Austrian, Belgian, Brazilian, British, Canadian, Chilean, Chinese, Dutch, German, Indian, Korean, Kyrgyz, Portuguese, South African, Swiss and Taiwanese.