In the first half of 2025, the Celo Regional Council stepped into a more defined and impactful role within the ecosystem serving as a bridge between local communities and Celo’s global strategy. What began as a lightweight coordination experiment has now become a foundational governance layer, helping regional hubs align, grow, and sustain themselves.
From Fragmentation to Framework
When the Council began this cycle, Celo’s regional hubs were operating with different structures, budgets, and levels of maturity. Some were well-established, while others were just getting started. The lack of shared tools, workflows, and timelines made ecosystem-wide coordination challenging.
To solve this, the Council introduced a series of improvements: weekly coordination calls, standardized proposal formats, peer learning sessions, and clearer funding expectations. These changes helped hubs move from working in isolation to operating as part of a connected global network.
The Council’s approach remained true to Celo’s values, maintaining local autonomy while improving global alignment.
Key Learnings from the First Half of 2025
Through one-on-one conversations, live proposal reviews, and strategic alignment meetings, several common challenges emerged:
- Many hubs found it difficult to map their local activities to intent-based funding metrics like TXs (transaction volume) and TVL (total value locked).
- The value of regional work was sometimes overlooked due to inconsistent reporting or lack of visibility.
- Governance fatigue affected contributors, especially in newer hubs, where unclear direction led to low engagement.
- Some teams had trouble defining their unique value proposition in the ecosystem.
To address these, the Council encouraged each region to identify its strengths, narrow its focus, and seek co-funding opportunities to reduce long-term reliance on the Celo Treasury.
A Model That Works: Lessons from Celo Africa
One of the most effective coordination models came from Celo Africa DAO, which combines a regional hub with a network of local nodes. This structure allowed them to activate communities, run educational events, and incubate new contributors efficiently all while maintaining solid communication and reporting practices.
This “hub + node” model is now influencing other regions. LATAM is working to unify its operations across Colombia and Mexico, Europe is exploring ways to grow its contributor base, and Asia, while facing coordination challenges due to its size and diversity, is beginning to evaluate foundational structures.
While long-term financial sustainability is the goal, the Council has emphasized that, for now, delivering concrete outcomes like increased TXs and TVL remains the top priority. These on-chain activities help feed the Community Fund, offsetting the support these hubs receive.
Building With Communities, Not Just for Them
The Council’s growth strategy focuses on deep, community-led adoption. Instead of driving metrics from the top down, they’re nurturing relationships that convert local users into long-term contributors.
Programs like Prezenti, Celo Public Goods, Celo Camp, and Builders Bootcamps are now being localized. Hubs are organizing workshops in native languages, creating culturally relevant content, and distributing resources on popular local platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
This grassroots approach ensures that Celo’s tools, grants, and governance structures aren’t just available, they’re actually accessible.
A Scalable Vision for the Future
As the ecosystem moves into intent-based governance, the Council’s role is shifting from coordination to ecosystem infrastructure. It now acts as a translator—turning global priorities into local strategies and surfacing community insights to influence broader ecosystem decisions.
The Council has also helped streamline funding processes. In the most recent Season 1 funding round, proposals underwent thorough community review, alignment checks, and strategic evaluations before being advanced to the final vote. This transparent process has set a new standard for ecosystem grantmaking.
Looking ahead, the Council will formalize its internal structure, onboard more regional contributors, and continue scaling the hub-node model to strengthen Celo’s presence across continents.
The Council’s proposal for H2 2025 is expected soon, building on this strong foundation. With each season, the Council moves closer to its mission: enabling sovereign, self-sustaining ecosystems that not only grow Celo’s reach but deepen its impact.
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