Hello Everyone,
I am seeing some issues with the new Head Ambassador program. I believe full disclosure is necessary as to who is sponsoring them for greater community transparency.
It has come to my attention that a hefty sum of 5K DOT Decision Deposit (DD) is required to apply for the Head Ambassador (HA) program. This translates to about $28,750 USD or ~5.75 * 5000 DOT. Many HA candidates have resorted to seeking sponsorships because of the steep barrier to entry.
The DD was not mentioned in the original Ref: 487. You would think such a crucial detail should have been included in the ref. But, it wasn't: https://polkadot.polkassembly.io/referenda/487
Some in the community are calling this the Whale Ambassador Program. Including a former HA: Alex Promo Team: https://forum.polkadot.network/t/feedback-needed-new-head-ambassador-application-requirement/8549/43?u=alexpromoteam
So based on the above issues and in the spirit of transparency in OpenGov. I will request any HA that has successfully won their bid for the HA position to disclose who their sponsors are. This includes providing wallet addresses and Transaction IDs from the sponsors (It should add up to 5K DOT). It can be posted as "HA Sponsorship Full Disclosure" as a topic on Polka Assembly.
I agree completely that these sponsorships can cause a conflict of interest, and I also agree with Alex promo team that this entire HA program is a whales' game that will not benefit Polkadot.
However, I will vote NAY because full disclosure was not part of the original referendum, and demanding it now seems unfair. Instead, such a requirement could be added for all future applicants.