My first involvement in Zcash was nearly ten years ago. At the time, Zooko was trying to raise funding to build Zcash, and I gave him some feedback on his investor pitch. We stayed in contact, and I became an advisor to the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company (as ECC was then known). About a month before Zcash launched, I joined the ECC team full-time, and so I was there when we launched Zcash from the kitchen of an Airbnb in the Bay Area, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
For the next four years at ECC, and then for another four years at the Zcash Foundation, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the smartest and most dedicated people I’ve ever met. In that time, I’ve watched the Zcash ecosystem grow and become decentralised. As well as ECC and the Foundation, we now have QEDIT, Shielded Labs, the Financial Privacy Foundation, ZecHub, ZingoLabs, and a bunch of other teams that are funded by the Zcash Community Grants program, all of whom contribute to or support the Zcash mission in a variety of ways.
As the Zcash ecosystem and community grows and evolves, so must the institutions that steward and support it, and that is especially true of the Foundation.
As Executive Director, it has been my responsibility and privilege to serve the Zcash Foundation team, the Zcash community, and the Zcash mission for the past four years. One of my responsibilities as ED is to recognise when the time is right to step aside, to allow someone else to take the helm.
I believe that time has come, and so I am stepping down from the role of Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation.
Alex Bornstein is taking over as interim ED. Alex is eminently qualified, with prior experience as ED of a 501(c)(3), and nearly four years as ZF’s COO. In that role, he has ably supported and advised me, and I look forward to returning the favour while the ZF Board begins the process of recruiting a permanent ED who will lead ZF through the coming evolution of its role.
I want to thank the Zcash Foundation team and Board members — past and present — for granting me their trust, support and patience over the past four years. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work full-time on a project that aligns as strongly with my principles as Zcash does.
To preempt any speculation or rumours: I am not leaving to take up another role, and there is no rancour or disagreement between the ZF Board and me.
I will continue to support the Zcash Foundation in any way I can, and I will continue to support and contribute to the broader Zcash mission as a community member.
— Jack Gavigan, former Executive Director