The challenge: Most research organizations optimize for 3-5 years. The infrastructure we need takes 30+ years to build. How do we create institutions that outlive their founders while protecting mission integrity?
The Governance Philosophy
SIF is being designed for a 50-year horizon, not a 5-year sprint.
Our governance model is inspired by institutions that survived generations: Bell Labs (gave us Unix, C, the transistor), Xerox PARC (GUI, Ethernet, object-oriented programming), and foundations like Mozilla and Wikimedia that protect public infrastructure.
Core principles:
Mission Lock
The mission—building open semantic infrastructure—is locked in governing documents. No single person, funder, or board can change it. Semantic infrastructure must remain public, open, and anti-captured.
Distributed Authority
Technical decisions live with research leads. Operations live with the Executive Director. Governance lives with the Chief Steward. No concentration of power.
Anti-Capture Mechanisms
- No single funder can provide >25% of operating budget
- Board majority independent of any commercial interest
- All research published under permissive open-source licenses
- Standards developed in the open with community input
Stewardship Over Ownership
Nonprofit structure means no one "owns" SIF. We're stewards building public infrastructure for future generations.
The Founding Model
SIF requires three complementary forces (not 2, not 1):
Chief Architect (Technical Vision)
Defines the semantic substrate, USIR architecture, and research direction. Stays in lane: Architecture and research, not operations or governance.
Chief Steward (Mission Guardian)
Guards mission, protects institutional integrity, chairs the board. The immune system—detects bad culture or architecture before it metastasizes. Modeled after Mervin Kelly at Bell Labs: the steward who protected the culture while geniuses like Claude Shannon did the research.
→ Learn about the Chief Steward role
Executive Director (Operational Leadership)
Runs foundation operations, executes fundraising, manages staff. Builds the institutional machine that lets research happen. Translates vision into budget, architecture into organization.
→ Learn about the Executive Director role
The dynamic: Architect picks the target → Director builds the institution → Steward keeps mission intact. Organizations that survive 30 years, not burn out in 3.
Current Status: Honest Assessment
What exists today:
- Founding architect (Scott Senkeresty) with 4 production systems proving the vision
- Clear governance model documented
- Anti-capture mechanisms designed
- Strategic roadmap toward 501(c)(3) formation
What doesn't exist yet:
- Filed 501(c)(3) entity (SIF is planned, not operational)
- Committed Chief Steward or Executive Director
- Board beyond founding architect
- Operating budget or secured funding
Why publish before we have it all?
Because transparency matters. We're documenting how to build institutions that last, in the open, before they exist. If the governance model is sound, it should survive scrutiny before implementation.
Why This Model?
Most technical nonprofits fail within 10 years. Common failure modes:
- Founder capture: Organization can't function without founder
- Funder capture: Single major funder dictates direction
- Mission drift: Success changes the mission ("this is where the money is")
- Execution failure: Great vision, no operational infrastructure
SIF's governance is designed to prevent all four:
- Stewardship prevents founder capture (institutional continuity beyond any single person)
- Funding diversity prevents funder capture (25% cap on any single source)
- Mission lock prevents drift (cannot be changed without dissolving the foundation)
- ED role prevents execution failure (professional operations from day one)
Governance Timeline
Year 1
- File 501(c)(3)
- Assemble founding board (3-5 directors)
- Establish bylaws with mission lock and anti-capture mechanisms
- Hire Executive Director
- Appoint Chief Steward
Year 3
- 5-7 member board (majority independent)
- Quarterly governance reviews
- Anti-capture mechanisms tested under growth
- Steward succession planning begins
Year 5+
- Self-sustaining governance (survives any single person leaving)
- Next generation of stewards identified
- Institution operating as designed
The 50-Year Question
SIF exists to ask: What infrastructure will AI systems need in 2075?
The answer: Semantic infrastructure that preserves provenance, grounds outputs in verifiable computation, and keeps reasoning transparent.
That infrastructure won't be built in 5 years. It requires patient capital, long-term commitment, and governance that survives beyond any single founder.
This is what we're building. Not fast, but right.
Get Involved
We're early-stage, but building governance in the open.
If you care about:
- Long-term institutional design
- Anti-capture mechanisms for public infrastructure
- Nonprofits that survive founders
- Transparent governance before it's required
→ Contact us to discuss advising, governance, or collaboration
Learn more:
- About SIF - What we're building and why
- Research - Production systems and architecture
- Funding Model - How we avoid capture
Last Updated: 2025-12-11