The recent appointments of the two Co-Executive Directors and President are part of a broader effort to strengthen the Ethereum Foundation, and this structure is designed to ensure our vision, strategic and balanced execution, technical direction, and ecosystem development. This blog is intended to clarify the structure of the management team and the board.

New Management (Strategic & Operational Execution)

EF’s Co-EDs will lead and execute together with other management members. You can expect to hear from members of EF management regularly on their plans, decisions, and other new changes.

• Hsiao-Wei Wang, Co-Executive Director
• Tomasz K. Stańczak, Co-Executive Director
• Bastian Aue – Focus areas: Org strategy, Hiring and Training, Co-stewards
• Josh Stark – Focus areas: Project execution, Comms & marketing, Co-stewards

Board of Directors (Oversight & Vision)

The EF board is like a security council to protect the heart and soul of EF, and to ensure compliance as a Swiss foundation. The board sets the vision, oversees that the high-level strategies and decisions by management are aligned with the Foundation’s values. The Board is also responsible for selecting Executive Director(s), and if necessary terminating the employment of executives. The current board of directors includes:

• Vitalik Buterin, Founder – continues to provide technical and intellectual guidance to the broader Ethereum ecosystem
• Aya Miyaguchi, President – sets the Ethereum Foundation’s vision with other board members. Manages some key external relationships
• Patrick Storchenegger, Swiss counsel – serves as the Swiss representative for legal and compliance matters
• Hsiao-Wei Wang, Co-Executive Director – serves as the bridge between the board, executives, and management

The board has shared the vision, guiding principles and goals for the next few years with the management team. We anticipate further strengthening the board to better serve its mission over time.

Tomasz and Hsiao-Wei Wang’s appointments as Co-EDs are an unconventional decision, but one that allows them to complement one another at a busy time for the Ethereum ecosystem and EF alike.

Tomasz will be enabled to help EF drive strong and comprehensive changes based on his grasp of community and technological needs while he stays involved in other companies (Nethermind and venture affiliations). The board and Tomasz have agreed to the expected two year term for his Co-ED role at EF to leverage his proven strategic execution-expertise and experience, especially as the next couple of years bring significant opportunities for Ethereum.

Hsiao-Wei’s dual board and ED roles, in addition to her research experience, will help her to serve as a bridge between the board and management, with an eye for the needs of the organization that come with a deep understanding of its history and place.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) announced a restructuring of its leadership on April 28, highlighting the focus areas of its two co-executive directors and separating the work areas of its management team and board of directors. 

The changes are part of an effort to enhance strategic execution, strengthen internal operations, and further support the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem as it expands.

Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak were appointed as co-executive directors in March, as part of a restructure intended to balance technical expertise with operational leadership.

The EF clarified that the co-executive directors will work closely with the broader management team, executing the foundation’s vision through strategic planning, ecosystem stewardship, and operational oversight. 

Bastian Aue and Josh Stark have also joined the management team with defined focus areas, including organizational strategy, hiring, project execution, and communications.

Management structure and board oversight

Under the new structure, the management team is responsible for daily operations, while the board of directors oversees vision and compliance. 

The current board consists of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, president Aya Miyaguchi, Swiss counsel Patrick Storchenegger, and co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang. 

The board ensures that management decisions and the foundation’s principles are aligned and has the authority to appoint and, if necessary, terminate executive leadership.

Buterin and Miyaguchi reiterated that Ethereum’s resilience depends on technical decentralization and social and structural decentralization. 

The board emphasized that the Ethereum Foundation must maintain a flexible, supportive role rather than exert centralized control over the ecosystem’s evolution.

Strategic priorities

In a joint statement, Wang and Stańczak outlined their focus areas for the next 12 months, with the priorities including scaling Ethereum’s mainnet, improving interoperability between L1 and L2 networks, to enhance user and developer experience. 

They added that technical excellence would remain the foundation for all initiatives. The two co-executive directors detailed four guiding principles that will shape decision-making: censorship resistance, open-source innovation, privacy protection, and security. 

They said that these values are central to supporting Ethereum’s long-term resilience and usefulness as a global public good.

Stańczak, a Nethermind affiliate who participates in venture activities, will serve a two-year term as co-executive director, focusing on accelerating the execution of projects critical to Ethereum’s technical infrastructure. 

Wang will bridge board directives and management activities, drawing on her research experience and historical knowledge of the Ethereum Foundation’s operations.

Vision for Ethereum’s future

In a separate post, the Ethereum Foundation articulated its broader vision, describing its role as a steward of the “Infinite Garden,” the title given to the Ethereum ecosystem. 

The foundation stated its commitment to identifying and addressing high-leverage areas where its contributions are uniquely necessary, while intentionally stepping back to empower independent teams whenever possible.

The foundation’s long-term goals include maximizing meaningful Ethereum usage across various applications such as decentralized finance, social media, and AI coordination platforms. Another core objective is to ensure the resilience of Ethereum’s technical and social infrastructure through decentralization, risk management, and diversified development teams.

EF leadership noted that purposeful subtraction, designing systems that distribute power rather than accumulate it, remains a key part of its governance philosophy. The foundation aims to adapt its structure and initiatives without compromising Ethereum’s foundational values as the ecosystem grows.

The Ethereum Foundation concluded that it would continue strengthening its management structure and strategic focus, supporting Ethereum’s mission to serve as a resilient, neutral platform for global coordination across technology, finance, and governance.

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