Become a Founding Steward.
We're opening Genesis intake broadly for independent reviewers. The normal rule is an issued Degree of Proof; an approved Founding Steward whose application carries the persisted Genesis Cohort exemption can satisfy that Degree gate without a Degree. Qualified applications receive the exemption only while fewer than 100 approved Genesis Stewards exist; later applications go to manual review and follow the normal rule. No fee to apply.
Why now
No Degrees exist yet — so no normal steward gate can hold them.
The normal Steward rule is an issued Degree of Proof. Approved Genesis Founding Stewards are the narrow exception: their persisted Genesis Cohort exemption lets them become Ready after completing the other requirements, even without a Degree. The exemption stays with already-approved Genesis applicants after the enrollment threshold closes. It is not granted to later or manually approved applicants.
The 100-approved threshold closes auto-approval for new applicants; it does not revoke an existing Genesis exemption. Later applicants use the normal issued-Degree path, and General/Specialist routing still applies its own competence, identity, conflict, and review requirements.
About the role
Read evidence independently. Recuse on a conflict. Record each verdict.
General Stewards approve or reject; Specialists may request revisions when the Specialist route is used. Every decision is recorded in the audit history.
Founding Stewards do not represent the claimant, the platform, or anyone who will later read the credential. Independence comes from the recusal rule — at intake, on the panel, and after the verdict — and the recusal is itself an entry in the audit log. The review reads against the audit bar published on /how-it-works; it is not a personal taste call.
See the full role guide on /for-stewards
Open /for-stewardsGenesis status
Permanently labeled. Authority from the Genesis Protocol, not from a Degree.
Founding Stewards are not provisional. Every credential they author carries a permanent mark: Authenticated under the Genesis Cohort. Genesis intake is open broadly: qualified applications are auto-approved until 100 approved Genesis Stewards, then stored for manual review. Credential issuance rules remain unchanged.
Qualifications
Five things you will be asked about on the application.
We don't require formal credentials — real-world competence counts in full. The application is what we read; the five sections below are what you can prepare today.
- 01
Real identity
Your name and a reachable email. Anonymous or pseudonymous applications are not accepted because the intake team must verify and administer the application; this requirement does not grant permission to publish your identity.
- 02
Demonstrable competence
A long-form description of the work, projects, customers, published pieces, teaching, or other evidence that confirms you know the domain you say you know. Formal credentials count as evidence but are not the only evidence.
- 03
Conflict disclosure
A disclosure of any current or recent professional, personal, or financial tie to the Proofworks project, its founder, or any party who might appear as a future claimant.
- 04
Governance acceptance
A willingness to read the published governance and operate under it. You can disagree with specific rules — that is welcome — but you agree to read them before you sign a verdict.
- 05
Weighed on independence, not on outcomes
A willingness to be weighed on independence, not on the verdicts you reach. How you vote doesn't drive the evaluation — only your independence does.
Required agreements
Five acknowledgements the application form will ask you to sign.
Each of the five boxes below is a commitment the form asks you to confirm. They are recorded on your application so the panel — and any later reviewer of this cohort — can read what you agreed to at intake.
- 01
Conflict disclosure
You will disclose any current or recent tie — professional, personal, or financial — to the Proofworks project, the founder, or any future claimant whose claim you might review.
- 02
Governance
You have read the published governance and agree to operate under it for as long as your application is under consideration and (if selected) for as long as you author verdicts.
- 03
Compensation is not contingent on verdict
Any compensation paid for steward work is never contingent on approving a claim. Payment is for adjudication, not for outcomes.
- 04
Authority and recorded reasoning
General Stewards approve or reject; Specialists may request revisions when the Specialist route is used. Every decision is recorded in the audit history.
- 05
Recusal
You will recuse on a claim where you have a conflict — current or recent — and the recusal will be logged with the rest of the panel's record for that claim.
Steward privacy & qualification contract
What reviewers see, what they don't, and what gates the cohort.
The four points below apply on every Degree of Proof reviewed under the Genesis Protocol — and on every Degree reviewed once ordinary Stewards are operating. They are the single canonical framing for /governance and /founding-stewards.
What the panel reads.
Reviewers read the claim packet — the skill statement, the artifacts, any expert affidavit, and any prior reviewer notes — on the packet's own signal. The claimant's name is not what the panel weighs; the artifacts are.
- The submitted claim and the artifact bundle — work orders, employer statements, recorded test runs, expert affidavits, uncut footage, third-party test records. The panel reads the evidence on its own signal.
- Any revised claim that comes back through the resubmit flow, with the prior decision visible on the audit trail. The panel reads what changed, not just the new packet.
- The audit trail for the same claim — prior reviewer notes, revision requests, the panel's earlier verdict. The audit trail is what the next panel reads, alongside the claim itself.
Claimant identity is protected.
Reviewers do not see claimant identity as a weight in the verdict. The audit log binds the verdict to a known reviewer, never to control whose identity crossed whose desk — that line is the structural guard, not a courtesy.
- Claimant identity is not a weight in the verdict. The verdict is recorded against the audit log, not against the claimant's record; the panel's read stands on the artifacts.
- Individual reviewer identities remain private. Public verification may show the panel count and other aggregate panel metadata, plus recorded recusal events; it does not publish named reviewers.
- Contestant identity stays private unless the contestant consents in writing. The credential holder is told the basis, not the contestant; the platform does not unilaterally release a public summary.
Standing in the pool — not a credential we mint on the candidate's record.
General Stewards provide independent evidence review. Specialists provide subject-matter expertise where the Specialist route applies. Conflict disclosure and recusal keep every assignment independent.
- Subject-matter expertise is used where the Specialist route applies; General Stewards independently review evidence.
- No employer, claimant, or downstream-verifier tie. Reviewers do not work for the claimant, the employer, or any downstream verifier; intake filters out conflicts of interest at the panel level.
- Governance acceptance and recusal on conflict. Each reviewer has agreed to operate under /governance and to recuse on a current or recent conflict — the recusal is itself an entry on the audit log.
Payment is for adjudication. Not for outcomes.
General reviews pay $2 and Specialist reviews pay $8. Payment is for completed adjudication work, regardless of approval or rejection.
General reviews pay $2; Specialist reviews pay $8. Payment is earned for completed adjudication work and never depends on approval or rejection.
Commitment and compensation
Clear route-based pay. Never verdict-based.
General reviews: $2 · Specialist reviews: $8
Use what you already know to review real claims, record the panel decision, and help establish the review process from the inside.
Founding Stewards read claims asynchronously — there's no meeting to attend, no deadline by the hour. The expected throughput is modest: claim volume is small in the first cohort, and reviewers weigh a small number of claims per month at most.
General reviews pay $2 and Specialist reviews pay $8. Payment is for completed review work, never for approval or rejection.
Not every review pays exactly $8, and pay is never guaranteed: some months may pay zero (a quiet queue, a recusal, a low-volume cohort). There is no fee to apply — no application fee, no payment required at any step.
How selection works
Applying does not guarantee selection.
Every valid application is evaluated against the existing requirements: all five acknowledgements, relevant expertise, and a substantive experience description. No additional scoring or ranking rubric is introduced.
Qualified applications are auto-approved while fewer than 100 Genesis Stewards are approved. Once that threshold is reached, valid applications remain open and are stored for manual review.
Honest note · There is no interview process today and no second-round review form. If we add either, the existing cohort will be told at the same time as new applicants.
What stewarding is NOT
Three lines to mark the boundary.
Three lines mark the boundary. These mirror what /for-stewards sees on the reader's guide — applied here to the founding cohort.
Not legal expertise
Stewarding is not legal expertise.
The panel reads evidence against the audit bar; it does not offer legal advice, stand as counsel, or certify legal standing.
Not salaried employment
Stewarding is not a paid full-time role.
Stewarding is per-claim participation. It is not a salaried position, and not a guaranteed volume of claims.
Private identities, aggregate panel record
Stewarding is not a public directory.
Founding Stewards are not named on public pages. Individual identities remain private; public visibility is limited to aggregate panel metadata and the review count.
Apply
- 01
Create account / sign in
- 02
Tell us what you know
- 03
Accept the Steward rules
- 04
Join the Steward pool
Reading the persisted Genesis intake status…
The normal rule requires an issued Degree of Proof. An approved Genesis Founding Steward with the persisted exemption can satisfy that Degree gate without a Degree; the exemption persists after enrollment closes and is not granted to later applicants. No application fee.
Genesis Cohort intake
Reading intake stats…
We are not accepting payment for applications. This is volunteer reviewer recruitment, not a service with a fee.