Related Articles
In times of crisis, traditional systems often feel slow, opaque, or unresponsive. Whether it is political upheaval, institutional failure, or urgent public need, the existing models of coordination can fall short.
I have worked in crypto long enough to understand the mechanics of DAOs. But when I saw people organizing around real-world causes like raising funds for reproductive rights, deciding together how to allocate them—it felt different. I saw their potential to drive a different kind of change. Not just to democratize the internet, but to rally people around a shared humanitarian mission.
DAOs allow people to coordinate, fund, and act together in a transparent way, without relying on gatekeepers.
These are not hypotheticals. Real-world DAOs are already driving measurable impact, from health research to humanitarian aid. They reflect the Web3 ethos in action: transparency, sovereignty, and community-driven decision-making.
Polkadot was founded on this same philosophy. Openness, interoperability, and onchain governance are built into the protocol to support more resilient systems and more equitable outcomes.
This blog explores how that philosophy shows up beyond Polkadot, through DAOs that are funding public goods, organizing around shared values, and giving communities new tools to shape the future.
DAOs, or decentralized autonomous organizations, are internet-native communities that operate through smart contracts and collective decision-making. Unlike traditional organizations, DAOs allow members to directly shape what gets funded, how proposals are evaluated, and which priorities rise to the top.
My first experience actively participating in one came after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Like many people, I felt overwhelmed, angry, and unsure how to help. That’s when I found Choice DAO, a collective that raised crypto donations for reproductive rights and let members vote on where those funds should go.
It was the first time a DAO felt personal to me. Less like a system, more like a collective force for something I care about. It showed me that DAOs can be more than theoretical. They can be human. They can respond to the moment. And they can move real resources toward urgent causes.
My experience with Choice DAO sparked a bigger question for me: can DAOs offer a more meaningful way to organize for social good? It turns out I’m not the only one asking that question.
Around the world, people are using DAOs to address challenges that traditional systems often overlook. Gitcoin DAO has funded more than 5,000 open‑source public goods projects via community‑driven grant rounds, channeling over $67 million since 2019. UkraineDAO launched in early 2022, raised over $7 million in crypto within days to support humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Big Green DAO launched in 2021 as one of the first nonprofit-led DAOs. Before winding down in 2023, it distributed over $1.5 million in grants to grassroots food justice organizations and piloted a model where grantees helped decide future funding, giving community leaders a direct voice in decision-making.
Even established institutions are beginning to explore the model. Amnesty International Aotearoa is piloting a DAO to help coordinate global human rights campaigns. A 2024 research paper led by Gareth Farry outlines how this DAO prototype, developed through Cardano’s Project Catalyst, could decentralize decision-making across Amnesty’s global movement. The concept includes a human rights token that would give millions of supporters a voice in campaign strategy, funding, and governance.
These are not fringe experiments. They reflect a broader shift in how communities are choosing to coordinate, fund, and act with transparency, urgency, and shared ownership at the core.
At a high level, DAOs operate through smart contracts that manage treasuries, proposals, and votes. Community members submit ideas and collectively decide how to allocate resources, all onchain. But beyond this basic structure, many DAOs are developing new tools and patterns to help people coordinate more effectively at scale.
To serve social missions effectively, DAOs rely on tools that prioritize fairness, accessibility, and accountability.
While still evolving, DAOs offer several distinct advantages for mission-driven communities:
While promising, DAOs for public good are still navigating real-world challenges:
After participating in Choice DAO, I started paying closer attention to other DAOs working on social issues I care about. One that stood out immediately was Athena DAO, a decentralized collective focused on advancing women's health research.
Athena focuses on areas that are often overlooked or underfunded in traditional systems, including PCOS, menopause, fertility, and other critical topics. Like Choice DAO, it gives members a voice in how resources are distributed. While Choice was centered on rapid response, Athena is long-term and research-driven.
It is part of a growing movement known as DeSci, or decentralized science, which uses blockchain tools to fund and coordinate scientific research in a more open and equitable way.
Anyone can contribute to Athena DAO’s mission by donating funds. Members hold governance tokens and help determine how that funding gets allocated, using a transparent process for proposals and voting.
Scientific advisors help vet research proposals submitted to the community. Funding goes directly to researchers or institutions working on high-impact women's health projects. Every step, from governance decisions to fund disbursements, is tracked onchain for full transparency.
Athena showed me that DAOs are not just for moments of crisis. They can be used to address long-term structural gaps in how we fund healthcare, science, and innovation. Athena showed me that Web3 can be more than a foundation for an open and fair internet. It can help rebuild the systems that shape our health, our research, and our humanity.
DAOs have shown me that the values of Web3, such as transparency, sovereignty, and shared ownership, are not just ideals. They are already being put into practice.
Choice DAO and Athena DAO are part of a growing movement to build systems that serve people instead of institutions. They offer a glimpse of what becomes possible when coordination is decentralized and grounded in shared values.
Polkadot was founded on this same philosophy. Its governance system and architecture reflect a belief that power should be distributed, and that communities should shape their own outcomes.
If we want a future where people have more say in the systems that impact their lives, DAOs will be a key part of that journey.
