It’s with sorrow that the Ethereum Foundation announces that Ming Chan, who has served as Executive Director for the past three years, is leaving the Foundation. He brought leadership, integrity, and commitment, and will be badly missed. The Foundation is thankful for his dedicated service and the many accomplishments he achieved, including the reorganization of the Foundation to increase efficiency and reduce costs, forging relationships with IC3 and other academic groups, navigating the Foundation through various challenges, including the DAO attack of 2016 and DDoS attacks in 2016, and overseeing multiple significant hard forks, such as Homestead and Metropolis.

The search for a worthy successor is now complete – Aya Miyaguchi will take over the role of CEO from February 1, 2018. She is a blockchain veteran, having previously been CEO of Kraken Japan, and is a passionate supporter of nonprofits and social entrepreneurs.

Aya commented, “Having been involved in a variety of aspects of the blockchain ecosystem, I’m conscious of the improvements that need to be made at the core level of the Ethereum platform, and that these changes can only be made with the assistance of a strong community. I’m excited to take on this role and foster research and development endeavors and connections within the community.”

The Board of Directors of Stiftung Ethereum looks forward to working with Aya as the Foundation continues to grow and develop in the coming years. We are anticipating many more exciting developments in the future, and invite you to join us in wishing Ming a fond farewell, and a warm welcome to Aya at the Ethereum Foundation.