In this final episode of Governance Futures Season 1, hosts Jamilya and Eugene speak with Anke Liu, Governance Lead at the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), about Neural Quorum Governance — a novel mechanism co-developed with BlockScience to make community funding more equitable, modular, and participatory.As the Ecosystem Growth Lead at the Stellar Development Foundation, Anke Liu (X: anke_g_liu) oversees programs and initiatives catalyzing innovation and expansion of the Stellar Ecosystem, including the Stellar Community Fund and the Stellar Ambassador Program. Her collaboration with BlockScience on the creation of Neural Quorum Governance paves the way for a new standard for reputation-based governance. Anke is driven by a passion for decentralized coordination structures and impactful innovation in Web3.   Anke shares how Stellar’s governance evolved from simple community voting into a complex but flexible model balancing reputation, delegation, and trust. The discussion covers privacy vs. transparency, the cultural foundations of decentralization, and what it takes to sustain engagement across bear markets. Anke also reflects on the future of DAO incentives, identity, and the importance of effort and culture in keeping governance systems alive.   The episode closes with Anke’s one-word vision for governance: Plural. Some of the materials we mention in the episode: 1. Stellar: https://stellar.org/2. Stellar Community Fund (SCF): https://communityfund.stellar.org/ 3. Stellar Community Fund Handbook: https://stellar.gitbook.io/scf-handbook/governance/neural-quorum-governance 4. Introducing Neural Quorum Governance: https://blog.block.science/introducing-neural-quorum-governance/ 5. The Story Behind Neural Quorum Governance: https://blog.block.science/the-story-behind-neural-quorum-governance/ 6. The Road Ahead — SCF’s Implementation of Neural Quorum Governance: https://medium.com/stellar-community/the-road-ahead-scfs-implementation-of-neural-quorum-governance-4f44d22fa370 7. NQG Voting Report- https://hackmd.io/@blockscience/ryujino3p 8. Metagov Seminar - On Neural Quorum Governance (Liu): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qVfZq8zJKg Timestamps: 00:00 – Cold Start 00:49 – Introduction: Hosts Jamilya and Eugene open the season finale 02:49 – Reflections on Season 1 and setting the stage for Anke’s episode 04:40 – Anke’s story: from COVID community organizing to blockchain governance 06:42 – Spotting red flags and burnout in community building 08:51 – Why genuine communities survive beyond hype cycles 09:47 – Origins of Neural Quorum Governance (NQG) 10:50 – How neural weighting and quorum delegation work 13:11 – Designing NQG with BlockScience and Stellar’s trust-based ethos 15:11 – Comparing governance models across ecosystems 17:06 – Inside the Stellar Community Fund: panels, reviews, and voting cycles 18:48 – The Pathfinder, Navigator, and Pilot system of roles 20:35 – Delegate selection, quarterly nominations, and accountability 22:44 – Delegation cycles, abstaining votes, and participation rules 24:18 – Voting rounds, timing, and flexibility in the SCF process 26:45 – Iteration over two years: evolution and $30M in grants 28:27 – Adding “neurons” and metrics for voting quality 30:20 – Measuring fairness: decentralization and Theil index 32:02 – Improving equity and access for newcomers 34:23 – Reputation, learning, and how new contributors gain voting power 36:15 – Decentralization challenges and trade-offs 38:27 – Privacy vs. transparency: the hardest governance problem 41:17 – Institutional adoption, privacy demands, and zero-knowledge tech 44:35 – Balancing delegate protection and verifiability 47:51 – Enterprise privacy vs. open decision-making 49:43 – Identity, Proof of Humanity, and reputation layers 51:54 – Culture as the heart of governance systems 55:51 – Rethinking decentralization and the end of the foundation era 58:02 – Open infrastructure, transparency, and credible neutrality 59:52 – Dece