In each round of funding the Cardano community always comes up with a challenge that people have to come up with the solutions/ proposals to. The proposals that are sent are usually submitted and managed at https://cardano.ideascale.com/. After the proposals have been submitted, they are reviewed by Proposal Assessors (PAs – formerly known as Community Advisors/CAs). PAs rate proposals on whether they fit the challenge, and on their overall quality. They also are able to comment on proposals to add suggestions for improvement. The people that do that are called the “Proposal Assessors” and “Veteran Proposal Assessors.

The Proposal Assessors

Proposal Assessors evaluate the proposals sent to ideascale.They evaluate proposals for Impact, Feasibility, and Auditability. By reviewing the proposals they provide quality information to voters and proposersers.

Anyone can become a Proposal Advisor and earn money by simply logging into Ideascale and registering to participate.

One question that I had previously was: if one can be allowed to become a Proposal Assessor yet he or she is also a proposer? The answer to this is, yes!, One is allowed to participate as a Proposal Assessor when they are also a proposer. The only thing is that he or she can not rate proposals which are of the same category as theirs, as this might bring conflict of interest.

The Veteran Proposal Assessor (VPAs)

Aside from Proposal Assessors, we also have the Veteran Proposal Assessors (VPAs). Veteran Proposal Assessors are the check of the checkers: they ensure the quality of the reviews made by PAs are of high standards and they filter out poorly reviewed proposals.

Veteran Proposal Assessors are slightly above the Proposal Assessors. One can become a Veteran Proposal Assessor (VPAs) and earn some ADA if you have been a Proposal Assessor in the last two funding rounds or been a VPA in the last three rounds since inception.

To note also:

• When one is a Veteran Proposal Assessor and also a proposer he or she is not allowed to rate the proposals which are of the same categories as theirs.
• In case of any issue that may arise from the proposals, the PAs and the VPAs are allowed to bring the issue forward to the community for further discussions.
• Both the VPAs and the PAs score and evaluate the proposals according to these three criteria, the impact, feasibility and auditability “clarity.” When you become a VPA your work will not be anonymous, you will have to provide your details which will be linked to your work and published.

Decentralized systems work when we all participate and hold each other accountable. You may have thought that only computer developers could participate in their systems, but that's not the case! Proposal Assessors and Veteran Proposal Assessors are jobs that anyone can do, to participate, to earn money, and to help contribute to building a better world.