If you have been in the Cardano ecosystem for a minute, the name “Intersect” has popped up in a few discussions on governance, proposals and budget. So what is Intersect MBO, and why should you care?

What is Intersect?

For starters, it is in the name: it is an MBO, which stands for Member-Based Organization. This means actions and directions are guided not by any individual or small cohort running the thing, but by the members. As the age of Voltaire came into play, Intersect was born too, to help the community shape Cardano’s future and shift away from the three founding entities (IOG, Cardano Foundation, and Emurgo.)

What is the MBO model?

The membership part is what is crucial: to participate in an MBO, one has to be a member. To become a member, it is as simple as heading over to their website here: [intersectmbo.org](https://www.intersectmbo.org/ "intersectmbo.org") and register. Membership is open to:
i) Individuals (community members, developers, educators etc)
ii) Institutions (SPOs, Universities, NGOs, businesses)

Intersect offers free memberships and paid membership with different benefits in each tier. The best part about the free tier is that you can participate in the Working Groups (collaborative teams…