This page explains how members take part in a DEP 3 DAO, how people move between ways of contributing, and how contributions are recognised. It builds on the Owned Lanes Model page, which describes how each DAO's work is organised.

How Taking Part Works in DEP 3

In DEP 3, a member's role is not a fixed title handed to them. It is a position around the lanes — the streams of work that make up a DAO. Members come from many backgrounds and join a DAO whose mission they connect with, bringing relevant experience to it. What they share is a place in the DAO's lanes and a way of contributing to them.

Three principles shape roles this cohort:

•   Roles are about lanes. A member's main role is defined by their relationship to a lane — owning one, or contributing to one — not by a job description.
•   Roles can change. Where you start is not where you're fixed. People move between ways of taking part as the cohort runs and as their capacity and fit become clear.
•   Contribution is recognised. Work is paid through the framework, and contribution is recognised through KAT. Both are transparent.

Two Ways to Take Part

A DAO member takes part in one of two ways at any given time. These are not ranks — they are different ways of relating to the lanes, and people move between them as fits their capacity and moment.

Lane owner (in a pair)

The central role of the cohort. You co-own a lane with one other person and run it through the cohort — deciding what happens within your boundaries, doing the work, and carrying your lane's story to the All-DAOs Sync. Most members are here, and the model is built so that owning a lane is supported, not daunting: every lane comes with a Launch Kit, and you are never holding it alone.

Floating contributor

You help on lanes you don't own — taking on specific pieces of work that a pair needs a hand with, without being fixed to one lane. This suits members who aren't ready to own a whole lane yet, who have limited time, or who want to contribute across more than one lane. A contributor's work is real and recognised; it simply doesn't carry the ongoing ownership of a lane.

This is also the natural way in for new members and anyone still finding where they fit — and it is where the onboarding lane focuses its welcome. And it is a genuine home for members whose capacity is lighter for a while: floating keeps them connected and contributing at a level that fits, rather than dropping away entirely. A floating contributor can step into a lane whenever they're ready, and equally can stay floating when that suits them.

How People Are Placed — and How It Changes

Placement uses the same approach that worked in earlier cohorts, adapted to lanes — and it starts from the DAO the member is joining.

1.   Choose a DAO at sign-up. The cohort's DAOs are decided before members are recruited — Kambria's model DAO alongside the selected participant-proposed projects. When applying, members already know which DAOs exist and choose the one whose mission fits them, sharing the experience they bring and the kind of work they're drawn to.
2.   Placed into lanes at kickoff. Within each DAO, Kambria forms the initial pairs and lane assignments, based on members' stated interests together with their profiles and interviews. Pairing is deliberate — aimed at giving each lane a good chance of always having at least one person actively moving it.
3.   Adjustment in motion. As the cohort runs, placements are adjusted — as it becomes clear who is active, what fits, and where a lane needs different hands. Because this is a structural change, Kambria makes it, from what it observes across the cohort.

Because members join a DAO they chose for its mission, they arrive already aligned with the work — which is part of why this cohort recruits projects first and members second. Moving between the two ways of taking part is then normal and expected: a floating contributor who finds their fit and is ready for more steps into a lane and takes on ownership; someone whose capacity changes can step back from owning a lane to floating rather than disappear.

Roles That Hold the DAO Together

Alongside the lanes, three roles keep the whole DAO coherent. They are described in full on the Owned Lanes Model page; in brief:

•   The DAO Lead. A participant inside the DAO who keeps track of every lane and connects them — making sure the lanes know what each other are doing, spotting where they can help each other, and flagging a lane that has gone quiet. The lead holds the whole picture, not power over the lanes, and may also own a lane themselves.
•   The Kambria Facilitator. Kambria's role — facilitating from outside: providing Launch Kits, forming and adjusting pairs and lanes, and running the weekly check-in and All-DAOs Sync. Kambria does not execute a lane's work or assign its tasks.

Ways of Contributing

Whatever their role, members contribute in three broad ways, all recognised transparently.

•   Within a lane. The work of your lane, or work you take on to support a lane — the core of what a DAO produces.
•   Across lanes. Helping another lane, joining a cross-DAO collaboration, or bringing two lanes together around a shared opportunity — often sparked at the All-DAOs Sync.
•   For the community. Welcoming and supporting new members, taking part in governance and decisions, documenting what happens, and keeping the DAO a good place to be.

Governance runs through the whole cohort as before — proposals, discussion, and voting shape how each DAO works, and taking part in that is itself a contribution.

How Contribution Is Recognised

Contribution is recognised in two ways, which do different things.

Payment for work. People who do work are paid for it through the Kambria DAOs Framework, per task, with every payment recorded transparently. Doing real work in a DAO is real work, and it is paid as such. The DAO Funding Guide and Contributor Payment pages describe how this operates.

KAT recognition. Alongside payment, contributions are recognised with KAT — a symbolic, non-financial, non-tradable token that records contribution history and participation identity, and carries long-term standing in Kambria. KAT recognises the many contributions that aren't a paid task — welcoming a new member, helping another lane, shaping a proposal. The KAT in DEP 3 page describes how it works.

Between them, the two make the picture complete: the framework shows what was paid, and KAT recognises the wider generosity that keeps a DAO alive.

What’s Expected of a DAO Member

Official DAO members are asked to:

•   belong to a lane — owning one in a pair, or floating as a contributor across lanes at a level that fits their capacity
•   take part in the weekly check-in, and bring their lane's story to the All-DAOs Sync
•   contribute according to their capacity, and adjust their role honestly rather than going quiet
•   take part in governance — proposals, discussion, voting
•   record their contributions, and communicate with respect
•   share a short reflection at the end of the cohort

DEP values sincerity, contribution, and shared learning over hierarchy or performance pressure. Belonging to a lane is about having something that is genuinely yours to carry — not about meeting a quota.

Community Collaborators (External Contributors)

Not everyone who contributes to a DAO is a DAO member. Community collaborators — volunteers, partner representatives, ambassadors, platform users and customers, and others — contribute in specific, bounded ways without being part of the DAO's internal running.

They contribute on particular tasks or in particular moments; they are recognised through KAT in the community-contribution categories; they do not take part in the weekly check-in or governance voting; and they are credited as collaborators in the DAO's documentation. Their contribution is valued and recorded, just through a lighter relationship than membership.

Recognition Beyond KAT

Members who show real commitment across the cohort may also receive:

•   features and highlights in the final cohort documentation and showcase
•   priority invitation to future Kambria programs and opportunities
•   early access to tools, prototypes, and experiments
•   recommendation letters and portfolio support
•   openings to join Kambria's longer-term DAO ecosystem

The deepest recognition, though, is the one the cohort is designed around: the relationships, capability, and confidence a member carries with them afterwards — things that stay theirs well beyond the program.