Intersect Reelects Rusch and Kariyapperuma

Adam Rusch and Kavinda Kariyapperuma have been reelected to Intersect’s Board. The published results show 67 votes for Kariyapperuma and 48 for Rusch. Both will continue overseeing an organization that coordinates governance and technical work across the Cardano ecosystem.

Both Directors Receive Two-Year Terms

Intersect’s Board has seven directors, four of whom are elected by members. It oversees the organization’s strategy, finances, risks and accountability. This membership election is separate from voting on Cardano’s on-chain governance actions.

Rusch and Kariyapperuma also finished among the top two candidates in 2025. They chose one-year seats so that newly elected directors Mercy Fordwoo and Rand McHenry could take the two-year terms available at the time. Their decision brought both incumbents back to the ballot this year, where they secured new two-year terms.

Rusch’s Record on Board Oversight

Rusch serves as a Board member and secretary. He teaches information sciences at the University of Illinois, with a focus that includes online communities and decentralized governance.

His Board work has included a proposal to give Intersect’s executive director a nonvoting place on the steering group for a proposed infrastructure integration fund, addressing a potential conflict of interest. The Board approved it in November 2025. The following month, Rusch proposed a transparent approach to staking Intersect’s ada holdings. The Board directed the executive director to identify a temporary service and present a longer-term plan.

Kariyapperuma’s Membership and Community Work

Kariyapperuma has chaired Board meetings and raised questions about the integrity of membership voting. In March 2025, he asked Intersect to consider identity checks and requested verification emails to members. The issue was taken forward for further discussion.

Through CoinCeylon, he also leads Intersect’s Sri Lanka community hub. The hub hosted an interregional town hall with 110 participants and completed a four-part Cardano workshop series at the University of Kelaniya with 108 registered students.

The result keeps both contested seats with their current directors. It also completes the staggered terms established by their 2025 decision: Fordwoo and McHenry’s member-elected seats are next scheduled to open in 2027, followed by Rusch and Kariyapperuma’s in 2028.