Team & Governance

Updated: September 2026 | Prepared by A.N.G.E.L. — v2.4 (Canada Phase 1)

T.A.E.I.L. is being built to outlast any one founder without losing its moral centre.

1. Why Governance Matters

T.A.E.I.L. works with death, grief, remembrance, preparation, vulnerable users, and highly sensitive personal material. A meaningful mission is not enough. People deserve confidence that the organisation is being built seriously, that safeguarding is a leadership responsibility, and that accountability will grow with the platform.

We aim to be transparent about what exists today, what is being assembled, and what must be completed before members can join.

2. Founding Leadership

T.A.E.I.L. is currently in a Canadian pre-incorporation, pre-launch build phase. Development is led jointly by two founders based in China:

Jesse H. C. Lee — Founder & CEO

Jesse H. C. Lee is a Korean-Canadian social entrepreneur based in Guangdong, China, with a Bachelor of Commerce from UBC. T.A.E.I.L. emerged after his father, Tae Il, died alone in Canada while family members were scattered across the world and no one noticed for days, alongside a wider journey through banking, crisis-line volunteering, business, teaching, and Vipassana.

Bruno Roda — Executive Co-Founder, COO/CHO/CSO

Bruno Roda is based in China and holds Portuguese citizenship. He serves as Executive Co-Founder and COO/Chief Humanity Officer/Chief Stewardship Officer. He currently also performs the organisation's fractional Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) function.

The DSL portion of this role is temporary by design. Once stretch funding lands and a dedicated DSL is appointed — or the Community Care & Trust Lead formally absorbs the function once affordable — Bruno transitions to a pure COO role overseeing overall operations, with designated safeguarding staff reporting into that structure rather than Bruno holding the function personally.

The organisation does not yet have a complete executive bench, a fully staffed operating team, or a constituted board. We will not imply otherwise.

3. Legal and Governance Direction

T.A.E.I.L. intends to incorporate as a Federal Non-Profit under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) before campaign launch or contribution acceptance. Its confirmed Phase 1 legal home is Canada.

After incorporation, formal governance is intended to sit with a board of directors, described in public materials as trustee-based governance. That structure is intended to protect the mission, public trust, safeguarding standards, financial transparency, long-term accountability, and resistance to private capture.

T.A.E.I.L. is intended to have no shareholders, equity investors, dividends, or conventional exit. No membership tier will buy governance power, trustee authority, voting control, ownership, equity, or special constitutional influence.

The exact board composition and applicable CNCA obligations remain subject to Canadian legal advice. Recruiting qualified independent directors is a near-term operational priority, not a distant aspiration.

4. Member Feedback and Decision-Making

The Members' Voice is T.A.E.I.L.'s intended feedback system. It will invite members to share needs, concerns, ideas, and experience, and leadership will take that input seriously when shaping the platform.

Feedback is not paid-member governance. It does not create voting rights, governance control, ownership, payment-tier influence, or a guarantee that a particular proposal will be adopted. During the founder-led pre-launch phase, final operational and product decisions rest with the Founder/CEO. After incorporation, formal governance will follow T.A.E.I.L.'s governing documents and director responsibilities.

5. Safeguarding Accountability

Safeguarding is a governance responsibility, not simply an operations task. T.A.E.I.L. intends to maintain named responsibility, clear reporting lines, escalation and review pathways, independent expert input, regular policy review, and incident learning.

Bruno's current fractional Designated Safeguarding Lead role is a bridge, not a permanent substitute for dedicated capacity. As the organisation grows, designated safeguarding leadership is intended to sit within a clearer accountable structure, supported by independent expertise and trustee-level oversight.

Read more about the launch rule, service boundaries, privacy commitments, welfare concerns, and high-risk safeguards on our Safeguarding page.

6. Team Being Assembled

A sensitive platform needs more than founders and software. If the proposed CAD $1,400,000 stretch target is reached — subject to the FundRazr-presumptive Platform Gate (incorporation, Canadian organisation banking, written payment-processor confirmation, and Canadian legal review) — the organisation intends to recruit the following team:

Feature Owners own functional specifications, member journeys, operational readiness, risk requirements, and cross-functional acceptance criteria. They do not override safeguarding, legal, privacy, or technical controls.

7. Fairness and Compensation

T.A.E.I.L. pays fairly, not minimally. Compensation is benchmarked against Canadian non-profit and technology sector standards:

• Executive pay is capped at 100% of benchmark midpoint (CEO: CAD $133,000; COO: CAD $125,500; CFO: CAD $131,500).
• Technical delivery (Technical Lead / Head of Engineering: CAD $114,700) and Feature Owners (CAD $112,200) are set at 110%.
• Community Care & Trust Lead (CAD $83,050), Knowledge & Editorial Lead (CAD $75,600), and Member Support Specialist (CAD $55,800) receive professional support tiering at 120%.
• During the 3-month pre-launch build, executive leadership works at a shared transitional rate of CAD $65,000/yr pro-rated ($16,250 each). This pre-launch build period may be extended if necessary to prioritize quality and safety over arbitrary calendar dates.
• No bonuses, stock options, or equity grants exist.

8. Who We Are Seeking

We are actively looking to connect with prospective directors, advisers, and partners who can bring practical expertise in:

• Canadian non-profit and CNCA governance (including qualifying independent directors).
• Safeguarding, grief, bereavement, mental-health, or vulnerable-user practice.
• Not-for-profit finance, payroll, compliance, and responsible financial controls.
• Technical architecture, platform security, privacy, and community trust-and-safety systems.
• Community moderation, culturally respectful editorial work, and member support.

For general governance, advisory, partnership, or expertise introductions, contact contact@taeilcommunity.org. This contact route cannot accept contributions or membership purchases and is not an emergency or crisis service.

This Team & Governance page reflects T.A.E.I.L.'s Canada Phase 1 planning as of September 18, 2026, aligned with TAEIL-Team-Governance-v2.4.md, TAEIL-Memory-v13.11.md, TAEIL-Continuity-Index-v4.23.md, and TAEIL-Safeguarding-v2.9.md. It is public pre-launch information, not legal advice, and remains subject to the Platform Gate and Canadian legal review.