MISHA Foundation

2026-04-28 MISHA Vault Structure Audit

5 min read

2026-04-28 MISHA Vault Structure Audit

Scope: read AGENTS.md, enumerated the vault, checked frontmatter / Connections / wikilinks, skimmed the local BookLibrary sources, and spot-checked current external sources for HK CLG, Section 88, rare-disease patient advocacy, RARE-X, FDA guidance, and CZI Rare As One.

Executive finding

The vault structure is directionally strong: it has the right high-level split between spheres, programs, projects, decisions, sources, external stubs, and private finance/patron areas. The first scaffold is a good operating map, not just a pile of notes.

The biggest current risk is not folder shape. It is that several operational notes assume a one-person HK CLG setup, while the Hong Kong Companies Registry says a company limited by guarantee must have at least two directors plus a company secretary. That affects now.md, the HK CLG project, and Board & Advisors.

High-priority gaps

  1. HK CLG director requirement is wrong in the vault. Current notes say or imply “Egor sole director + company secretary” for a company limited by guarantee. Official CR guidance says a CLG must have a company secretary and at least two directors, one of whom may be the company secretary. Affected files:

    • now.md
    • projects/hk-clg-incorporation/index.md
    • spheres/Board & Advisors.md
    • notes/MISHA Foundation HK CLG Structure.md

  2. The legal/compliance work has no executable document layer yet. documents/templates/ is empty, but active notes already depend on:

    • aoa-clg-section88.md
    • sab-letter.md
    • donor-pitch-deck.md
    • one-page-leave-behind.md
    • grant-application-master.md
    • policy drafts

  3. Governance is a stated priority, but the governance folder is empty. Missing first-wave files:

    • governance/sab-charter.md
    • governance/board-bylaws.md
    • governance/policies/conflict-of-interest.md
    • governance/policies/whistleblower.md
    • governance/policies/document-retention.md
    • governance/policies/data-protection.md
    • governance/policies/anti-discrimination.md
    • first board minutes

  4. The person layer is missing, causing many broken links. At minimum create:

    • people/_team/Egor Lyfar.md
    • people/_collaborators/Jeffrey Holt.md
    • people/_collaborators/Yilai Shu.md The current index, Board & Advisors, Research Lab, Grants Program, Holt SAB project, and external stubs all point at these.

  5. The literature layer is empty. sources/lit/ has no reading log and no lit stubs, so Dashboard’s reading queue is inert. Local BookLibrary already has relevant inputs, but the vault has not captured them as MISHA literature.

  6. scripts/misha-lint.py is referenced but absent. Public Wiki Launch depends on this, and AGENTS.md makes it the validator for frontmatter, Connections, privacy, broken links, excerpts, and FDR immutability.

Schema / link findings

Automated scan summary:

  • 54 markdown files total, 48 real non-template notes.
  • 10 sphere notes, 4 program hubs, 6 project hubs exist.
  • 4 structural issues:
    • README.md has no frontmatter.
    • the 3 deep-research source files lack ## Connections.
  • 3 notes use type: concept, which is not in the MISHA allowed type list:
    • notes/MISHA Foundation Fiscal Sponsor Strategy.md
    • notes/MISHA Foundation Grant Strategy.md
    • notes/MISHA Foundation HK CLG Structure.md
  • 29 wikilink misses, mostly from missing person/source stubs and old Brain-era links such as [[MISHA Foundation]], [[Jeffrey Holt]], [[Yilai Shu]], and [[Parent-Driven Rare Disease Foundation Playbook]].

Book / source research gaps

The structure references a decent canon, but the vault should make the canon first-class:

  1. Nonprofit Kit For Dummies Use for first operational checklists: fiscal sponsor contract, board recruitment grid, bylaws, board minutes, planning, fundraising, budgets. The Dummies resource center exposes useful companion downloads.

  2. Chasing My Cure Use for research operating philosophy: centralize data, coordinate researchers, build registries/biobanks, fund high-impact neglected work, and treat public learning as legitimacy.

  3. EveryLife Guide to Patient Involvement in Rare Disease Therapy Development Use to shape Patient Registry + Families: unmet-needs assessment, patient experience data, outcome measures, PFDD/listening-session roadmap, trial burden minimization.

  4. Rare Disease Drug Development: Clinical, Scientific, Patient, and Caregiver Perspectives This is in BookLibrary/incoming/ but not yet processed into MISHA lit. It looks directly relevant to patient advocacy groups, rare-disease registries, natural history studies, clinical trial design, gene therapy, operational drug development, and real-world evidence.

  5. FDA / Duke-Margolis rare disease patient-community engagement report This should be treated as a current operating source, not just background. It reinforces early patient/regulator/sponsor engagement, natural-history design, endpoints, trial burden, and patient experience data.

  6. RARE-X platform source Patient Registry should link to official RARE-X material and have a technical/project checklist for data governance, consent, patient-owned data, federated access, and researcher access.

  7. CZI Rare As One Good external benchmark for what mature funders expect: leadership capacity, strategic vision, patient-led research network, patient-prioritized research agenda, and capacity-building needs.

Structure recommendations

Keep the current 10 spheres / 4 programs / 6 projects. Do not add a 5th program yet.

Add or promote these near-term projects:

  • projects/us-fiscal-sponsor-selection/ (FDR-001 explicitly calls for this, but it does not exist).
  • projects/section-88-application/ (future, but the AoA needs to be Section 88-ready from day 1).
  • Possibly projects/first-governance-pack/ if policies + board minutes + bylaws need a concrete sprint.

Add a sources/lit/_log.md reading log and first lit stubs before doing more strategy writing.

Add an operations/vendors/ folder only when the first vendor exists; otherwise leave the pattern in spheres/Operations.md.

Suggested next fix order

  1. Correct the HK CLG director assumption across the active incorporation path.
  2. Create the three missing people files and rewire old Brain-era links.
  3. Add sources/lit/_log.md plus lit stubs for the 6-7 current core sources.
  4. Add first legal/governance templates: AoA, SAB letter, COI policy, data-protection policy.
  5. Port misha-lint.py and run it before any Quartz work.
  6. Create projects/us-fiscal-sponsor-selection/ and make it a Month 1-3 track.

External sources checked

  • Hong Kong Companies Registry FAQ: company incorporation forms, fees, CLG issue timing, and director/company-secretary requirements.
  • Hong Kong IRD: Section 88 application and governing-instrument expectations.
  • Springer book page for Rare Disease Drug Development.
  • Dummies Nonprofit Kit For Dummies resource center.
  • EveryLife patient involvement guide.
  • RARE-X platform page.
  • FDA rare disease guidance page.
  • CZI Rare As One RFA.
  • CDCN Chasing My Cure page.

Connections

Graph View