Wordener

Programmable scholarships for the next generation of learners.

Wordener is a funding platform that lets anyone in the world back a student they believe in — and follow every step of their journey. It connects donors, companies, and communities directly to students through programmable scholarships that release funds automatically as students hit real academic milestones.

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• The Problem It Solves
• Product Vision & Mission
• Key Features
• Target Users
• Tech Stack
• Repository Structure
• Getting Started
• Contributing
• Roadmap
• License

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Overview

Wordener is a transparent, milestone-based scholarship platform that turns one-off donations into long-term relationships between students and their supporters. Scholarship funds are held in escrow and released automatically as students verify real academic progress — no bureaucracy, no opacity, no misalignment.

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The Problem It Solves

Problem	How Wordener Addresses It
Opaque funding systems	Every fund movement is recorded and visible to all parties
Lump-sum, poorly timed disbursements	Funds release in stages, aligned with verified academic milestones
Under-credentialed high-potential students	Students build a portable, verifiable on-chain academic record
Disconnected stakeholders	Donors and employers follow a student's full journey in real time

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Product Vision & Mission

• Vision: A world where any promising student, anywhere, can access fair, transparent funding backed by a verifiable record of their achievements.
• Mission: Build infrastructure for programmable scholarships and on-chain academic records that align incentives between students, donors, and employers — unlocking more funding and opportunity as students progress.

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Key Features

• 🎓 Student profiles with verified academic information and milestones
• 💡 Programmable scholarships with configurable funding rules and release conditions
• ⚡ Automated, milestone-based disbursement — no manual bureaucracy
• 📊 Donor & partner dashboards to track scholarship performance and student progress
• 🔗 On-chain academic milestones creating a portable, verifiable student track record
• 🔔 Notifications & updates as students hit milestones and receive funds

For full feature details, see docs/product/product-spec.md and the root PRODUCT_SPEC.md.

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Target Users

User Type	Role
Students	Apply for scholarships, submit milestone evidence, track disbursements
Individual Donors	Fund students, follow progress, see real impact
Companies & Employers	Co-fund talent pipelines, build early relationships with future hires
Foundations & NGOs	Run transparent scholarship programs at scale

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Tech Stack

⚠️ The final stack is being finalized in docs/development/development-plan.md. Approximate planned stack:

Layer	Technology
Frontend	Next.js (App Router) + TypeScript
Styling	Tailwind CSS
Backend / API	Next.js API Routes or a dedicated Node.js service
Database	PostgreSQL (via Prisma or similar ORM)
Auth	Clerk or NextAuth
On-chain	EVM-compatible chain (TBD) + USDC
Smart Contracts	Solidity (Hardhat / Foundry)
Infra	Vercel (frontend), Railway or Render (backend)

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Repository Structure

Wordener/
├── docs/                   # All documentation
│   ├── product/            # Product spec and UX principles
│   ├── development/        # Architecture and development plan
│   ├── roadmap/            # Roadmap, milestones, and phases
│   ├── tasks/              # Task management structure
│   └── prompts/            # AI development guide and prompt patterns
├── src/                    # Application source code (to be built)
├── design/                 # Design files, mockups, UI references
├── assets/                 # Images, icons, brand media
├── scripts/                # Automation and build scripts
├── .github/
│   └── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/     # GitHub issue templates
├── README.md               # This file
├── PRODUCT_SPEC.md         # AI-friendly product specification summary
├── ROADMAP.md              # High-level roadmap summary
├── CONTRIBUTING.md         # Contribution guide
└── LICENSE                 # MIT License

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Getting Started

1. Onboarding (For New Contributors & AI Agents)

1. Read this README.md to understand the vision and structure.
2. Review PRODUCT_SPEC.md for a concise product summary.
3. Review docs/product/product-spec.md for the full spec.
4. Check docs/development/development-plan.md for how we will build it.
5. Check ROADMAP.md and GitHub Issues for what's planned and what's next.
6. Read docs/prompts/ai-development-guide.md before using AI tools.

2. Local Development Setup

⚙️ Setup instructions will be added here once the app scaffold is initialized. See src/README.md for the expected code structure.

3. AI-Assisted Development

This project is designed for heavy use of AI tools (Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, etc.) for:

• Generating boilerplate, tests, and scaffolding
• Drafting and refining documentation
• Exploring implementation options

All AI-generated contributions must be:

• Aligned with product and architecture docs
• Reviewed by a human before merging
• Validated with tests or manual verification

See docs/prompts/ai-development-guide.md for detailed guidelines.

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Contributing

We welcome contributions from developers, designers, and product thinkers!

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for:

• How to set up the project
• Branching strategy and commit conventions
• PR process and code review standards

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Roadmap

See ROADMAP.md for a high-level overview, or docs/roadmap/roadmap.md for the full detailed roadmap.

Phases at a glance:

1. MVP – Student/donor onboarding, scholarship creation, milestone tracking & simulated disbursement
2. On-Chain & Operations – Smart contract escrow, USDC disbursement, automated milestone verification
3. Ecosystem & Growth – Employer portals, analytics, academic passport, Scholarship DAOs

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License

MIT © 2026 FolushoJoseph