Page History

• Name, declared region of residence, gender and employment;

Rafik Dammak
Tunisian national residing in Japan, Asia
MaleSoftware Engineer and Architect, working on data center services.

• Any conflicts of interest:

none

• Reasons for willingness to take on the tasks of the particular position:    

I cannot pretend to be new to NCSG. I volunteered in different roles previously, and my last role was as GNSO councilor till 2020. I only came back lately to participate in a working group on behalf of NCSG last year i.e. GGP for applicant support working group and kept following NCSG and ICANN activities via attending NCSG policy calls, ICANN meetings remotely and so on.

I would like to volunteer for the NCSG chair position for a second time as I was NCSG chair from 2013 to 2015. I do believe I am familiar with the duties and expectations for such a role, and with the provisions in the NCSG charter.

I am aiming:

1. To keep advocating for NCSG positions  and non-commercial interests. in particular with the new and continuous challenges within ICANN. 
2. For that purpose, I will do my best  as I did before to keep NCSG membership informed about NCSG Executive Committee activities and ICANN updates in general. I also want to emphasize working and cooperating with the members of  EC and  other NCSG committees to make us more effective, coordinated for the benefit of the whole NCSG. I will also work with the the leadership of NCSG constituencies NCUC and NPOc
3. As NCSG chair, I will keep focusing on helping newcomers and those interested in policy to grasp more about ICANN and in particular how GNSO functions with regard to working groups and policy development processes, and onboard them more effectively. I will also continue the work on the existing membership engagement through the NCSG monthly policy conference calls or topic webinars, regular ICANN reports and making that information more accessible and digestible.  
4. Continue the ongoing work on updating our operating procedures and document them, and identifying anything missed to be covered. Ensuring that expected  and regular activities to be done in a timely manner such as preparing for ICANN meetings, applications reviews, responding to ICANN consultations, deadlines and work with other groups. Basically keeping a functional NCSG and improving it.

• Qualifications for the position:

I served NCSG interests in several roles and became aware about  our members' needs, expectations but also keeping learning  about them, also about the challenges that still need to be dealt with.  

I participated in several working groups within ICANN on behalf of NCSG. I was co-chair of the new applicant support working group , a cross working group between GNSO and ALAC aimed to give support for new gTLD applicants from developing countries. I was also the co-chair of the cross-community working group on Internet Governance which covered IG topics from ICANN standpoint. The group  was formed prior to the first Netmundial to connect ICANN to UN  and other IG processes and keep the community informed.  I was  the GNSO council liaison to the EPDP team to monitor the discussion in that working group and report to the council on a regular basis. This EPDP or the Expedited Policy Development  Process was aimed to come up with a new policy to replace the temporary specification and get Whois complied with GDPR. I ended-up being vice-chair then working group chair to deliver the final report.  

As indicated before, I was GNSO councilor for NCSG so I am familiar with GNSO policies, processes and procedures, following the changes happening there but also the challenges for many PDP processes lately. I am also aware of the dynamics of the groups we have to work with in GNSO and developed good relations with their leaders for many years. I was NCSG Policy Committee chair focusing on improving the work there and enhancing NCSG policy capabilities. I kept in touch with our councillors to consult and share thoughts.

I was appointed by NCPH to the GNSO council leadership, working with the chair and CPH vice chair.  In this role, as a  leader of the GNSO council,  I had to consider various viewpoints and work with the leadership to improve GNSO as a whole. This leadership was one of the most productive in terms of devoting ideas to improve policy making at GNSO. GNSO is the home of NCSG. Its improvement directly affects NCSG interest and I was glad to be a part of a process that set the stone for the betterment of GNSO processes and successful policy.

I was NCSG and NCUC chair, doing the admin and organizational work at stakeholder group and constituency level, liaising with ICANN staff and leadership,  with other groups officers. That gave me insight about members' expectations, capabilities of NCSG as a group and familiarity with ICANN as a structure.
 
 • Statement of availability for the time the position requires:
Yes, I am available and committing as NCSG chair to allocate the required time to do what is expected and go beyond when needed. That can be confirmed by my attendance in the different groups where I am participating or participated. I understand the time requirements and when there is a peak of activities like around the ICANN meeting. 
 
 • The nominee’s statement may also include any other information that the candidate believes is relevant: 

I may have listed too many roles and activities to emphasize my work and I assume that doesn't seem exciting or thrilling nor inspiring. However, what I care more about is representing NCSG and ensuring its sustainability. I am practical and pragmatic due to my background. I cannot promise a lot for the sake of getting elected  because nobody can do everything by themself, alone and we need to work with others to achieve NCSG goals. I also stepped back for some time allowing me to do retrospectives and having enough time to think about involvement in NCSG and what to do better.

Now, I will be grateful to come back and continue the work, to be accountable, to be responsive, to try to improve things as much as possible and to be judged through my actions:
- Informing members about policy discussion  and/or ICANN activities and involving them .
- Improving onboarding of new members and the inreach of existing members
- Preparing new leaders who will run for positions in future.  
- Working with other groups and counterparts, within GNSO and outside, to promote NCSG positions and create more synergies in the different positions, but also fixing issues and disagreements such as board seat 14 process/selection. Coordinating with ICANN as an organization through its different staff and departments.
- Working with NCSG constituencies and coordinating our activities for better synergy and effectiveness.
- Working with NCSG committees, and coordinating with our representatives to the GNSO council.
- Dealing with the new and old challenges faced by NCSG such as the Holistic Review or changes within ICANN itself that might impact us as a group. Focus on keeping NCSG functioning and improving its capabilities

I am happy to respond to any question or inquiry. I am looking forward to the call with candidates and being able to talk with you all.

Take note of my statement and keep me accountable about my commitments if  I am elected.

Name: Benjamin Akinmoyeje

Declared region of residence: Africa

Gender: Male

Employment: Ph.D. Research Candidate

Any conflicts of interest: None

Questions:

I accepted the nomination to serve as NCSG chair because there are avenues to improve membership engagements and NCSG outreach activities and increase our global footprints and visibility. We urgently need to build our member's capacity to participate in the policy processes and reduce volunteer fatigue in our community. I am qualified to facilitate onboarding more members to participate actively in our policy development processes. I am eager to serve the community as the NCSG chair. 

Provide a brief biography of recent experience, associations, and affiliations relevant to serving on the Executive Committee. Describe the relevance of your personal and professional experience to serve on the NCSG Chair , and identify any conflicts of interests you might have. 

I am a Ph.D. student of Informatics at the Faculty of Computing and Informatics, Namibia University of Science and Technology, conducting academic research in the area of excessive social media use among young adults and social media platform governance. I am part of the Human Rights Cross Community Working Party, an Article 19 Internet of Rights Fellow (fellowship focus was ensuring active participation of civil society in the ICANN multistakeholder governance process).

I have over ten years of experience as a public health digital health expert working in Nigeria, supporting people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans, and vulnerable children and women in resource-constrained settings. I have the privilege of working with international nonprofit organizations to implement life-saving donor-funded projects in Nigeria, South Africa, and Africa.

I joined NCUC and NCSG in 2013 during an NCUC outreach as a fresh graduate from the inaugural African School of Internet Governance, and I have been a committed member since then. I am an ICANN fellow alumnus and a member of the African multi-stakeholder. I was an NCUC Africa EC. I am a member of ISOC Nigeria and Namibia Chapters.

I am currently the NCUC chair. As NCUC chair, I facilitated NCUC members’ calls more regularly; in collaboration with NCUC ECs, we established the NCUC Issue Forum to amplify NCUC’s voices on policy issues to the ICANN community. I also restored funding for the constituency from PIR for NCUC activities, introduced and recruited new leaders to NCUC, and ensured every region’s representation in NCUC leadership. I led the NCUC EC team to redesign the NCUC website; I secured alternative travel funding for NCUC members to multiple ICANN meetings.

The past three years have seen positive engagements. I have managed to improve NCUC engagements in ICANN post-COVID-19. I also engaged the NCSG e-Team member. There were multiple productions and translations of the NCUC brochure for a wider audience. The NCUC leadership team improved the NCUC outreach, leading to increased membership recruitment.

The NCSG Chair  performs several functional responsibilities for the Constituency. What level of time commitment can you bring to your NCSG Chair  role on a weekly and overall basis? Describe any concerns or limitations on your ability to attend online meetings of the Executive Committee and ICANN Meetings in person. 

As a research student, I have the privilege of participating actively in the ICANN process for up to 10 hours weekly to attend ICANN online meetings. I did show my availability and commitment to the constituency as an NCUC Chair; I was always available for the monthly NCUC EC meetings, and I was also available for all the NCUC engagements and interactions during ICANN public and policy fora.

Communication with the membership is critical. How would you keep members apprised of your NCSG Chair -related activities? 

As the NCSG Chair, I will continue to strengthen the usual communication channel and our NCSG mailing list and coordinate with our constituencies to engage our membership. 

I will support our NCSG e-Team in engaging more with our members through our social media channels (Twitter) and showcasing our activities during and after ICANN meetings.

I plan to engage a volunteer strategic communication team to coordinate the proper messaging of NCSG for helpful member orientation. I will continue democratizing NSCG information and communication materials to more diverse groups by collaborating with ICANN staff/ support to interpret the NCSG brochure in more local languages as I have done in NCUC.

With eager members' help, enhance the NCSG wiki content for a more diverse audience.

In collaboration with the NCSG, EC facilitates regular NCSG membership meetings beyond NCSG policy meetings to include membership in participation.

I will first inspire more interaction between the GNSO councilors and the membership, creating routine NCSG post-ICANN meeting readout sessions in collaboration with the constituencies. Secondly, routine NCSG town hall meetings would be motivated to improve interactions and support for our councilors.

In collaboration with the NCSG ECs, I will facilitate regular meetings of the NCSG Executive Committee - in these meetings, we hope to prioritize the needs of our group.

How do you foresee NCSG ’s function, scale, or role changing in the future? What areas of ICANN policy, if any, need more attention and why? Incumbent candidates should answer in a manner that is both backward and forward-looking, i.e. taking note of their contributions and work in the previous year.       

It is important to note that the GNSO councilors take the lead in the policy direction of the NCSG, and I, as the chair, ensure proper coordination with the members to advocate for their positions.However, in the fast-moving Internet age, Artificial Intelligence, dynamic ICANN multistakeholder community processes, and other Internet governance processes, NCSG must be active, waiting for different stakeholders to set an agenda on policy development processes.

NCSG, as the representatives of the noncommercial community, must be innovative and proactive in protecting the rights of civil societies, academia, human rights activists, and under-represented communities in the ICANN DNS policies development process. 

We must be agile in understanding the trends in the age of multiple Internet governance processes that challenge the ICANN multistakeholder approach to Internet governance.

NCSG must enhance civil society representation in multistakeholder engagement, not just through the robust participation of a few strong members but also by amplifying the voices of many diverse members.

The immediate policies required for the NCSG active engagement is to ensure that DNS Abuse is adequately defined and not used as an instrument to get ICANN into content moderation or access to registrant private data, domain name registrants, and human rights are protected. Review of the Draft Registry Service Provider (RSP) Handbook-New gTLD Program, Policy Status Report: GNSO Policy & Implementation Working Group Recommendations, Phase 2 Initial Report of the EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names, and Public Interest Commitments (PICs) and Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs).

Candidate Statement - Bruna Santos

Name: Bruna Martins dos Santos 

Declared region: LAC 

Gender: Female 

Employment: Global Campaigns Manager at Digital Action

Conflicts of Interest:  none that im aware

Reasons for willingness to take on the position: After a long time serving in administrative positions throughout NCSG and NCUC, as chair of both groups, and first term as GNSO Councilor I would humbled if given the opportunity to continue to be one of the NCSG elected members to the GNSO Council and work on behalf of our community but in a more strategic way. Given the current difficulties of engagement on policy work from our members - either through lack of knowledge of ICANNs PDPs and structure or lack of means for participation -, I remain committed to engaging with our membership and other ICANN Stakeholder groups on the most pressing issues.

Having spent a couple of years in leadership positions I believe I was able to have a comprehensive view of the challenges faced by our Stakeholder Group while existing as the sole civil society voice within GNSO, as well as some of the intricacies of our groups. Added to that, after the completion of my first term of the GNSO council I'm now even more ready to start leading some of our policy positions together with our other councilors and PC. In light of being an avid advocate for ICANN's Multistakeholder model and Civil Society participation on it, as well as NCSGs relevance to the model, I would love the challenge if elected to my second and last term as GNSO Councilor 

Qualifications for the position:

I hold a BA in Law with experience in Internet Regulation, Human Rights and International Law and experience in policy making processes regarding the Internet that started back in 2011 while I had the chance to work at the drafting team of the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet. Ever since then, I have worked for the brazilian government until 2016, as a legal advisor on social matters, and as advocacy coordinator for several collectives and Civil Society Organizations in Brazil, and have engaged with politicians and policy makers, as well as other stakeholder groups in high level conversations pertaining the most different aspects of the Internet. Currently I hold the position of Global Campaigns Manager at Digital Action where I help lead the Global Coalition for Tech Justice and the Year of Democracy Campaign in calling big tech companies out for the harms promoted by their products and services.

Moving on to ICANN, I have been involved with our stakeholder group since 2017 - when I joined as a member after remotely following our discussions for years. Ever since, I have served as NCUC Chair, Vice-Chair and NCUC EC representative for the LAC region, and currently hold the position of NCSG Chair. Besides the leadership positions, I have contributed to NCSG's policy work, having volunteered for being one of the pen holders for some of the provided input to the New gTLDs Subsequent Procedures WG Comments and am an alternate at the EPDP Phase #2. 

Statement of availability for the time the position required: 

I confirm that I have the required availability to focus on the needed discussions and processes where a GNSO Councilor is required. Despite working full time I have managed to successfully complete my terms both as NCUC and NCSG Chair, as well as my 1st term as a NCSG Couniclor, with a fair amount of time dedicated to the position's duties. The same is likely to happen if I'm elected. 

Additional information: 

Apart from my work at ICANN I am also one of the co-coordinators of Internet Governance Caucus and an IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group member, have acted as one of the key constituents at the roundtable designated for debating recommendations 3A/B of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, and help coordinate the Internet Governance Forum's Best practice Forum on Gender and Digital Rights.

I am Julf (Johan) Helsingius, Finnish citizen resident in the
Netherlands (so my region is Europe), male and currently employed
as chairman of the board at IoT service provider BaseN.

As far as I know, I don't have any conflict of interest, but
in the spirit of transparency I am currently serving as the
chair for the Finnish Internet Association (the ISOC chapter in
Finland), and co-chair for the RIPE cooperation working group.

I am now serving my first term as NCSG chair, but the pile of
unfinished stuff is still pretty high, so I would be happy to
serve for a second term, so I can with good conscience say
what every chair should be able to say - "I left the NCSG
in slightly better shape than how it was when I started".

As to qualifications, i am not going to list my CV, but I have
served as chair, board member or CEO for many organisations,
both commercial and non-commercial, and my privacy activism
and strong belief in human rights is pretty well known.

As my employment is part-time these days, I have the time required.

Happy to answer any questions.

Candidate Statement - Razoana Moslam

Name: Razoana Moslam

Declared region: AP

Gender: Female 

Employment: Global Activist and Partner at Togather against Cybercrime, Active member of Youth IGF & a Lawyer
Conflict of interest: None that I am aware of

Reasons for willingness to take on the position: 

Dear Members of the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG),

It is with great enthusiasm and dedication that I announce my candidacy for the position of NCSG Councilor (APAC). As a passionate advocate for non-commercial interests in internet governance, I am committed to representing the diverse voices within our stakeholder group and advancing our shared goals of an open, accessible, and inclusive internet for all. I have been with NCSG since the year 2017.

My candidacy is rooted in a deep understanding of the critical issues facing non-commercial stakeholders in the digital age. With a background in Law, I bring my skills to the table, allowing me to effectively address the complex challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

If elected, I pledge to:

1. Advocate for Non-Commercial Interests: I will be a vocal and proactive champion for the interests of non-commercial users, organizations, and communities in internet governance forums. I will work tirelessly to ensure that our perspectives are heard and valued in decision-making processes at local, national, and international levels.

2. Promote Digital Rights and Access: I am committed to promoting and defending fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, privacy, and access to information online. I will work to advance policies and initiatives that enhance digital inclusion and bridge the digital divide, particularly for marginalized and underserved populations.

3. Strengthen Multi-Stakeholder Engagement: I recognize the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration in shaping internet governance policies and frameworks. As a councilor, I will actively engage with other stakeholder groups, including governments, industry, and civil society, to build consensus, foster dialogue, and find innovative solutions to shared challenges.

4. Enhance Transparency and Accountability: I believe in the principles of transparency and accountability as essential pillars of effective governance. I will advocate for greater transparency in decision-making processes within NCSG and promote mechanisms for accountability to ensure that our actions reflect the interests and values of the non-commercial community.

5. Empower Grassroots Participation: I am committed to empowering grassroots participation and amplifying the voices of non-commercial stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and regions. I will strive to create opportunities for meaningful engagement, capacity-building, and leadership development within our community. Time commitment: Happy to commit any required hours to fulfil the purpose.

In conclusion, I am deeply committed to serving as a dedicated and principled advocate for non-commercial interests within the NCSG. I am excited about the opportunity to work collaboratively with fellow councilors and stakeholders to shape the future of internet governance in a manner that reflects our shared values and aspirations.

I humbly ask for your support and trust in electing me as your NCSG Councilor. Together, we can make a positive impact and ensure that the internet remains a global resource that serves the common good of humanity.

Thank you for considering my candidacy.

Name: Farzaneh Badii (legally it’s Badiei, but I’d like to go by Badii)

Region of residence: United States, New York City (I am from Iran) 

Gender: Female 

Employment: I run DigitalMedusa [digitalmedusa.org], an initiative that aims to protect and defend the global, interoperable Internet.  

Conflict of interest: None. 

Please note that DigitalMedusa advises and consults  commercial tech-companies, however none so far relate to domain names. 

Reasons for willingness to take on the position:

The  Noncommercial Stakeholder group’s voice is pivotal in the ICANN space and generally when it comes to digital governance issues. I want to help NCSG to advance freedom of expression, access to knowledge, privacy and generally human rights at ICANN and on the Internet. Helping to elevate the voice by meaningfully participating in policy development processes at ICANN is one of my aims. I also believe the GNSO council with the launch of the new round of New gTLDs application is going to make very important decisions that could affect the noncommercial stakeholders and access to domain names and possibly human rights. 

Another area that I have been working on is DNS abuse. I am your liaison to the Contracted Party House on DNS abuse and I think this topic is one of the most important to follow in the future and monitor how it plays out in the council. Potentially it is going to have some risks to freedom of expression, privacy and other rights that we have to consider. 

As much as possible we should continue the policy committee’s good work on updating the members about what is going on in the council and at ICANN and streamline what they should/can pay attention to and help members to weigh in on policy issues that matters to them, considering their regional and community necessities. 

At the moment I am monitoring a few issues and as NCSG we are trying to highlight registrants rights and ask other stakeholders, especially the government advisory committee to highlight those issues in their communiques as well. Would be good to elevate NCSG’s voice on those issues at the council and other communities.  

I also want to help NCSG through the council and other means create meaningful directions for the community to do issue-based, contextualized and rapid human rights impact assessment which is in the core values of ICANN. 

Last but not least,  I hope that with regular updates and raising awareness about the important issues NCSG and the council are tackling, we can get more organizations and individuals interested in Internet infrastructure related issues.  

Statement of availability for the time the position required:

While I commit to follow the issues diligently at the council, with your help I believe we need to prioritize the issues that you want your representatives  to follow and weigh in on. If elected, I will work with you and the policy committee to prioritize the issues we want to follow. 

I will do my best to attend all the in-person ICANN meetings; however, I need to disclose that sometimes because of the nature of my job and also the fact that I still travel on my Iranian passport, I might face difficulties attending all the three-four meetings. I commit to diligently attend remotely (I am very experienced in doing that considering I attended remotely and even chaired some of the meetings since before Covid. I can also help those who want to attend remotely to do so more effectively). I will also give ample notice so that others can use my travel slot) 

Additional Information 

I am a recovering academic. Have worked on Internet governance related issues through research and advocacy for over ten years. I have a PhD in law from Hamburg university, I have been working on different digital governance issues through the Internet stack:  issues related to trust and safety, digital rights and human rights and Internet infrastructure issues.You can read about some of my thoughts, research andactivities here [digitalmedusa.org]. 

Name, declared region of residence, gender and employment;
Hago Dafalla
Sudanese national residing in Sudan, Africa
Male
Lecturer , Ahlya University, Sudan..
2- Any conflicts of interest:
no
3--Reasons for willingness to take on the tasks of the particular position:    
I am involved in the  NCSG community since 2012. I volunteered in different ICANN Working group previously. 
I would like to volunteer for the NCSG position for this period. I do believe I am familiar with the duties and expectations for such a role, and with the provisions in the NCSG charter.
4- I am aiming:
To keep advocating for NCSG positions  and non-commercial interests. in particular with the new and continuous challenges within ICANN. 
For that purpose, I will do my best   to keep NCSG membership informed about NCSG Executive Committee activities and ICANN updates in general. I also want to emphasize working and cooperating with the members of   committees to make us more effective, coordinated for the benefit of the whole NCSG. I will also work with all leadership of NCSG constituencies NCUC and NPOc
As NCSG council member. Surly I will keep focusing on helping newcomers and those interested in policy to grasp more about ICANN and in particular how GNSO . I will Work to pump new blood into the organization and encourage others to get involved in this organization and play an effective role by nominating themselves and competing to occupy these executive positions in this organization, which has remained limited to specific groups and specific people exchanging executive positions in it. It is time for change.
5- Qualifications for the position:
I served in many positions and I am interests in several roles , I am aware about  new members' needs, expectations but also keeping learning  about them, also I know the challenges that still need to be dealt with in this organization.  

As I said before I participated in several ICANN working groups. I served as Multistackholder advisory groub for Arab IGF and for North Africa IGF. I participate in the first Netmundial by several topics. 
 I was  the AfriNic NOMCOM Member for 2011 and 2012.
6-  Statement of availability for the time the position requires:
Yes, I am available and committing as NCSG council member to allocate the required time to do what is expected and go beyond when needed.

7-  The nominee’s statement may also include any other information that the candidate believes is relevant: 
What matters most to me is to be more effective and to truly represent NCSG that meets the aspirations of its members and employees, to be satisfied with myself, and to ensure its sustainability. I am interested in teamwork and need to work with others to achieve NCSG goals. for more information see my C.V attached here.