Name: Mili Semlani
Region: APAC
Gender: Female
Employment: Media consultant
Conflict of Interest: None
Why do you want to serve on the EC?
As a youth participant in IG, my interaction with ICANN began as a fellow. Spending over four years living, working as a journalist and engaging in local/regional IG discussions in the APAC community has given me a good understanding of the issues and needs of the people in the region. I want to enhance the quality and quantity of increasing number of Asian internet users, and youth participants in the multistakeholder policy making process at ICANN. Serving as the NCUC EC for APAC will help me in this capacity building initiative.
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 NCUC Executive Committee, and identify any conflicts of interests you might have.
I have been involved in the IG space since 2014 and since I started as a youth ambassador (NetMission), representing the voice and strengthening youth participation. I have gained relative experience in recognising and addressing barriers for youth to participate and remain engaged in regional, local and international forums. My work with the BPF Gender and Access at IGF has also enhanced my knowledge and interest in topics related to gender and ICT with a special focus on how ICT can be used to fight gender issues in developing Asian economies. I also lead a community of ICT women in India to foster a group of highly engaged and active participants in the IG sphere and bridge the representation gap. I am currently co-chair of the Program Committee in MSG and we collectively work on the workshop submission guidelines, themes and sub themes for APrIGF 2018, etc. Since 2017 I also actively contribute to the synthesis document that records the discussions at APrIGF as a part of Drafting Committee.
At the local level, I am championing a women at IG group to build a community of women from India (either in STEM careers or IG related fields) to strengthen the voice of women in the region thereby.
I also lead the newly formed Youth4IG– a regional group for all IG engaged youth and fellows of various IG programmes that seeks to educate young internet users in Asia and facilitate their engagement at IG forums.
Fortunately for me, all my other roles align and enhance my role as NCUC EC.
The EC performs several functional responsibilities for the Constituency. What level of time commitment can you bring to your EC 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 communications specialist, I work independently and remotely. Thanks to that, I have gained an entrepreneurial approach to work. Working in diverse cultural backgrounds across Asia has enhanced cross cultural communication, greatly honed my ability to switch between comfort zones, and adapt easily. I have been balancing my time at work and volunteering in IG forums for over 5 years now and I am increasingly committed to make the Asian voice count– given it is and will be the largest number of internet users in the world.
Communication with the membership is critical. How would you keep members apprised of your EC-related activities?
A key part of my education and profession, communication is precisely what I found weak as an NCUC APAC member. With adequate channels to reach out these days, in my other capacities at Youth4IG, APrIGF, etc. I have used a combination of tools like social media, newsletters and even monthly virtual meetings. I will use lessons from my former positions to not only bring the NCUC APAC members to the fore but also usher in new memberships and take NCUC missions to the masses.
How do you foresee NCUC’s function, scale, or role changing in the future? What areas of ICANN policy, if any, need more attention and why?
While I am relatively new to NCUC to predict changes, enhancing micro communication (in this case at regional level) is essential. As a youth fellow, while I have always come across At Large and RALO's at capacity building sessions, NCUC (which has a similar target group) was seldom heard of. The recent survey is a huge step (Thanks Stephanie, Bruna and Louise) and I sincerely feel regional outreach, capacity building and communication can be further improved.
I am happy to answer more questions here on the list or on the "meet the candidates" call.
Thank you for the nomination and good luck to all the running candidates.
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With gratitude
Mili Semlani
