Candidate Statement 2018

Dear all, I hereby submit my candidate statement for further consideration. 

Experience in ICANN

My involvement with ICANN is rather recent as it started with ICANN58 as a first time fellow and I attended every meeting since then. One week prior to the Copenhagen meeting I had the chance to participate at the NCUC session at the Internet Freedom Festival that later resulted with me as an NCUC member. After the Copenhagen meeting, I continued to engage with our Constituency and was offered the opportunity to attend ICANN59 as an NCUC fellow. Other than that it is worth mentioning that I have served as Fellowship coach for ICANN 60, 61 and 62.  Last november I was elected as the representative for the Latin American and Caribbean region at the Executive Committee and in June of the present year I was assigned the Vice-Chair position. In light of NCUC's previous chair recent resignation I have also been acting as chair due to the vacancy of the position.

Regarding public comments and PDPs, I am a member of the New gTLD subsequent procedures PDP WG, an observer at the new gTLD Auction Proceeds CCWG and recently joined the CCWP Human Rights. I have also contributed to the NCSG's Public Comment contribution to the GNSO Community Comment 2 (CC2) on New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process and am one of the penholders of the NCSG input to the Initial report on the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process .

NCUC and goals

As for my visions regarding NCUC and how my participation would be useful, given the fact that my affinity with the group and what it advocates for, I believe in making it even more participative through a few measures:

1. Communication: I think it would be important for better communicate all the ways NCUC is acting in the different regions. Having said that, the idea is to continue to foster all the information channels of our constituency in order to improve the dialogue between NCUC leadership team and members. Sharing information on how to get involved as well as the initiatives carried by our members is a way to do it.

2. Outreach-inreach: given the fact that NCUC members are a representative fraction of the internet governance community in all the different regions of the globe, I think it is of utter importance for them to know who else is alongside them and who they could reach out to in any subject they wish;  Therefore, if I were elected I'd also like to continue with her members calls and activities regarding the mailing list in order to strengthen NCUC's relation with the less present regions, with the help of the EC.

3. Policy work and Capacity Building: Improving NCUC member's participation in policy work is something I value and have been committed to at the EC level.  Therefore, it is super important to continue to work closely with the NCSG PC representatives in order to build capacity within the constituency and become even more participative in echoing the CS voices in policy related discussions. In that point, I think that as a Constituency we could reach higher levels of participation once the right bridging between incoming members and PDP active members is done - for that specific point one idea would be to strengthen some initiatives and opportunities available such as the Buddy/Mentor program and the Policy Writing Capacity Building Course.

Despite the fact that my active participation at ICANN and NCUC is quite recent, Internet Governance is not a new subject to me. I can state that I will try my best to serve our Constituency and members expectations in order to become a good chair - especially due to the fact that Im willing to advocate for a more inclusive and equal Internet and will also have the will of continuing to pursue NCUC's participation within the IG community.

About me

My name is Bruna Martins dos Santos and I am the advocacy strategist at Coding Rights, an organization that aims to advance in the enforcement of Human Rights in the digital world. My work with Coding Rights requires me to engage with legislative discussions related to Digital Rights in Brazil as well as some international discussions related to Privacy and Data Protection, Gender and technology and Freedom of expression.  I hold a BA in Law with experience in Internet Regulation, Human Rights and International Law. I am 27 years old and I am based in Brasilia, Brazil.

I have previously worked as a legal advisor at the Brazilian Government, covering Internet Governance issues and being responsible for issuing legal opinions on the implementation of the Access to Information Act and the Civil Rights Framework [en.wikipedia.org] for the Interne [en.wikipedia.org]t. I have also participate in several regional forums such as LACIGF and Forum.Bb, and IGF related intersessional work such as the Best Practice Forum on Gender and Access.

Dear all,

Please find below my statement for the NCUC EC EU position. Feel free to share any question you might have; I’d be more than willing to respond!

About me:

My name is Louise Marie Hurel, and I work as Project Coordinator on Cybersecurity and Digital Liberties at Igarapé Institute, a think and do tank based in Brazil. My work focuses on cybersecurity policy, norms development and confidence building both in Brazil and internationally. Also, I hold an MSc on Media and Communications (Data and Society) from the London School of Economic and Political Science, and a BA in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, in spite of my institutional affiliation, I remain an individual NCUC member based in London.

Most of my research focuses on the analysis of the intersection between Internet governance and cybersecurity communities, data protection policies and security for emerging technologies. This includes consultancy for UNESCO’sprojectonmultistakeholderism, two years at the Center for Technology and Society at FGV (CTS-FGV) working on Internet governance, security and privacy issues, participation at the BRICS Youth Forum (2017) and approximately four years at the Center for Strategic and Political Studies at the Naval War College in Brazil. 

My NCUC Background:

I first joined NCUC as an institutional representative and shifted to an individual membership for almost two years now. From ICANN 58 to ICANN 62 I was part of the Onboarding program Where I had the wonderful opportunity of learning from Kathy Kleiman, Ayden, and Thomas -- during which I was participating as a member of the Rights Protection Mechanisms working group. Thankfully, we worked closely with our previous NCUC Chairs in making it easier for newcomers and members to understand NCUC and find new ways of engaging with policy. Moreover, I have been following the CCWG-IG (and the changes therein) throughout this past year, and have shared the pen-holding task with other colleagues in drafting our NCSG-level comment for the KSK Rollover Process. Since november2017I have taken the position of representative for Europe in NCUC Excom, which has led me to workingwithanincredibleand diverse team who has continuously pushed us forward and through all the challenges -- we learned a lot!  

A sincere note: I confess it took me some time to consider whether to accept this nomination given how challenging this past year was personally for me -- given that I was doing my Master's, participating as EC and working almost full time. However, knowing that I'm now only working and researching, I would be able to dedicate more time and energy in a focused manner to serving NCUC -- should you entrust me with this position. I am grateful for the support and hope to continue working towards a more inclusive and active constituency.

Main Concerns and Points of Action:

Europe
The main strategy for engagement in the region would be to maintain a relationship with civil society groups in the region, be mindful of their intersection with ICANN's work and informing them what we have been doing in NCUC vis à vis civil society organizations in IG-related spaces (such as EuroDig). Also, I will continue to send notifications about opportunities, conferencesaswellasinform about funding applications from the region.

Continuity and Inclusion
In 2016-2017 NCUC underwent an incredible process of laying down new guidelines for its' governance structure -- and here I refer to the Operating Procedures and the approved Bylaws. This EC and the following one are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring careful and accountable development and implementation of these documents. I believe that, as we progress, it is fundamental to ensure that we maintain a balanced and open EC, that is capable of communicating challenges and opportunities as well as dialoguing with the members. Trust is key, and I hope we can continue to foster that internally. 

Capacity Building and Diversity
Of course, this includes a continuous commitment to conducting our outreach event in different regions. However, I look forwardtofurtheringourinreach capacities by tying the Onboarding materials with our buddy-mentor program as well as working with the EC and the Chair in promoting more editions of the capacity building and policy writing courses we had so far. Making it more inclusive for members that cannot attend in person -- most find themselves in this position. Furthermore, this includes taking a step in paying it forward to some of the best practices that have organically emerged within our community,thatis:translatinginreach and outreach related documents.

Thank you for the opportunity and look forward to continuing this dialogue!

All the best,

Hi all,

ThanksTapani for the confidence andnomination,includingthosewhourged me to go for this challenge online and offline.

I accept this nomination and would be happy to serve on the NCUC EC as this will help with addressing 2 challenges within the SG and the constituency itself. I am currently the FC Chair and my involvement in the NUC EC will enable me to make input on the direction of NCUC while providing soundfinancialadviceanddrivesimplificationfornewcomersthroughoutreachandcapacitybuildingthatwill see more members involved in policy work and community activities and not just attending online meetings.

I am currently also working with other regional members on the ICANN AFRICA strategy draft comment and working with NCSG FC members on the draft of FC Operational Procedures. I hope my candidature will also help with meeting current challenges of the NCSG FC to obtain a fair representation in SG activities while providing sound financial advise and support that will build a bridge between the constituency and the stakeholder group.

Thus far I was involved in ICANN 59 outreach pre ICANN 59 Johannesburg (2017), constituency outreach at ICANN 61 Puerto Rico (2018), commented on ICANN 2018 FY budgets, the reserve fund, currently following subsequent procedures and auction proceeds discussions on the new gTLD program and I was nominated to represent NCUC on the NCSG Finance Committee early this year. I also started providing updates to NCUC on the NCSG FC activities and plans, attended over 70% of community online meetings (since 2016, when I first joined NCUC)andmentorednewcomerstostartunderstandingICANN and NCSG,alotbetterthanthecurrenttraditionalmethodsused.

Over the past years, I managed to work with and learn from various leaders and members of NCUC and NCSG (Farzaneh, Renata, Tapani and Ayden), whichhasenabledmetoeasilyintegrateinthecruxofissueswithoutreservations. Ines has done great in this role and I plan to improve on the work she has started by enabling regional members to deepen their involvement and help them gain confidence in community participation.

I am a member of AFRISIG, ACSIS (African Civil Society on Information Society), Africa Community Network Summit and member of the South African Multistakeholder (MS) Committee on Internet Governance, my affiliations will enablemetogainwiderreachofnoncommercialusers, locally,regionallyandtosomeextend, globally.

I am currently in communication with the Africa regional office on how ICANN fellows and community members can helpwithaddingcapacityinimplementationandmonitoring oftheregionalstrategy. Should my candidature be validated by an election on this seat, I intend to improve the natureandextendofNCUC's collaboration with the ICANN regional office on local initiatives and bring energy, vibrancy and improved membership engagement within the wider and regional NCUC community. Looking forward to bringing and enabling robust engagements within NCUC, if afforded the opportunity, thanks.

Dear friends and colleagues,
 
I hope this email finds you all well. Please find below my candidate statement to serve you for another term as Africa Representative in NCUC Executive Committee.
 
Name: Ines Hfaiedh, Region of residence: Africa, Gender: Female, Employment: Teacher and Trainer in ICT Implementation in Education, Ministry of National Education, Tunisia.
 
Conflicts of Interest : None
 
I am hoping to serve you for another term on the NCUC Executive Committee. I am a teacher, Specialized in ICT Implementation in Education. I also give trainings to teachers on teaching learners with specific needs. Besides,  I was a Fulbright Teaching Assistant at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC, USA. 
I am Africa Representative in ISOC's Advisory Council Steering Comittee and a Board member in ISOC Tunisia Chapter with whom I had the honour to be assigned the role of Coordinator of the First Tunisian School on Internet Governance . I am also the Director of Educationional Programs at the Arab World Internet Institute a role through which I managed the Secretariat of ICANN's MEAC School on Internet Governance. In terms of ICANN involvement, I have been Africa’s Representative in the Executive Committee of NCUC for the past year, member in ICANN's first “Intercultural Awareness Program” work team and MEAC SWG member. I had the chance to be a Fellow and Coach at some ICANN meetings.
 I was a guest speaker at the 2016 and 2017 Global IGFs and will be hopefully also speaking at the 2018 edition, Guest speaker at the Arab IGF-Beirut , ICANN's Middle East DNS Forum, the TESOL National Conference on “Reflective Teaching” and The International Symposium on “ICTs for Language Learning and Teaching”.  My work on ICT Implementation for Education was also selected and shared by the European Portal for Education. I was also a guest at the World Bank Youth Summit in Washington DC on “Rethinking Education for the next Millennium”…  
I wish to serve for another term on the Executive Committee because I have gained a solid experience and knowledge on NCUC processes and would like to continue on implementing what we have worked on so far with the help of all the membership. I learned a lot about the role of EC: I had the chance to learn about finances, policies, selection, application review processes, and even web migration. With NCUC EC team, I have learned to collaboratively moderate sessions at ICANN meetings and NCUC Outreach events.  
This experience taught me how to introduce NCUC to the ICANN meeting attendees when I was in charge of the Information booth, to present the constituency to Fellows, NextGen, Middle East DNS Forum audience, Tunisia SIG participants, ICANN Stakeholder Leaders, and even ICANN CEO Goran Marby at a Leadership Dinner. I have learned tremendously and I am ready to put that into practice. 
Throughout my EC term, I have frequently used NCUC mailing list with live links of our ICANN sessions and outreach events. I also live tweeted through my personal account that I shared to the list. I have also written a report on the NCPH Intersessional and another on NCUC Participation to the Middle East DNS Forum. Previously, I had contributed with two blogs on NCUC participation to the Middle East DNS Forum. Moreover, I have shared opportunities, news and articles on the mailing list. I have also organized a number of informative Webinar for NCUC Africa members to keep them updated on the different work tracks taking place and wish to carry on that initiative. Besides, I will keep working on the spirit of respecting procedures and NCUC Bylaws. In that sense, I will continue to work towards the fair treatment of all NCUC members in terms of due process.
 Hence, I would be honoured to volunteer my time again in service of all NCUC members and the good functioning of their constituency’s administration and hope to help create more mechanisms of consultation and collaboration with membership. 
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me or ask me at the ConfCall and I am looking forward to actively collaborating with all of you.
 
Kind Regards

To:

NCUC Members

Cc:

NCSG Members

Statement of Interest

I will be honoredtoearnthetrust of the NUCUandNCSG members to serve on NCUC EC.  I’m with full confidence that my participation in the EC will help achieve the NCUC objectives as set out in the NCUC charter and in the mind of every NCUC member

Working with the stakeholders in the ICANN environment and Internet Governance for anumberofyearshavegivenmeasense of responsibility and commitment that is required to effectively function and assume a bigger task. Putting myself forward as the EC for Africa is to continue the excellent works of the ex-EC while bringing new perspectives that would enhance NCUC activeness and participation in the ICANN environment.

Working within a leadership team and collaboratively on several projects as ACSIS regional Coordinator for the West, I got a better sense of roles and responsibilities of the EC. I understand that an EC member needs to understand and be aligned with NCUC objective. My involvement in ICANN and IG discussions, public comment and willingness to engage, contribute and to representing the interest oftheendusershasimpactedmycapacitytotakeontaskthatdemandcommitment. 

I’m aware of the strong need and challenges that interface with effective collaboration in the ICANN environment. In summary, I will be bringing the energy, the right skills, leadership experience and aptitude that NCUC needs to engage with different views that surface from different stakeholders.

At this juncture, I can’t but ask the following questions. How do we bring back the experience of the NCUC? How do we restore trust that has long gone? How do we recruit without making them a dormant fellow and finally, how do we keep living togethertoadvanceNCUCobjective.My simple answer to all these questions is embedded in love, discipline, sacrifice and compromise

Ilookforwardtoserveinmyfullcapacity if given a chance. 

Thank You!

Akinremi Peter Taiwo

Dear all,

I am pleased to accept Claudio’s nomination. Below you will find my Statement. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

About Me

I’m from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am an associate researcher at Asuntos del Sur, a think tank that seeks to generate ideas and actions to promote more inclusive and participatory democracies in Latin America. My area of research focuses on political innovation, especially innovative experiences coming from civil society and the role of digital technologies as tools for change. I also coordinate the Academy of Political Innovation, an online platform with training programs for political and social leaders focusing on the demands and technological capabilities of the digital age. As part of my work, I have experience expanding networks of non-commercial actors and articulating their initiatives.

I hold a degree in International Relations from University of San Andrés (Argentina) and a Master’s Degree in International Relations Europe - Latin America from University of Bologna. I have been engaged with Internet Governance issues since late 2015. Since then I have followed and taken capacity building workshops (including internet governance schools) and I have participated in national, regional and international IGFs. These experiences helped me not only understand the Internet Governance-related issues but also how people can be involved and interact with other stakeholders and within their stakeholder groups.

Experience in ICANN

I first got involved with ICANN during ICANN58, where I was a fellow. Immediately after my first meeting, I became an NCUC member and I had the chance to follow the Diversity subgroup at the Cross-Community Working Group on Accountability WS2. This year during ICANN62 I was NCUC mentee where I made a short presentation on why is the open data initiative important for strengthening diversity. Part of this presentation -as well as my experience during ICANN62- is at NCUC Blog Post: https://www.ncuc.org/2018/07/30/whats-beyond-whois-compliance-to-gdpr/ [ncuc.org]. Being concerned about this issue, I helped the team in charge of writing the Draft Comment on Open Data Initiative Datasets and Metadata. During ICANN62 I also had the chance to participate at the NCSG/NCUC/NPOC Capacity Building Face-to-Face Course.

Goals and proposals

For a couple of months, I have been looking for opportunities to engage deeper with NCUC activities and I found this an opportunity to increase my involvement and commitment. Furthermore, serving the NCUC Executive Committee as the LAC Region representative would also prove to be central, on the one hand, to my advocacy goals for the democratization of internet policies and, on the other hand, to my personal and professional interests of helping expand the Latin American network of people engaged in internet governance. Barriers to entry and diversity are some of my concerns and I would be honored to work towards reducing such barriers and that region voices prevail and gain deeper involvement. I have been both ICANN fellow and NCUC mentee, two experiences that helped me gain an insight of the work that has been done so far but also how newcomers perceive and experience such instances and how could they make the most of them.

As regards proposals towards strengthening the participation of LAC members, I strongly believe that there are some key actions:

Outreach. Reach out to civil society groups and potentially interested individuals in Latin America in order to both communicate what we do at NCUC and how they can get involved (eg. through mails, outreach activities), as well as building bridges between their activities/discussions and NCUC LAC members. Secondly, I’d keep promoting reaching out to ICANN newcomers who relate to non-commercial interests and are not yet members.

In-reach. I would like to continue the work that has been done during the terms of the past representatives as regards communication. That means, actively communicating LAC members how to get involved, what are the main tasks that would require representation and help, what are the main advances within NCUC and being responsive to their concerns. Last but not least, I believe it is important to enable interactions between LAC members and liaise LAC members with other members of the community that could help them become more active.



I am really looking forward to this process and as I've written before, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out :)



Antonella.

Hi all,

Thanks very much for the nomination. For those who don't know me, I am a veteran advocate for freedom of expression, digital rights, transparency, and privacy who has authored over 20 books, academic articles and other publications on human rights issues. I currently work as the Canada Researcher for the Open Government Partnership, a multistakeholder organization which works to enhance transparency, civic participation and public accountability, and I also serve as the President of the Right to Know Coalition, which works to promote open government in Atlantic Canada, and the Policy Director of the Domain Name Rights Coalition, which works to promote freedom of expression and privacy in the ICANN space. I am also currently working on my LLM at the University of Toronto, and I have a BAH (Dean’s List) from Queen’s University, and an LLB (Dean’s List) from Dalhousie University. 

Here at ICANN, my focus has mostly been on policy development. I am actively engaged in the RPMs working group as a voice for due process and privacy rights. I am also the Co-Chair of the Cross Community Working Party on Human Rights and the Rapporteur for the WS2 Transparency Subgroup. This will be my second full term on the EC, and very much look forward to working with the new faces of our incoming representatives, as well as continuing to work with colleagues whom I greatly respect.

Best,

Michael