Minutes | Board Finance Committee (BFC) Meeting 24 April 2019

BFC Attendees: Maarten Botterman, Ron da Silva (Chair), and Danko Jevtovic

BFC Apologies: Khaled Koubaa and Tripti Sinha

Other Board Member Attendees: Avri Doria

ICANN Org Attendees: Michelle Bright (Board Content Coordination Director), Susanna Bennett (SVP, Chief Operations Officer), Xavier Calvez (SVP, Chief Financial Officer), Franco Carrasco (Board Operations Specialist), Sally Newell Cohen (SVP, Global Communications), Sally Costerton (Sr Advisor to President & SVP, Global Stakeholder Engagement), Becky Nash (VP Finance), Elizabeth Le (Associate General Counsel), David Olive (SVP, Policy Development Support), Wendy Profit (Manager, Board Operations), Shani Quidwai (Director of FP&A), Nick Tomasso (VP, Global Meetings Operations & Managing Director – Middle East & Africa), and Mary Wong (Vice President, Strategic Community Operations, Planning and Engagement)

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The following is a summary of discussions, actions taken and actions identified:

1. BFC Workplan – The BFC reviewed its Workplan, which is on target.

2. Contracting Approvals – The BFC discussed the following contracting approvals.

   1. ICANN Meeting Venue Contracts – The BFC received a briefing from ICANN org personnel on its recommendations for meeting venues the ICANN 70 March 2021 and ICANN 71 June 2021 ICANN 71 Public Meetings. ICANN org performed a thorough analysis of the proposals, as well as other venues, and prepared a paper to identify those that met the Meeting Location Selection Criteria. Based on the proposals and analysis, ICANN org has identified Cancun as the appropriate venue for ICANN 70 and The Hague for ICANN 71. The BFC noted that the recommended venues are cost effective and are aligned with ICANN's overall cost saving strategy for meetings. Upon discussion, the BFC approved a recommendation to the Board to authorize the President and CEO, or his designee(s), to enter into, and make disbursement in furtherance of contracts for Cancun for ICANN 70 and The Hague for ICANN 71.

      • Action: ICANN org to prepare materials for Board consideration at its next meeting.

   2. Legal Fees – The BFC approved a recommendation to the Board to approve payment of the February 2019 legal fees invoice. The BFC requested more visibility ahead of time for fees that are anticipated to exceed US$500K.

      • Action: ICANN org to prepare materials for Board consideration at its next meeting.

   3. ITI Contracting Approval - The BFC approved a recommendation to the Board to delegate to the President and CEO, or his designees, the authority enter into two additional contracts with Publicis.Sapient for the Information Transparency Initiative (ITI) User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Information Architecture (IA), Navigation, Tree Testing, and Analytics design and implementation. The BFC noted that contracting amount has already been approved by the Board in October 2017, but the vendor for which the costs were approved is no longer available and thus this is a request for approval of a new vendor.

      • Action: ICANN org to prepare materials for Board consideration at its next meeting.

3. FY20 ICANN Operating Plan and Budget (FY20 OP&B)

   1. Supporting Organization (SO) and Advisory Committee (AC) Additional Budget Requests ICANN Operating Plan and Budget – The BFC received a briefing on the additional budget requests submitted by the SOs and ACs for the FY20 OP&B. A total of 32 Requests were submitted by 12 different organizations and evaluated by ICANN org. Based upon its careful evaluation, ICANN org recommends, and the BFC agrees, that the Board approve 14 requests for a total of US$304K as part of the approval of the FY20 OP&B.

      • Action: ICANN org to prepare materials for Board consideration at its next meeting.

   2. Public Comment Overview – The BFC received a briefing on the comments received from the FY20 OP&B public comment period. The largest categories that received public comments were financial management, budget development process, document structure and content, community support and funding, large projects/initiatives, the Reserve Fund, policy development, ICANN org headcount, overall funding, and community outreach and engagement programs. ICANN org consulted with the community during ICANN 64 to better understand some of the comments received. Following evaluation of the public comments submitted and community feedback, ICANN org recommended that the draft FY20 OP&B remain unchanged. The BFC agreed that all public comments have been adequately addressed by ICANN org and that no changes are required to the FY20 OP&B. The BFC then approved a recommendation to the ICANN Board the approval of the ICANN FY20 OP&B and the Five-Year Operating Plan Update.

      • Action: ICANN org to prepare materials for Board consideration at its next meeting.

Published on 30 May 2019