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Driving Toward Our Future

13 September 2024
By
Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is the President and CEO of Internet2, where she champions the organization’s core mission of enabling U.S. higher education and research institutions to collaborate on mission-critical technology services and emerging technologies. Internet2 also works with global National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). Sinha has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her experience spans leadership roles in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy, and policy.

Before joining Internet2, Tripti held two leadership roles at the University of Maryland: Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX), a regional research and education network. In these roles, she supported advanced, high-performance networking and research technologies, including GPU compute infrastructure optimized for AI workloads and investigating evolving quantum networking technologies.

She has served on many non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards, and was past Chair of The Quilt’s Board of Directors and former Co-Chair of ICANN’s Root Server System Advisory Committee.

Tripti has a Computer Science degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She holds executive education certificates from Harvard Kennedy School in Public Leadership and Policy, and in Global Innovation and Execution from Stanford University. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, Tripti moved back-and-forth between the U.S. and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and understands Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Sinha has a keen interest in Information and Communication Technology innovation, entrepreneurship, governance and policy, and international affairs.

Tripti was nominated to serve on the ICANN Board of Directors by the Nominating Committee in 2018. Her term will expire at the Annual General Meeting 2027.

The ICANN community is a place where all participants should feel welcomed, appreciated, and valued. This is a belief that my fellow Board members and I are committed to protecting. In support of this, the Board has been relentlessly committed to change, with an intense focus on transformation.

Over the next few months we will have new leadership with the arrival of a new Chief Executive Officer and Ombuds, both reporting to the Board. While we are driving toward our future, at the same time we continue to evolve by addressing matters from our past.

In April 2017, we created an ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy. And in 2019, the Board created the Working Group on Anti-Harassment to oversee a review of the community's understanding of the existing policy. Since then, the Board has introduced several activities to create awareness of the policy, to highlight the processes and avenues to report harassment, and to provide education.

ICANN has existed for more than 25 years, and our culture continues to evolve. Each day, our community members collaborate, innovate, and shape the future of Internet governance together. Our multistakeholder community represents all corners of the world, all genders, all religions and all cultures. Our efforts to emphasize, encourage, and promote the spirit of mutual respect expected within the ICANN community must remain a central focus. We do not accept any form of harassment, and we must continually seek opportunities to improve.

The Board Anti-Harassment Working Group has recently worked to evaluate and strengthen the ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy. This draft will be published for public comment before ICANN81 in Istanbul.

Several recommendations for improving the Office of the Ombuds were provided through Workstream 2 (WS2), such as developing a more strategic focus, strengthening its processes, establishing timelines for responding to complaints and consistent reporting. Progress on these recommendations has been made and will be part of the mandate of the new Ombuds.

The Board anticipates the announcement of its selection of the new Ombuds in the coming days, and I can tell you in advance that the individual has extensive experience with global non-governmental organizations and is an expert in conflict resolution as well as in developing preventative solutions. Reflecting the WS2 recommendations, the Board’s Ombuds Search Committee incorporated formal mediation training, and extensive experience handling conflict resolution as critical requirements of the position.

As we move forward, please continue to actively work with me and the Board to ensure that ICANN remains and evolves as a dynamic community in which members feel welcome and valued. I encourage community members who have experienced, witnessed or suspect harassment of any kind to report it to the Office of the Ombuds.

Authors

Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair
Tripti Sinha

Tripti Sinha

ICANN Board Chair

Tripti Sinha is the President and CEO of Internet2, where she champions the organization’s core mission of enabling U.S. higher education and research institutions to collaborate on mission-critical technology services and emerging technologies. Internet2 also works with global National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). Sinha has over three decades of progressive experience in Internet and Cyber-Infrastructure technologies. Her experience spans leadership roles in engineering, operations, finance, governance, advocacy, and policy.

Before joining Internet2, Tripti held two leadership roles at the University of Maryland: Assistant Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX), a regional research and education network. In these roles, she supported advanced, high-performance networking and research technologies, including GPU compute infrastructure optimized for AI workloads and investigating evolving quantum networking technologies.

She has served on many non-profit and private sector technology advisory boards, and was past Chair of The Quilt’s Board of Directors and former Co-Chair of ICANN’s Root Server System Advisory Committee.

Tripti has a Computer Science degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and did graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. She holds executive education certificates from Harvard Kennedy School in Public Leadership and Policy, and in Global Innovation and Execution from Stanford University. She was born in India and lives in the United States. As a child and young adult, Tripti moved back-and-forth between the U.S. and India which gave her an appreciation for global pluralism. She is proficient in English and Hindi, and understands Punjabi, Urdu and the ancient Sanskrit language. Sinha has a keen interest in Information and Communication Technology innovation, entrepreneurship, governance and policy, and international affairs.

Tripti was nominated to serve on the ICANN Board of Directors by the Nominating Committee in 2018. Her term will expire at the Annual General Meeting 2027.

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