ICANN Nominating Committee Invitation for Candidates
Contents
The NomCom Process and Background
Due diligence and third-party references
The Nominating Committee (NomCom) for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) invites interested individuals to submit applications for key leadership positions within ICANN. Selected individuals will have a unique opportunity to work with accomplished colleagues from around the globe to help shape the Internet's technical coordination and policy development. The deadline to submit applications is 29 March 2021 at 23:59 Universal Coordinated Time (UTC).
Overall Criteria
The NomCom solicits advice from the ICANN Board, and ICANN's Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees on desirable skill sets for incoming ICANN and PTI Board members, in light of the challenges ahead and the current composition of the ICANN Board. The advice is used by the NomCom to inform the Committee's search and selection activities. [Board and Community Recommendations to NomCom]
Given ICANN's mission and core values, selectees engage in discussions on the technical functions coordinated by ICANN and their impact on the global Internet operation, such as its stability and integrity, or the effect on the users of the Internet. Selectees interact in a diverse environment, involving the ICANN Board, ICANN Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees, as well as the broader Internet community, by means of a continuous, transparent and informed dialogue, as it corresponds to the ICANN multistakeholder model.
Selectees will be part of groups that function in a collegial and cooperative manner, but in which individuals must also be prepared for intense debate in which tolerance and reasoning are necessary to accommodate and synthesize conflicting views. Careful consideration of the issues, depth of study of the precedents and environment, and the ability to deal clearly with conflict, including potential conflicts of interest, are predictors of successful contributions to ICANN.
Qualifications Sought
The NomCom seeks individuals who have demonstrated the maturity, experience, knowledge, and skills to handle the tasks and make the judgments involved in fulfilling these important leadership roles.
The NomCom seeks persons of the highest integrity and capability with experience and talents for problem solving, policy development, and decision-making involving diverse perspectives regarding how best to accomplish the mission and responsibilities of ICANN. Those selected in the NomCom process will also be expected to place the public interest of the global Internet ahead of any particular interests. In the NomCom's selections, such qualifications are more significant than is deep involvement in technical aspects of the Internet.
The NomCom selectees are expected to be knowledgeable, or committed to becoming knowledgeable, about the environment in which ICANN operates and the technical functions for which it is responsible, but strong technical knowledge of the Internet is not the determining factor in the NomCom selections.
ICANN's Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees have selection processes designed to ensure that the needed technical expertise and knowledge of the stakeholders who participate in those bodies is present in the ICANN leadership. Together, the NomCom and these complementary selection processes yield, in the aggregate, the full range of skills and experience needed for the organization.
The NomCom will apply the criteria and terms of eligibility defined in the ICANN Bylaws to develop a pool of qualified candidates. In selecting from this candidate pool, the NomCom will also take into account additional considerations related to the specific roles to be filled and will support implementation of ICANN's mission and core values, including its commitment to seek and support broad functional, geographic, and cultural diversity at all levels of policy development and decision-making. The NomCom encourages wide participation in this process and is grateful for the valuable input it will receive from those who nominate themselves or others for the positions available.
The NomCom welcomes and encourages Applications from all members of the global Internet community. Although candidates should be able to both work and communicate well in English, there is no requirement that English be the candidate's first language.
Core Values
In making its selections, the NomCom will look for persons who can help ICANN satisfy its Core Values, as stated in its Bylaws at Article 1, section 1.2(b):
In performing its Mission, the following "Core Values" should guide the decisions and actions of ICANN:
- To the extent feasible and appropriate, delegating coordination functions to or recognizing the policy role of, other responsible entities that reflect the interests of affected parties and the roles of bodies internal to ICANN and relevant external expert bodies;
- Seeking and supporting broad, informed participation reflecting the functional, geographic, and cultural diversity of the Internet at all levels of policy development and decision-making to ensure that the bottom-up, multistakeholder policy development process is used to ascertain the global public interest and that those processes are accountable and transparent;
- Where feasible and appropriate, depending on market mechanisms to promote and sustain a competitive environment in the DNS market;
- Introducing and promoting competition in the registration of domain names where practicable and beneficial to the public interest as identified through the bottom-up, multistakeholder policy development process;
- Operating with efficiency and excellence, in a fiscally responsible and accountable manner and, where practicable and not inconsistent with ICANN's other obligations under these Bylaws, at a speed that is responsive to the needs of the global Internet community;
- While remaining rooted in the private sector (including business stakeholders, civil society, the technical community, academia, and end users), recognizing that governments and public authorities are responsible for public policy and duly taking into account the public policy advice of governments and public authorities;
- Striving to achieve a reasonable balance between the interests of different stakeholders, while also avoiding capture; and
- Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 27.2, within the scope of its Mission and other Core Values, respecting internationally recognized human rights as required by applicable law. This Core Value does not create, and shall not be interpreted to create, any obligation on ICANN outside its Mission, or beyond obligations found in applicable law. This Core Value does not obligate ICANN to enforce its human rights obligations, or the human rights obligations of other parties, against other parties.
These Core Values are deliberately expressed in very general terms, so that they may provide useful and relevant guidance in the broadest possible range of circumstances. Because they are not narrowly prescriptive, the specific way in which they apply, individually and collectively, to any given situation may depend on many factors that cannot be fully anticipated or enumerated; and because they are statements of principle rather than practice, situations many arise in which perfect fidelity to all Core Values simultaneously is not possible. Accordingly, in any situation where one Core Value must be balanced with another, potentially competing Core Value, the result of the balancing must serve a policy developed through the bottom-up multistakeholder process or otherwise best serve ICANN's Mission.
The NomCom Process and Background
For full consideration in the application process, Candidate Applications must be submitted by 29 March 2021 at 23:59 Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). Individuals who do not complete their personalized online application by 29 March 2021 at 23:59 Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) will not be considered for selection by the NomCom.
The NomCom will begin its review of Candidate information contained in the completed Application shortly after it is received and confirmed to have all the required information.
The NomCom will evaluate Candidates in a fair and consistent manner, considering the Application, references, interviews as needed, consultations, and third-party information sources. While doing so, it will adhere to its ICANN Nominating Committee Participation Agreement, which includes procedures regarding Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest.
To ensure open and frank communication with the NomCom, the Committee paid particular attention in the NomCom procedures to safeguarding confidentiality. Specifically, under the procedures, all NomCom delegates will safeguard all internal NomCom communications concerning Candidates and treat them as strictly private, confidential, and for the use of the immediate NomCom delegates and NomCom staff only, without exception.
NomCom delegates will not disclose outside of the Committee the identities of Candidates under consideration by the NomCom, nor any discussions about them, unless both the Candidate and the NomCom as a whole have given explicit authorization to disclose the information. Nor will the NomCom disclose the identity of those who suggested candidates or whether a specific candidate has been suggested. For more information about the procedures NomCom delegates follow regarding security and confidentiality of information, please refer to the Code of Conduct agreed by all NomCom delegates and the NomCom Procedures.
Note that because the NomCom will need to check references and consult selected third-party sources on a confidential basis before making its final selections, those wishing to be considered as Candidates are required to confirm this understanding of the confidentiality arrangements when they submit a Candidate Application form.
When the NomCom has completed its selections, it will publish the identities of the Selectees. Statistical information, such as the size and nature of the candidate pool, will be published at the close of the process, as well as the NomCom's justification of the selected slate of appointees in light of the desirable skill sets. No other personally identifiable information will be publicized or retained after the selection process has been completed.
It should be noted that this NomCom process differs from an election, although the goal is the same: to elicit the Internet community's participation in a thoughtful process leading to the selection of very well-qualified individuals to fulfill the specific roles of their positions.
While considerable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this Invitation, the NomCom reserves the right to make additions and corrections. If any changes are made, they will be posted on the 2021 NomCom webpage (https://www.icann.org/nomcom2021). The webpage, including announcements and answers to frequently asked questions, will be updated as the committee's work progresses.
Selecting References
Candidates must obtain prior consent from their references and notify them that they may be contacted to provide a reference as part of the NomCom 2021 selection process. Those agreeing to serve as references should know they will be asked by the NomCom to provide a reference and should understand the purpose of the reference and NomCom process. The NomCom recommends that Candidates choose their references carefully so the NomCom has a broad view of a Candidate's experiences and abilities.
- Current NomCom delegates must not be included as references. See the NomCom home page https://www.icann.org/nomcom2021
- Current ICANN staff must not be included as references.
The NomCom will not consult as a reference anyone who is also a Candidate under consideration for the same position. The NomCom encourages Candidates to identify this issue for any potential references to avoid any collision of this type. Because of our confidentiality commitment, the NomCom will be unable to advise Candidates about another person's presence in the Candidate pool, therefore in the event of a collision between the Candidate and a referee, the NomCom will not be able to identify for you whether any specific references are unusable. The NomCom will, however, encourage any colliding references to consult with the affected Candidates to identify a potential need to submit a replacement reference.
Due diligence and third-party references
ICANN will employ a professional firm to conduct due diligence on selected nominees. Due diligence will be confidential and conducted according to global industry standards. In some circumstances the NomCom may ask a third party for additional reference information under a condition of confidentiality.
Conflicts of Interest
Please refer to the ICANN Conflicts of Interest Policy (https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/coi-en). This document specifically addresses conflicts for ICANN Directors, Officers and key employees, but should provide guidance for all ICANN leadership positions. If you have had any relationship with an ICANN accredited registry or registrar (other than registering a domain name) or any organization that has been in dispute with ICANN, please describe that relationship in the candidate application form. Conflicts of interest are not necessarily disqualifying, since we anticipate that many experienced people may have such relationships.