Mike,
With your experience on the Nom Com, you,
of all people, appreciate the significant steps toward transparency that this
year’s Committee have undertaken and I’m glad that they resonate positively.
Regarding your comments on the SOI, Waudo
and I will be sure to take them to the Committee.
As for the Board Governance discussion,
indeed, we took advantage of
Thank you for your two insightful
comments.
Kind regards,
RA
Ronald N. Andruff
RNA Partners, Inc.
From: Michael Roberts
[mailto:mmr1936@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Mike
Roberts
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012
2:02 PM
To: Ron Andruff
Cc: 'Bc GNSO list ';
excomm@bizconst.org; '
Subject: Re: [bc-gnso] 2013 Nom
Com October Report Card
Importance: High
Ron -
Great report. Glad to see some NomCom "sacred cows"
biting the dust.
Here are a couple of other things that might improve NomCom performance
and success rate.
- The Statement of Interest (SOI) process is a killer for many highly
qualified potential applicants. There is no intrinsic reason why a
potential Board member should be forced to complete it as currently required.
The committee has other means of acquiring the necessary information,
and/or having third parties complete it with the consent and participation of
the candidate. In my time on two recent NC's, there seemed to be a notion
that having all the SOI's done exactly the same way "leveled the playing
field." Couldn't be farther from the truth. The object here is
to identify and recruit the best talent for the Board, not to let process get
in the way.
- The Board workload, as currently described to applicants, is another
killer. I have a lot of non-profit Board experience in my background, and
no other organization comes close to the level of time commitment required of
ICANN Board members. Even allowing for our unique structure and status,
the recent situation is depriving ICANN of valuable Board talent. With
Fadi having set new directions and appointed a strong executive team, I think
the description of time commitment could be scaled back. Why doesn't the
NomCom have a specific discussion with the Board Governance Cmte on this
important issue and see if a revised look isn't possible?
Regards,
- Mike
On Oct 23, 2012, at 9:16 AM, Ron Andruff wrote:
Dear members,
On behalf of
Regarding our 2013 Committee’s new regime of openness, our
Chairman, Yrjo Lansipuro noted: “We
re-examined the reasons behind the exaggerated secrecy that has surrounded the
NomCom institution. We went back to the 2007 NomCom Review, which offered an
explanation: the justified requirement of absolute candidate
confidentiality has led members and staff to “err on the side of caution”
and treat many other aspects of the NomCom’s operation as confidential “just to
be safe.” The 2007 Review noted: "Secrecy beyond what is required to
preserve candidate confidentiality shields
the NomCom from outside pressure and influence but also damages its credibility."
Encouraged by our meetings with
constituency representatives, with the Board and the CEO, the 2013 NomCom
decided to make a clean distinction between our processes, which should be as transparent
as possible, and information about the candidates, which shall remain
absolutely confidential. I hope that this change will be noticed by the
community. We'll keep on reporting, and we'll have an open session in
Both Waudo and I are pleased to report that the Committee
has begun its mandate with a strong sense of mutual respect and camaraderie;
fully united in its mission.
I have also attached the 2013 Nom Com Timeline of activities
and the Open Positions that we will be working toward filling. Soon, we
will send an announcement to the BC list explaining the nature of the
candidates we are looking for and the process for applying. We encourage
you, however, to start thinking now about whom you know that would be a potential
candidate to add to the pool.
Our next Report Card will be forthcoming immediately
following our meeting in mid-November.
Kind regards,
RA
Ronald N. Andruff
President
RNA Partners, Inc.
220
+ 1 212 481 2820 ext. 11
<2013 Open Leadership Positions r2.pdf><NomCom Report Card Oct
2012 Final r1.pdf><2013 NomCom timetable.ppt>