FYI De : Rafik Dammak [ Hi Glen, unfortunately I am sharing bad news about Alain passing away. I think that is important to inform GNSO council , just to remind that we all are volunteers and human beings , and such event dwarf any issue or disagreement. Best, Rafik 2014-02-07 marie-laure Lemineur <mllemineur@gmail.com<mailto:mllemineur@gmail.com>>: Alain Berranger sadly passed away shortly before Christmas 2013 after a long illness. Within the GNSO he was better known as being the first elected Chair of ICANN's Not-For-Profit Operational Concerns Constituency (NPOC) from 2011 when the Constituency was first formed, after ICANN 41 in Singapore, until July 2013. He was originally appointed as the Acting Vice-Chair in 2011, and later won the Constituency's first elections. He rose to the challenge successfully. Today, NPOC is what it is because of Alain’s continuous effort to strengthen the Constituency. He truly believed in the key role Not-for-Profits should and could play in the GNSO and the ICANN ecosystem as a whole. He strove to strengthen its Executive Committee by recruiting new members and constantly encouraged them to contribute to the policy issues at hand. His commitment to the NPOC mission was reflected through the numerous Working Groups he joined and actively participated in while he was Chair. His professional achievements outside the GNSO are numerous. After completing his Bachelors degree, he joined Noranda Inc. and then worked for Touche Ross Daihatsu, Tecsult, as well as for Dominion Bridge. Alain served as Vice Chair of the Executive Committee at the Global Knowledge Partnership foundation from 2009 to 2011, moving on to become a member of the Board. He was an Executive-in-residence at Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. Alain also filled the position of Vice Chair of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas for two years and from 1996 to 2006 he acted as Director of Partnerships and Business Development for the International Development Research Center of the Canadian Government. Much of his career was focused on international development. To that intent, he worked with aid agencies, management and engineering consulting firms, as well as with the private sector. He travelled extensively, undertaking assignments for Expedia in Mexico, Microsoft, the Omar Dengo Foundation and the CRUSA Foundation both in Costa Rica, UNDP in Egypt and Vietnam, the Chasquinet Foundation in Ecuador. He conducted training in strategic partnering and resource mobilization for civil society, foundations, government and development agencies. Whilst we deeply mourn his passing, we should remember that Alain gave us numerous reasons to be grateful and to celebrate his life. Alain was unique. He was at home on a Golf course, spending a lot of time spinning the balls and spinning the wheels of business, but he was equally at home everywhere in the world where those passed by economic developments needed support to get economic development going. As a pioneer, he bridged worlds, bravely he often performed tight rope acts to unite what seemingly did not belong together. To us he was always a reliable colleague whose friendship has made us better people and the world we inhabit a better place to be. Alain loved life and he loved to enjoy everything on offer but what made him so important was that he was equally prepared to put in the hard work that after completion makes achievements even sweeter. Alain has left his mark with everything he did. It remains for us to honor his life by continuing his legacy by taking what his life has taught us and to move forward with his spirit on our side.