Dear Evan, On 19/04/2023 16:10, Evan Leibovitch via CPWG wrote:
We spend far more time on internal processes than policy, and over my decades of involvement I have come to the belief that this is deliberate. That is, so long as ALAC continues to consume itself with ... itself ... it will forever be retarded in its bylaw-given mandate. As such, the vested interests maintain a clear path to inflict their path without any resistance from the public interest.
Have you recently attended a CPWG call? Your description of spending more time on internal procedures rather than policy might have been true a decade ago, but not now. I would suggest you update your view of At-Large. For example, on today's call, I learned that the Applicant Support GNSO Guidance Process has evolved well thanks to the excellent work of our colleagues, that there's also been some progress in the GNSO DNS Abuse Small Team discussions and our representative there has done great work in conveying the At-Large's community points. I've also found out that the global "Universal Acceptance" day has had a global impact thanks to so many ALSes doing excellent work and organising events locally. And I have also found out that the ALAC is going to be extra busy at the forthcoming ICANN77 Policy forum because it's become a respected key player in many of the policy processes currently developed at ICANN. And all of this with a very diverse and strong input from the people that attend the CPWG call each week, thus making it possibly one of the most vibrant communities discussing ICANN policy within ICANN - and that is also attracting some Board members enjoying observing the discussions as well as members of other SOs and ACs. Of course, we could always do better and we are not "there" yet (wherever "there" is), but with Jonathan's leadership following on the work of previous chairs, with active people in the At-Large Leadership Team, with RALO leaders, the ALAC and At-Large community have never been as motivated and effective as they are today. And to purport the contrary is a fallacy. GOAL! (GO At-Large!) :-) Kindest regards, Olivier