Dear NPOC Members, On behalf of the NPOC Executive Committee, Please join me in welcoming our new members below. - Internet Society of Rwanda Chapter, representative Emmanuel Mfitumukiza, Alternate Rep. Jules Mizeyimana, NCSG/NCUC/NPOC-AF As you are aware, Non-for-Profit Organizational Constituency (NPOC), is the home for not-for-profits which have a domain name and want to participate in the making of policy that influences the current internet infrastructure. As the Membership Committee Chair, I am happy to provide any necessary help for our new and old members to become fully engaged within our Constituency and our Stakeholder Group to facilitate the onboarding process into our community - and you will find many members willing to do the same! To better understand how to do that, you need to first understand ICANN´s complex structure. As you already know from the application process, NPOC is part of the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG), which means that we represent the non-commercial interests of the Internet community. Specifically, those of not-for-profits. We believe that non-for-profits have to play a central role in creating, discussing, and reviewing top-level domain names policy and so we have outlined some key steps you can take to familiarize yourself with the process and get involved: 1. Understand what a domain name is: Learn more about the domain name system (DNS) and the problems, challenges, and opportunities they bring to the operation of organizations like yours. (Suggestion: read the Beginners Guides <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/beginners-guides-2012-03-06-en>) 2. Read the NPOC toolkit: Learn more about NPOC’s work within ICANN, the NPOC structure, current working groups, the role of the NPOC Executive Committee (ExCom), including a glossary of acronyms, which we know can be very tricky! (Suggestion: read NPOC Beginners Guide <https://npoc.org/beginners-guide-to-npoc/>) 3. Learn about the policy-making process: Understand how to help create and review policy, via the online working groups, public comments and open discussions; or at the ICANN Meetings that take place three times every year (Suggestion: Watch Policy Development Process Video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPS_0Ut2FRk&list=PLQziMT9GXafXm-5MHQ5YIcRNy5...> ] 4. Get to know the other non-for-profits members of NPOC: You never know what opportunities for collaboration and conversation exist. (See our Members <https://npoc.org/our-membership/>) 5. Understand the ICANN complex structure: start by checking the organizational structure <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/chart-2012-02-11-en> for more information about the ICANN hierarchy, then go through ICANN free-of-charge certified courses, available on ICANN Learn <https://learn.icann.org/#/catalog>. We also encourage you to follow our activity online: - NPOC website: www.npoc.org - NPOC DISCUSS list: https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/npoc-discuss - NPOC Twitter: @NPOC_ICANN - Follow us and stay tuned! - NPOC Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/npocicann - NPOC Wiki: https://community.icann.org/x/txAQAg Besides this, here are a list of other resources which may be useful: - ICANN acronyms: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/glossary-2014-02-03-en[icann.org] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.icann.org_resources...> - How to get involved: https://community.icann.org/display/gnsononcomstake/How+To+Get+Involved[community.icann.org] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__community.icann.org_dis...> - List of working groups and their members: - https://community.icann.org/display/gnsononcomstake/Getting+Involved+in+Working+Groups[community.icann.org] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__community.icann.org_dis...> - Policy comments and statements: - https://community.icann.org/display/gnsononcomstake/Policy+Development[community.icann.org] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__community.icann.org_dis...> - A one-stop page about ICANN's policy efforts: - http://gnso.icann.org/sites/gnso.icann.org/files/gnso/presentations/policy-efforts.htm[gnso.icann.org] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__gnso.icann.org_sites_gns...> - To catch up with ongoing discussion see the mailing list archive: http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/npoc-discuss/ I know that this can be overwhelming, so allow me to invite you to a short introductory discussion or our next membership meeting when the call is announced, where you can ask all your questions and discuss how you can get involved. If you have any questions, comments, concerns,s or feedback please don’t hesitate to contact me directly, we will gladly help you! Let’s start working together! Best wishes, Caleb Ogundele Membership Committee Chair on behalf of the Executive Committee Team