<div dir="ltr"><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px">On the Mission: The verb "<span class="inbox-il">champion</span>" is not necessarily well understood by everyone. In my personal case, I relate it to the athletic apparel brand - "<a href="http://www.champion.com/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><span class="inbox-il">Champion</span></a>". I suggest using simple and well-understood verbs like defend, support and such. Also, I suggest changing the long list of "as a" to read as follows: <i>"...development of the Internet, as a global technical infrastructure, resource to enrich people's lives, and force for good in society."</i></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px"><br></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px"><b>On the Together, we focus on</b>: I suggest to change the word <i>"sound" </i> for something more universally understood like <i>"solid"</i> or <i>"through"</i>. The word "<i>sound</i> ", in this context, can be difficult to relate to the underlining meaning of the statement if you are not a native English speaker/reader.</div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px"><br></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px">Thank you for allowing us to comment on these ideas before releasing the final statement.<br></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px"><br></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px">Eduardo Diaz</div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px">President</div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px">ISOC Puerto Rico</div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 12:21 PM Gonzalo Camarillo <<a href="mailto:Gonzalo.Camarillo@ericsson.com">Gonzalo.Camarillo@ericsson.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hi,<br>
<br>
the board of trustees of the Internet Society (ISOC) plans to revise<br>
ISOC's mission statement. We would like to get your comments on the<br>
proposal we include below. This email discusses the reasons for the<br>
proposed change, the process we have followed so far to put together<br>
the current proposal, and the next steps in the process.<br>
<br>
ISOC's current vision and mission statements were developed around<br>
2005 and are available at ISOC's web page:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/</a><br>
<br>
These statements have provided ISOC with a clear direction for many<br>
years and have been a useful tool for the community.<br>
<br>
What ISOC does in practice to fulfill its vision has evolved over<br>
time. Looking at the environment in which ISOC operates, there have<br>
been important changes (some external and some internal to ISOC) that<br>
make it desirable to revise those statements at this point.<br>
<br>
Externally, the current Internet environment is different from what it<br>
was when the current statements were developed: regional needs are<br>
different, communication patterns are different, and the<br>
standardization landscape is different. Internet users and, thus, also<br>
ISOC's chapters and members are more international and many of them<br>
come from developing countries.<br>
<br>
Internally, ISOC's revenue sources have increased significantly from<br>
2005 until present. This means that ISOC's potential to realize its<br>
vision through activities has increased substantially and may still<br>
continue to increase in the near term. The board considers that simply<br>
increasing linearly everything ISOC does today would not be a viable<br>
or desirable approach. Building a large reserve without further<br>
advancing ISOC's social goals is not a good option either. Instead,<br>
ISOC will strengthen some of its current areas of engagement and, when<br>
appropriate, engage in new impactful activities in new areas.<br>
<br>
Our goal is to bring more focus into the organization. The idea is to<br>
avoid spreading ourselves too thin and, instead, increase ISOC's focus<br>
on activities that make a difference.<br>
<br>
In order to make those key decisions, staff, the board, and the<br>
community need to be on the same page regarding ISOC's vision and<br>
mission, and their underlying meaning. Given that many members of<br>
staff, the board, and the community were not around when the current<br>
statements were developed back in 2005, revising them with their<br>
involvement was considered to be a necessary exercise so that<br>
everybody feels them as their own. Getting a common sense of ownership<br>
is one of our main goals.<br>
<br>
In order to have a fresh look at our vision and mission, a set of<br>
workshops involving the whole staff were organized. Using an<br>
iterative process and taking the input from those workshops into<br>
consideration, further workshops involving the board and ISOC's senior<br>
management were organized with the help of a facilitator. Some of the<br>
workshops were virtual and some of them were face-to-face.<br>
<br>
The board had a face-to-face retreat where, based on all the work<br>
above, revised draft statements were generated. Those draft statements<br>
were sent to parts of the community (including IETF leadership, ISOC's<br>
emeriti trustees, and chapter and org members) to get initial<br>
comments. After gathering a good amount of initial community feedback,<br>
the board generated new proposed statements addressing the comments<br>
received. With the process above the board aimed to ensure that the<br>
revised statements take into account the perspectives of staff as well<br>
as our wider community.<br>
<br>
The resulting proposed statements (included below) are now ready to be<br>
sent to our whole community.<br>
<br>
During the process above, we agreed that ISOC's current vision and<br>
mission are still as valid as ever. With respect to the *statements*<br>
that capture the spirit of the vision and mission, we do not propose<br>
any changes to the vision statement.<br>
<br>
With respect to the mission statement, we propose to update it. One<br>
of the goals with the new statement is that it is both concise and<br>
memorable. Consequently, the mission is stated at a higher<br>
abstraction level and contains fewer points.<br>
<br>
The current mission statement included a list of activities ISOC<br>
performs to help achieve our mission. While it seems that list was not<br>
approved as part of the mission statement back in the day, the initial<br>
feedback we have gotten from the community clearly indicates that many<br>
consider capturing the list in an official way important. Therefore,<br>
we propose to keep those bullets as highlights of activities.<br>
<br>
It is worthwhile noting that, regardless of the outcome in the form of<br>
a revised mission statement, this process is being very useful in<br>
itself. It has clearly helped getting a better understanding about<br>
ISOC's purpose among everybody involved.<br>
<br>
Please, find the proposed statements below and share your comments<br>
with us on this list. Thanks!<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
Gonzalo Camarillo (for the board)<br>
Chair - ISOC Board of Trustees<br>
<br>
<br>
--- Proposal ---<br>
<br>
Vision:<br>
-------<br>
<br>
The Internet is for everyone.<br>
<br>
Mission:<br>
--------<br>
<br>
The Internet Society champions the development of the Internet as a<br>
global technical infrastructure, a resource to enrich people's<br>
lives, and a force for good in society.<br>
<br>
We work with the worldwide Internet community for an Internet that<br>
is open, globally-connected, and secure.<br>
<br>
Together, we focus on:<br>
<br>
- Building and supporting the communities that make the Internet work;<br>
<br>
- Advancing the development of Internet infrastructure,<br>
technologies, and open standards; and<br>
<br>
- Advocating for sound Internet policy around the world.<br>
<br>
Highlights of Activities:<br>
-------------------------<br>
<br>
To help achieve our mission, the Internet Society:<br>
<br>
- Facilitates open development of standards, protocols,<br>
administration, and the technical infrastructure of the Internet.<br>
<br>
- Supports education in developing countries specifically, and<br>
wherever the need exists.<br>
<br>
- Promotes professional development and builds community to foster<br>
participation and leadership in areas important to the evolution<br>
of the Internet.<br>
<br>
- Provides reliable information about the Internet.<br>
<br>
- Provides forums for discussion of issues that affect Internet<br>
evolution, development and use in technical, commercial, societal,<br>
and other contexts.<br>
<br>
- Fosters an environment for international cooperation, community,<br>
and a culture that enables self-governance to work.<br>
<br>
- Serves as a focal point for cooperative efforts to promote the<br>
Internet as a positive tool to benefit all people throughout the<br>
world.<br>
<br>
- Provides management and coordination for on-strategy initiatives<br>
and outreach efforts in humanitarian, educational, societal, and<br>
other contexts.<br>
<br>
--- End of Proposal ---<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed<br>
to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society<br>
Chapter Portal (AMS): <a href="https://portal.isoc.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://portal.isoc.org</a><br>
</blockquote></div></div>