[Chapter-delegates] more diversity, was On funding dedicated to chapters

[Livingood, Jason]

> The key takeaway is the IETF has failed miserably at solving its diversity problems.

Diversity & inclusion are difficult problems and they will not be solved quickly or easily - it takes a long-term commitment. The IETF also cannot solve it alone for the whole tech industry. As well, for the IETF, our community is focusing on a very broad definition of diversity which includes things such as country of residence, working in a developing vs. developed economy, education/work background (e.g. comp sci, human rights, privacy, software dev, etc.), and more.

The ISOC board certainly raised this issue during the funding discussions with the IETF last year and we discussed the subject in ISOC board meetings at that time. For example, the IETF presented at the ISOC 2020 AGM (https://www.internetsociety.org/board-of-trustees/meetings/153/) and spoke about this on Slide 6 of https://www.internetsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/10-IETF-LLC-Presentation-to-ISOC-Board-August-2020.pdf.

More recently, when the COVID pandemic forced a shift to online IETF meetings, we created a fee waiver program for those for whom cost was a barrier to participation - a specific concern in certain countries, regions, and job types and a great many people have taken advantage of this program (287 people at the last IETF meeting for example). Funding comes in part from the newly created Diversity & Inclusivity sponsorship program - details at https://www.ietf.org/about/support/#diversity-inclusivity.

One thing that helps drive decisions & measure progress is data. So recently the IETF conducted a first ever all-of-IETF survey. A report can be found at https://www.ietf.org/blog/ietf-community-survey-2021/ - and given your interest in this subject this is important reading. Not only does data help drive decisions but it also helps to create a foundation for building consensus on issues at the IETF & charting a path ahead.

> The Internet Society clearly doesn't have the skills to help IETF on this. Our ex-chair, Gonzalo, tried unsuccessfully to persuade IETF to do better, but did not succeed.

I believe there is an understanding and people are focused on taking action. The issues are far-reaching and go back really to the point at which new participants come into the IETF -- the earliest part of the so-called participation funnel. So IMO it seems important to be able to attract a diverse range of new participants and to then be able to support, encourage, and retain their engagement thereafter as their participation develops. Then, in the future, the IETF potentially ends up with a more diverse and larger candidate pool for various IETF leadership roles, from document editor to working group chair, Area Director, etc.

But there are lots of ways to address these issues - these are just some my off-the-cuff personal views. Our next IETF LLC board meeting is on 14 October if you'd like to join and raise this issue for discussion (https://www.ietf.org/about/groups/llc-board/meeting-info/). Alternatively, any specific suggestions on things the IETF should consider doing would be quite welcome.

JL