[Chapter-delegates] On Board Diversity

[Veni Markovski]

Thanks, Ted.
It is good to see that at some level of the BoT (though you said you are 
speaking in personal capacity, I understand it that it's not an opinion 
of the BoT, but your own), there is someone, who is recognizing that 
this is an issue, which could (should?) be addressed.
See some comments below, please.

On 10/7/21 03:23, Ted Hardie via Chapter-delegates wrote:
> I'm speaking on this topic as an individual, not on behalf of the board.
>
> After reading a few of the ongoing threads, I wanted to point out that 
> one of the more unusual aspects of the Internet Society's board of 
> trustees is the rate at which membership can turn over. Our election 
> processes put 4 seats up in any one year and impose a limit of two 
> consecutive terms.

This is not unusual; it is happening at other Internet-related 
organizations, too.

> That means that any diversity that is attained for the board is 
> subject to rebalance as soon as the following year, and it means that 
> three different groups are responsible for attaining or maintaining 
> that diversity.

Correct. However, currently this seems to be the responsibility of only 
one of these groups - the Chapters. There was also a comment by a former 
Trustee (I hope I am not mixing who said it), which could be interpreted 
as a criticism, that the Chapters actually dared to choose 1 of the 4 
they elect to be from the USA. Such criticism, no matter how delicately 
(or not) is said, has the potential to silence some of the chapters 
leaders, who might feel intimidated, when a person of a certain 
authority speaks.

> All three groups essentially run open candidate  solicitations,  and 
> then each runs its own selection.  In none of the IETF cases that I 
> was involved in can I recall a balanced set of incoming candidates, 
> whether measured by gender or region.

That's a serious problem, which the IETF could (should?) address; 
however, based on some comments of people, who are affiliated with the 
IETF in some ways, it seems they don't see this as a problem... at all?!

> In the other selection processes I've been involved in, things were 
> better, but there were often other differences among the candidates 
> that were equal in importance to regional and gender diversity.   Put 
> another way, the complexity of managing the diversity of experience 
> needed in a board is also significant, especially when the turnover 
> can be a third of the total board membership.

True; perhaps this can be addressed in the by-laws, so that the three 
groups are aware that they have to make an effort to address at least 
some of the diversity issues?

>
> But I think the current system embodies something important:  the 
> principle that the constituents of the society select members of the 
> board.

This won't change, if the constituents select members, who are coming 
from different geographies, for example.

> Once on the board, each member is expected to represent the interests 
> of the whole, but each clearly has experience in one or more of the 
> constituent bodies which they bring to the table.  They are known to 
> and voted in by the chapters, the organizations, or the IETF's 
> delegated body.

Correct. However, it may be just a coincidence, but so far all BoT 
chairs have been elected by (primarily?) the IETF-elected Trustees, and 
not a single chairperson has been elected among the chapter-elected 
Trustees, right? It would be interesting to find out why is that.

>
> One concern I have is that efforts to create specific targets for the 
> board's diversity might end up limiting that principle.  If you assign 
> the task to the board to manage its own diversity,

The other option is to assign this task to the constituencies.

>
> Again, just my personal thoughts,

Thanks for sharing them!


-- 

Best regards,
Veni
https://www.veni.com
pgp:5BA1366Eveni at veni.com

The opinions expressed above are those of the
author, not of any organizations, associated
with or related to him in any given way.
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