[Chapter-delegates] On Board Diversity

[Joel Okomoli]

+1 Richard, it's good to ask for changes but let's not demonize the
tradition or the past for that matter.

My opinion,

Joel
Nairobi
nairobi-Kenya.

On Sun, 10 Oct 2021, 18:40 Richard Hill via Chapter-delegates, <
chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> The usual way to ensure that a Board (or committee, or whatever) is
> diverse is to split the electorate into groups and have each group elect
> their representatives. This is exactly what ISOC does by having IETF,
> Chapters, Organization Members each elect a certain number of Trustees.
>
>
>
> Geographical diversity can be ensured by that, or by other mechanisms, see
> for example 5.5 of the ChAC Charter at:
>
>
>
>
> https://www.internetsociety.org/chapters/chapters-advisory-council/charter/
>
>
>
> Perhaps the system used for the ChAC Steering Committee, or something
> similar, could be used for the ISOC Board as a whole?
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Richard
>
>
>
> *From:* Chapter-delegates [mailto:
> chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] *On Behalf Of *Veni Markovski
> via Chapter-delegates
> *Sent:* Friday, 8 October 2021 23:55
> *To:* John Levine
> *Cc:* Chapter Delegates
> *Subject:* Re: [Chapter-delegates] On Board Diversity
>
>
>
> Warning: It's a long(ish) email.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 7, 2021 at 13:57 John Levine via Chapter-delegates <
> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote
>
>
> As Ted pointed out, ISOC's board selection process gives each of the
> three groups full control over who they choose as board members. If
> you want to require geographic diversity, *how do you plan to do that*,
>
>
>
> Here's one possible solution: Include such a requirement in the ISOC
> by-laws and let the three groups figure out how to comply?
>
>
>
>
> and *what would you have done* about the 2020 election in which the
> chapters
> voted for a petition candidate who by most measures made the board
> less diverse than any of the nomcom's candidates would have?
>
>
>
> Nothing needs to be done, because — as it was already pointed out! — the
> total number of chapter-elected Trustees is 4, 3 (three) of whom are from
> the global South. Now that we have established the facts, would you agree
> there’s a solution to this issue, or would you also suggest that the ISOC
> trustees, who are elected from the global South, have “taken” the seat of
> someone more qualified? And if you have such evidence (that a candidate
> from a non-US/non-EU country has "taken" the seat of a more qualified and
> skilled person), would you publish it?
>
> Also, from your other argument, would you agree that there are enough
> skilled and qualified people working for the ISOC organizational members
> and contributing to the IETF, who are not based in the USA or the
> EU? Perhaps these two constituencies groups could be encouraged to spread
> the word around their hundreds of thousands of members/employees around the
> world, so that they can run for the BoT. Keith Davidson reminded us last
> year, that there was time, when the NomCom was proposing a gender-balanced
> slate of candidates, and as a result the BoT had more balance than today.
>
>
>
> *And a small personal note. *
>
> Coming from Bulgaria, some of your comments remind me of similar attitude
> towards my fellow Bulgarians, when we were (and in some cases - still are)
> confronted by West Europeans, so I definitely know how one feels, when
> being told he or she does not belong somewhere, because he or she is not
> skilled enough, or because is from “the poor East”. We have seen that not
> only vis-a-vis East Europeans, of course. Unlike other cultures, though, it
> is totally OK in Eastern Europe to question such opinions. I could give you
> examples from many areas of life, where people from Bulgaria have not
> “taken” anybody’s seat, but have fought to be where they are... And where
> many Western Europeans would be without any fight, but by the mere fact
> where they were born. I hope this is helpful in figuring out why for me, as
> a chapter leader, is totally fine that while all the chapters have 75% of
> their elected Trustees from the global South, could agree - through a
> democratic procedure - that an old White dude from the USA could also run
> (he got enough support from the chapters, so that his name was in the
> competition), and then would be elected - not least of all, because he has
> spent decades working with chapters and Internet pioneers around the world,
> in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, and we all appreciate what he has done
> for the development of the Internet in our respected countries.
>
>
>
> And to add more positive spirit, and end on such a positive note - please,
> talk to your colleagues from the IETF who appointed you to the BoT, talk to
> any of the Org members you know, and kindly suggest to them that they
> should start taking an example from the chapters, and provide candidates,
> who are not necessarily from the USA. I am sure that within these
> organizations there are enough skilled people, who are not from the USA,
> and would be great Trustees.
>
>
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Veni
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