[Chapter-delegates] Today: Chance to ask ISOC policy people what our positions are, Chapters meeting to discover what's going on with management changes

[Dave Burstein]

Ted

Thanks for the reply. It may be, as you suggest, that the claim circulating
about a closed succession decision is simply a misunderstanding of a
theoretical plan for an emergency contingency. We should clarify that.

False rumors are best avoided by delivering timely, acute information. I've
been in this stuff long enough to have access, but most members have little
knowledge of what's going on in ISOC. That discourages everyone and I hope
you can change that.

An interim, emergency appointment almost always is unfortunate. Without
secure tenure, the emergency designee will find it difficult to take the
strong actions rejuvenating ISOC requires.

Is there any reason to think that Andrew is leaving so soon that the
emergency contingency plan will be needed? As far as I know, Andrew hasn't
given notice. I know Andrew well enough to expect him to give enough notice
for a proper search.

We need to find someone who has demonstrated the ability to lead a
transparent, multistakeholder organization. Multistakeholder organizations
are rare so that requires a strong, multinational outreach.

Two-thirds or more of the Internet is in the global South, but our last
three CEOs and almost all our senior executives have been from the U.S. or
Europe. That severely hurts our effectiveness and growth.

If Andrew is leaving, we immediately should begin the outreach, with active
involvement of the members and chapters. We shouldn't leave that until
after a board meeting.

Has he given notice?

Brian
I note that the CEO Succession Committee is mandated to have

   - an emergency succession plan for the CEO.

which seems sensible.

ISOC tradition, matching many organizations, is that personal information
of candidates is kept confidential and generally discussed in executive
session. So you may want to prepare a redacted version of the proposals,
eliminating personal information, to circulate before the open board
discussion. How can we get that to the chapters in time to weigh in on the
board discussion?

ISOC remains committed to multi-stakeholderism but the members and chapters
can't play their role without information about the major issues. Please
lead by example here.

Dave




On Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 9:23 AM Ted Hardie <ted.ietf at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Dave,
>
> If you can send me the original message, I might be able to give a more
> definitive answer, but I expect it references a report by the CEO
> Succession Planning Committee to the board.  That committee was established
> after Andrew was hired, with the following charter:
> https://www.internetsociety.org/board-of-trustees/committees/charters/ceo-succession/
> .  I've cc'ed Brian Haberman, who is the chair of the committee, in case
> you have questions on the charter or the committee.
>
> The board is discussing the report it received, and it will update the
> community on the results when appropriate, likely after the upcoming
> meeting in early March.
>
> regards,
>
> Ted Hardie
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 14, 2024 at 5:41 PM Andrew Sullivan <sullivan at isoc.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi Dave,
>>
>> I think the questions about the CEO you have are properly answered by the
>> board and not by me, so I will defer to Ted (who, I presume, will consult
>> with the rest of the board before answering).
>>
>> I have a feeling that you believe I am the one who said "ISOC believes
>> it's much more effective to do policy privately."  If that is the
>> impression you formed of what I said, I hope you will allow me to disabuse
>> you of that view.  I believe there are definitely occasions in which it is
>> much more effective to do things quietly rather than loudly.  Government
>> ministers, for instance, are frequently much more amenable to quiet
>> guidance rather than public shaming where they will be seen to be "walking
>> back" a position they have taken.  But we also do plenty of things in
>> public, make public submissions on topics, and work hard to make our views
>> understood and known.  I believe you will find some examples of that in
>> last year's Impact Report, and we will have another edition coming soon to
>> cover the effects of our work last year.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> A
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 02:43:40PM -0500, Dave Burstein wrote:
>> >Ted, Andrew
>> >
>> >I received a note "Some of the Board wants to appoint a member of the
>> >senior management as the next CEO without recruiting."
>> >
>> >If true, the chapters & members need to intervene strongly. I hope that
>> >won't be necessary because the author is mistaken.
>> >
>> >To avoid conflict before it happens (again,) please issue a strong
>> >statement that "Any new management will be chosen in an open, advertised
>> >process that produces a candidate committed to transparency &
>> >multistakeholder democracy" or something similar that we all can rally
>> >behind.
>> >--------------
>> >Separately, I'd like to call everyone's attention to tonight's panel,
>> >*Innovation
>> >for Good: A Conversation on the Internet’s Future with ISOC's Natalie
>> >Campbell & Sally Shipman Wentworth*. On the public record, neither has
>> done
>> >very much. But a senior ISOC official tells me they have been very active
>> >behind the scenes in making policy. He explained that ISOC believes it's
>> >much more effective to do policy privately. (I disagree)
>> >Hopefully, they will explain what policy actions ISOC has been taking the
>> >last year or two. Ask them a lot of questions
>> >https://innovation-for-good.eventbrite.com
>>
>> --
>> Andrew Sullivan, President & CEO, Internet Society
>> e:sullivan at isoc.org m:+1 416 731 1261
>> Help protect the Internet for everyone:
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/donate/
>>
>
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