[Chapter-delegates] Internet Society Nominating Committee

Thu Jan 29 10:44:04 PST 2026

Dear Caleb and Ted,

thank you for your kind responses.

The points I am making are valid for both Org and Chapters. Since the 
limitations due to conflict of interest are known in advance, if the 
Governance Committee is not willing to consider making recommendations 
in relation to the make-up of the NomCom, Board members should be more 
strategic about their chosen committee appointments so we do not end up 
in a situation like we have this year.
Kindest regards,

Olivier

On 29/01/2026 17:35, Caleb Ogundele wrote:
>
> Dear Olivier,
>
> To add to what Ted mentioned and to provide a few examples for clarity:
>
> As you noted, there is no explicit requirement for a Chapter-selected 
> Board member to serve on the Internet Society Nominating Committee. 
> However, I'd like to highlight an important governance consideration 
> that Ted touched on regarding conflicts of interest, which becomes 
> particularly relevant this year.
>
> When Chapter-elected Board members serve on the ISOC Board, they are 
> eligible to volunteer for various committees, including the Nominating 
> and Election Committees. However, a significant conflict of interest 
> arises when Board members wish to stand for re-election. They cannot 
> simultaneously serve on committees that directly influence their own 
> candidacy such as Nomination and Election Committees.
>
> This year, two of the four Chapter-elected Board members (half of our 
> Chapter Representation on the Board of Trustees) have indicated their 
> interest in running for re-election in the upcoming Chapter elections. 
> This means these members are automatically excluded from serving on 
> both the Nominations Committee and the Elections Committee, as their 
> participation would *pose a clear conflict of interest.*
>
> In my own case, last year's election cycle, I previously served as 
> Nominations Committee Chair as an elected Board Member from the 
> Chapter. When I indicated my intention to be a candidate in this 
> year's upcoming election cycle, I could neither volunteer for the 
> Nominations Committee nor the Elections Committee roles, as doing so 
> would have created an inappropriate conflict.
> Please read the Special Conflict of Interest Rules on this page with 
> emphasis on this text ("No Committee members may be elected or 
> selected as Trustees in the year during which they sit on the 
> Committee".) 
> */https://www.internetsociety.org/board-of-trustees/committees/nominations//
> *
>
> This restriction means any Board member seeking re-election is 
> automatically ineligible to serve on either the Nominations Committee 
> or Elections Committee during the year of their candidacy.
>
> This structural reality, where half of the Chapter-selected Board 
> members are running for re-election, naturally limits the pool of 
> available Chapter-elected trustees who could serve on the NomCom 
> without conflict. Combined with the other committee obligations Ted 
> mentioned (Charles chairing Governance, Maureen serving on Elections), 
> this creates practical constraints on Chapter Board representation on 
> the NomCom.
>
> For example, on this link: 
> */https://www.internetsociety.org/board-of-trustees/committees/governance/ 
> /*
> The Special Conflict of Interest Rules states: *"No members of the 
> Governance Committee may serve on the Nominations Committee; however, 
> they are eligible to serve on the Elections Committee. Trustees 
> standing for re-election in any given year may serve on the Governance 
> Committee."
> *Charles and Maureen are both on this committee.
>
> I hope the addition to what Ted said has given you more information to 
> your questions.
>
> *Caleb Ogundele*
> Chapter Elected - Board of Trustees.
>
> Internet Society
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 10:41 AM Ted Hardie via Chapter-delegates 
> <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>
>     Greetings,
>
>     As a reminder, the nominations committee charter is here:
>     https://www.internetsociety.org/board-of-trustees/committees/nominations/
>     .  It does not require specific backgrounds for any of the board
>     members who serve, but it does require "at least two people who
>     are neither Officers of the Board nor Trustees nor employees nor
>     contractors of the corporation." and that the committee reflect
>     the breadth of the community.
>
>     For a year in which two of the four members of the Board come from
>     a single community (this year the Chapters, other years each of
>     the other appointing bodies), it would be very difficult to
>     require one of the two remaining members to serve on this
>     committee, as it would constrain the time they had for other
>     committees.  Charles Mok, for example, as chair of the governance
>     committee already has a pretty full plate, and Maureen Hilyard
>     serves on the election committee.  The election committee members
>     and governance committee may not overlap.
>
>     Each year we do encourage members of the community to serve on the
>     committee; Lars Eggert and Emmanuel Elolo are currently serving,
>     and I encourage any member of the community to volunteer for it in
>     the future.  It's a valuable service you can offer to ISOC.
>
>     best regards,
>
>     Ted Hardie
>
>     On Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 3:42 PM Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond via
>     Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>
>         Dear Colleagues,
>
>         as you know, the ISOC NomCom is due make up a slate of
>         qualified candidates for consideration and potential election
>         to the Board in the Organisational and the Chapter elections.
>
>         Looking at this year's NomCom and its rules, I am surprised
>         that there does not appear to be a requirement that at least
>         one Chapter selected Board member needs to be on this
>         important Committee.
>
>         Is this a problem? How can the NomCom make informed choices
>         about the needs of Chapters if there isn't even one Board
>         members selected by Chapters on this committee? Is this
>         something which the Governance Committee should be looking at?
>
>         Kindest regards,
>
>         Olivier
>         _______________________________________________
>         As a Chapter Leader, you are automatically added to the
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>     _______________________________________________
>     As a Chapter Leader, you are automatically added to the Internet
>     Society’s Chapter Leaders Community Group and the Chapter
>     Delegates e-list, which is regularly synchronized with the
>     Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):
>     https://community.internetsociety.org.
>     The Internet Society has a legitimate interest to communicate with
>     its chapter leaders, you will therefore remain subscribed for the
>     duration of your term and will be unsubscribed automatically when
>     your term ends.
>     Please note that the archive of this list is publicly accessible
>     and may be viewed by anyone. By submitting information to this
>     list and contributing to the communications, you acknowledge that
>     the contents will be publicly visible.
>     View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
>     https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>     -
>     Unsubscribe:
>     https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/9b6ef0621638436ab0a9b23cb0668b0b?The%20list%20to%20be%20unsubscribed%20from=Chapter-delegates
>
>
>
> -- 
> *Caleb Ogundele*
> Email: muyiwacaleb at gmail.com

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