Dear all,
Please find below the notes of the ICANN Nominating Committee report provided by Pablo today.
Thanks Pablo!
Best regards
Hervé
First, why it exists?
To start. ICANN is not a membership organisation, so there is no electorate that elects Board members.
Instead of relying on global elections, ICANN created the NomCom in 2002. This was at the meeting in Shanghai. At the time, there were concerns about how to verify voters globally, also the risk of capture by the stakeholder groups.
How it differs from the governance model of the RIRs?
In the RIRs, board members are elected by the membership.
Three RIRs have nomination committees (ARIN, AFRINIC, and LACNIC) but their role is mainly to vet candidates. But the final decision is through elections by the membership.
ICANN’s NomCom is different. NomCom appoints half of ICANN’s Board seats (seats 1 through 8). It is composed of delegates from across the SO’s and AC’s. NomCom also selects members of the PTI Board, GNSO Council, the ccNSO Council, and the ALAC.
The goal is to find individuals that are independent, of high integrity, and that can add fresh perspectives, also who would act on behalf public interest rather than represent specific constituencies.
The NomCom is all about balancing things that are not present in the Board already sitting.
How the NomCom has evolved?
The NomCom’s role has evolved through bylaw changes. Originally the NomCom provisions were contained in Article VII of the bylaws. In 2011 a Chair-Elect position was introduced to improve leadership continuity. Following the 2016 IANA stewardship transition, the NomCom Bylaw moved to Article 8, and was given responsibility for appointing two directors to the PTI Board. These bylaws also introduced a mechanism to allow the Empowered Community to initiate removal of NomCom-appointed directors.
In 2023, more reforms were adopted to improve continuity and institutional memory. NomCom delegates now serve two-year terms instead of one year, and a Standing Committee of the NomCom was created. Another proposal was to reserve three NomCom Board seats for “unaffiliated directors”. This was controversial and deferred.
The NomCom Reviews
The first independent review was conducted by Interisle in 2007. The second major review, often referred to as NomCom2, took place between 2016 and 2023 and produced a number of recommendations that ultimately led to the 2023 bylaw changes I mentioned earlier. A third review has been deferred for now.
NomCom 2026
The 2026 NomCom received a record 232 completed applications, which is a 120% increase compared to the previous year. These applications were for seven leadership positions across ICANN bodies: two ICANN Board seats, one PTI Board seat, two regional representatives to the At-Large Advisory Committee, one seat on the ccNSO Council, and one seat on the GNSO Council.
With the application window now closed, the NomCom has entered its blackout period. During this time committee is undergoing confidential candidate evaluation. The selection process unfolds in several stages.
It begins with anonymous application reviews and initial voting on candidates to advance. Then we conducted deeper research and prepared assessments on assigned candidates. Here in Mumbai we discussed those findings and identified short-listed candidates.
Those short-listed candidates will then go through deeper interviews, reference checks, and detailed evaluation. Final deliberations and interviews for Board and PTI candidates will take place around ICANN86 in Seville, with final selections expected to be announced in late August or early September.
In short, NomCom was created as a mechanism to balance between independence and stakeholder representation and it is the body responsible for identifying and appointing leadership capable of acting in the broader public interest.
Thanks again and best regards,
Pablo
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