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As a three-year Chair of NARALO I have seen various needs that need to be filled within At-Large, especially in under-represented communities. The recruitment we have done in NARALO has received recognition from other regions and from ICANN itself. We need to take this to the next level. As a community we have done a fantastic job of including our concerns in the policy debate and monitoring what ICANN and the contracted parties do. However, we need to hold ICANN to its claim of truly representing the global Internet user and consumer. Without representation and reach into all cultures, languages and levels of accessibility, ICANN’s reach is actually marginal. Developing methods to truly reach all Internet users and making the policy layer accessible to all will be a major part of my work if elected to ALAC. 

Thank you Joly for the nomination for ALAC.  As mentioned on the list at the time of the nomination, I do accept it.

While I have been an active, and somewhat visible, member of the GNSO for the last decade, my first introduction to ICANN was through the At-Large. Before being selected for a GNSO Council seat by the Nomcom in 2005, I was an ALAC groupie.  And through all my years in the GNSO, have participated in the At-Large, mostly in working groups, but also in the ALS I serve as a director of.  I have also been a WG co-chair for an At-Large working group and a member of several others.

I had decided before I ever ran for my current GNSO Council seat as an NCG representative, that it would only be for a single term - the one in which the GNSO review was determined. Having been responsible for implementing the reorganization of the GNSO several years ago, I wanted to see that process through to the review. That is nearly done.

During the years before this term I had gotten much more involved with At Large, and found that when I had to drop back on At-Large activities, I missed it. I also want to move beyond the GTLD focus on gTLDs to work on broader ICANN issues.

My interest in ALAC has to do with several drives:

• I want to continue pushing the importance of the ALAC forward, relative to the other AC/SO and before the Board. ALAC has come along way since the beginning, but it still does not get the hearing I think it deserves. As we enter a time when ICANN has a strategic mandate on Global Public Interest, I think that this is the perfect time for ALAC.  I have pushed for greater AC voice over the years and I think I can help. The At-Large is one of the more important groups for ICANN accountability. I think many have forgotten this or may have never realized it.  But it is power the AC must assert and one we must put a lot of work into. I think my personal history at ICANN has shown that I am good at asserting the role of the organization I represent and will work tirelessly to achieve the goals of the group I represent.

• I want to contribute to work on bringing the ALSes more into the ICANN picture.  One of At-Large's greatest powers lies in its global spread and diversity. At-Large as the representative of the users - the people of the Internet, is an engine of the constant outreach ICANN needs to do. But ALSes have to not only join, they should become involved; there has to be consultation with the ALSes and bottom-up activity from those ALAses.  As part of this I would also like to see a greater effect of the RALOs on the ALAC.

• With the new gTLD process starting up again, I want to make sure that the things that At-Large tried to get done last time, actually get done this time. Personally, I want to see a round devoted to developing economies and to communities that could not otherwise participate.

• I want to see the auction money used for developmental and other global public benefit projects.  While some may question the long term viability of domain names as money makers, there is no doubt that they are bringing tons of money into ICANN's coffers. That money needs to be directed to developmental activities. Funding the remedial round referred to above is just one possibility.

• There are numerous other ALAC priorities like capacity building where I think I can contribute.

I am open to any questions, and I hope that people will consider voting for me.