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Background

As set forth in Article VI of the Bylaws, the ICANN Board of Directors ("Board") consist of fifteen voting members ("Directors"). In addition, six non-voting liaisons ("Liaisons") are designated by certain ICANN bodies. The Directors serve as individuals who have the duty to act in what they reasonably believe are the best interests of ICANN, and not as representatives of the entity that selected them, their employers, or any other organizations or constituencies.

The Directors shall consist of 8 voting members selected by the Nominating Committee; 2 voting members selected by the Address Supporting Organization; 2 voting members selected by the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization, and 2 voting members selected by the Generic Names Supporting Organization. The President of ICANN serves ex officio as a voting member.

The Board annually elects a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman from among the Directors, not including the President.

The criteria for selection to the Board include:

• Accomplished persons of integrity, objectivity, and intelligence, with reputations for sound judgment and open minds, and a demonstrated capacity for thoughtful group decision-making;
• Persons with an understanding of ICANN's mission and the potential impact of ICANN decisions on the global Internet community, and committed to the success of ICANN;
• Persons who will produce the broadest cultural and geographic diversity on the Board consistent with meeting the other criteria set forth in this Section;
• Persons who, in the aggregate, have personal familiarity with the operation of gTLD registries and registrars; with ccTLD registries; with IP address registries; with Internet technical standards and protocols; with policy-development procedures, legal traditions, and the public interest; and with the broad range of business, individual, academic, and non-commercial users of the Internet;
• Persons who are willing to serve as volunteers, without compensation other than the reimbursement of certain expenses; and
• Persons who are able to work and communicate in written and spoken English.

In order to ensure broad international representation on the Board, each of ICANN’s 5 Geographic Region shall have at least one Director, and at all times no region shall have more than five Directors on the Board (not including the President). Each of the following is considered to be a "Geographic Region": Europe; Asia/Australia/Pacific; Latin America/Caribbean islands; Africa; and North America.

Update

The Review is expected to be launched in October 2007.

Next Steps

The Board Governance Committee will direct staff to post draft Terms of Reference for public comment, to be followed by publication of the final Terms of Reference and the Request for Proposals for an independent evaluator.

Last updated: 28 February 2007