Title 2023 Position Description of ICANN President-CEO.pdf ✅

Page 1 of 10 Revised 19 June 2023 By the ICANN Board of Directors ICANN PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (Position Description) Position Title: President and Chief Executive Officer (‘CEO’) Reports to: Board Chair (on behalf of the Board of Directors) Website: www.icann.org ICANN Headquarters: 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300 Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536, USA CEO Position Location: Please see ‘CEO POSITION LOCATION’ below ABOUT ICANN ICANN was established in 1998 as a not-for-profit, public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to its global public interest mission to ensure the stable and secure operation of the Internet's unique identifier systems. ICANN, through its Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) function, is responsible for managing the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) root zone, coordinating the global Internet Protocol (IP) and Autonomous System (AS) number spaces, and acting as the central repository for protocol name and number registries used in many Internet protocols - in effect, ICANN is the steward of IANA for the whole of the Internet Community. These functions are critical for maintaining a single interoperable Internet. ICANN performs the key technical and operational role of ensuring that the Internet's unique identifier systems are secure, stable and resilient. ICANN uses a unique, bottom-up, volunteer-driven multistakeholder model (MSM) to facilitate community development of policies for the management of these unique identifiers. At the heart of this vital stakeholder engagement, the MSM:  seeks input from a diverse multistakeholder community employing an inclusive and bottom- up approach;  and with that input, shapes policy and outcomes that have been vetted by this broad multistakeholder community with the global public interest in mind. ICANN performs a complex public benefit role in the operations of the Internet. The technical underpinnings of the Internet infrastructure are an assembly of, among other technical elements, the hierarchical DNS and its root servers, domain names, and IP addresses. ICANN is responsible for facilitating the creation of policies and procedures by relevant communities for the Internet's unique identifiers. In particular, the role of ICANN involves the management of the contents of the root of the DNS name space, with the objective of guaranteeing the universal ability to resolve domain names. This ensures that every Internet user can locate all legitimate addresses and other internet information stored within the DNS. To perform its mission, ICANN relies on authority derived from commercial agreements, and is bound by commitments to preserve stability and
Page 2 of 10 Revised 19 June 2023 By the ICANN Board of Directors security and to operate in the global public interest via open, transparent, and bottom-up multistakeholder processes. ICANN is guided by core values, articulated in its Bylaws, including reliance, wherever feasible, on market mechanisms to promote and sustain a competitive environment and consumer choice in the public interest. The balance of maintaining an environment that promotes competition and the global public interest can be a delicate and nuanced task. Through its contracts with domain name registries and registrars (companies that sell domain name registrations to individuals and organizations), ICANN helps define how the domain name system functions and grows. Because of its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, ICANN has a profoundly important role and impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet. ICANN is part of a broader ecosystem of key global institutions - like the Root Server Operators (RSOs), Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Internet Society (ISOC) - that are collectively responsible for Internet operations and governance. Each of these institutions has a defined purpose and mission that plays a critical role. The stability of the Internet and its growth relies on the close cooperation among these institutions. The strength and cross-functional collaboration of these institutions can be summed up in the age-old motto “United we stand, divided we fall,” where the failure to work together and maintain respective governance can negatively impact the single interoperable Internet. ICANN’s mission impacts every country across every continent and requires engaging with a global community of actively participating stakeholders representing governments, businesses, academia, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and individuals - all of whom are dedicated to this global public interest mission. Today, through ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (which includes 181 governments and 38 Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)), governments are active participants in this process. Stakeholder engagement is realized daily through multiple channels but reaches its peak deliberation through the three stakeholder meetings it convenes across the calendar year, where upwards of 1000 participants gather, in person or on-line. ICANN is a global organization with its headquarters in Los Angeles, California. It has Regional Offices in: Brussels, Istanbul, Singapore and Montevideo. Additionally, it has Engagement Centers in: Beijing, Nairobi, Geneva and Washington, D.C. The organization is led by the CEO, has a globally dispersed workforce of over 400 professionals and a US$160MM annual operating budget (with current funds under management of US$500MM). Some key characteristics of ICANN are:  It is a ‘non-profit’ organization but not a typical ‘not-for-profit’ or NGO because it must delicately balance its many functions, including promoting a healthy, competitive DNS industry for consumers and of ensuring the stable and secure operation of the Internet's
Page 3 of 10 Revised 19 June 2023 By the ICANN Board of Directors unique identifier systems in the public interest. Its funding is derived chiefly from fees charged to the domain name industry as opposed to charitable contributions and donations characteristic of most non-profit entities. Despite ICANN's strong financial dependence on the domain name industry, it serves the entire worldwide Internet and is not in any way akin to a trade association for the DNS sector.  Its Mission, and remit more broadly, is strictly prescribed by its Articles of Incorporation and its Bylaws, the latter in particular having been derived from decades-long MSM learnings and processes.  Its policies are developed through the MSM – an inclusive bottom-up process by a broad group of stakeholders from around the world.  Transparency, inclusion and participation form the basis of its conduct of business and its accountability towards stakeholders and the larger global public.  The ICANN ecosystem functions because of a unique relationship with the ICANN Board (of whom the CEO is a member), ICANN’s staff (led by the CEO), the global volunteer community and its constituencies (whose members are located all over the world) and the aforementioned global institutions within the Internet ecosystem.  ICANN’s stewardship of its mission is crucial for the operations of the Internet and its service to the global community and institutions is immense.  It is part of that broader Internet governance ecosystem with other major global institutions also responsible for Internet operations and governance.  Within that Internet ecosystem, ICANN has a well-defined role in the management of the Internet’s unique identifier systems and the development of related policies.  Developing, managing and improving workflow processes for policy articulation is a core ICANN activity, and the processes and outcomes must be fair and in the global public interest.  ICANN’s staff facilitate policy development by the community, the Board validates and approves policy and the ICANN organization implements the resulting policies (the implementation of which is ultimately overseen by the Board). ICANN AT AN INFLECTION POINT In 2023, ICANN completes its organizational milestone of 25 years and finds itself at yet another inflection point. In the early days of the Internet, its growth and impact as we know it now, was not fully envisioned. Today, the Internet is broadly recognized as a global equalizer providing a competitive advantage and a foundational strategic asset. It serves as a key driver in economic development, provides an innovation platform and is an information resource. The Internet ecosystem has functioned successfully inside a model of shared governance, collaborative policy articulation and open standards development. It is now facing significantly increasing pressures from global geopolitical forces, which are, in recognizing the empowerment that comes with the Internet, promoting digital and technical sovereignty. Governance arrangements are evolving rapidly as geopolitical challenges continue to arise in new and unprecedented ways. Geopolitical tensions across the world are leading to fault lines upon, what has been thus far, a trusted fabric of cooperation in the operations