Hello,

In my personal capacity, I hereby nominate for the GNSO Council two veterans of the GNSO and ICANN more generally, Wolfgang Kleinwachter and Avri Doria.  Neither needs much introduction, although they will have to submit candidate statements doing just that.

Wolfgang Kleinwachter is just completing his first term as a Councilor and has contributed quite a lot to the discussions and represented NC interests very well.  More generally, he is a veteran of 43 ICANN meetings and a recognized thought leader both in ICANN and in the Internet governance debates of the UN and other international institutions.

Avri served previously on the GNSO Council, including as its elected chair (not an easy achievement).  During that time she played a major role in envisioning and guiding negotiations of the new gTLD program.  She has also been a near ubiquitous representative of NCSG in countless working groups and other bodies, currently represents us on the ATRT II team, and like Wolfgang is a recognized thought leader both in ICANN and in the Internet governance debates of the UN and other international institutions.

We have just finished Wolfgang's 13th Meeting of the ICANN-Studienkreis here in Pisa.  Fadi Chehadé, ICANN’s CEO and President, and other senior ICANNauts were here and participated in very intensive discussions and listened very carefully to the inputs from the nominees.  I think this is testament to the seriousness with which their views are taken in ICANN, and to their abilities to represent NC interests effectively in the hot house of the GNSO Council.

Best,

Bill