Alain Berranger sadly
passed away shortly before Christmas 2013 after a long illness.
Within the GNSO he was
better known as being the first elected Chair of ICANN's Not-For-Profit
Operational Concerns Constituency (NPOC) from 2011 when the Constituency was
first formed, after ICANN 41 in Singapore, until July 2013. He was
originally appointed as the Acting Vice-Chair in 2011, and later won the
Constituency's first elections.
He rose to the challenge
successfully. Today, NPOC is what it is because of Alain’s
continuous effort to strengthen the Constituency. He truly believed in the
key role Not-for-Profits should and could play in the GNSO and the ICANN
ecosystem as a whole. He strove to strengthen its Executive Committee by
recruiting new members and constantly encouraged them to contribute to the
policy issues at hand. His commitment to the NPOC mission was reflected
through the numerous Working Groups he joined and actively participated in
while he was Chair.
His professional
achievements outside the GNSO are numerous. After completing his
Bachelors degree, he joined Noranda Inc. and then worked for Touche Ross
Daihatsu, Tecsult, as well as for Dominion Bridge. Alain served as Vice
Chair of the Executive Committee at the Global Knowledge Partnership
foundation from 2009 to 2011, moving on to become a member of the
Board. He was an Executive-in-residence at Schulich School of Business
at York University in Toronto. Alain also filled the position of
Vice Chair of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas for two years and
from 1996 to 2006 he acted as Director of Partnerships and Business
Development for the International Development Research Center of the
Canadian Government.
Much of his career was
focused on international development. To that intent, he worked with aid
agencies, management and engineering consulting firms, as well as with the
private sector. He travelled extensively, undertaking assignments for
Expedia in Mexico, Microsoft, the Omar Dengo Foundation and the CRUSA
Foundation both in Costa Rica, UNDP in Egypt and Vietnam, the Chasquinet
Foundation in Ecuador. He conducted training in strategic partnering and
resource mobilization for civil society, foundations, government and
development agencies.
Whilst we deeply mourn
his passing, we should remember that Alain gave us numerous reasons to be
grateful and to celebrate his life. Alain was unique. He was at home on a
Golf course, spending a lot of time spinning the balls and spinning the
wheels of business, but he was equally at home everywhere in the world where
those passed by economic developments needed support to get economic
development going. As a pioneer, he bridged worlds, bravely he often
performed tight rope acts to unite what seemingly did not belong together.
To us he was always a reliable colleague whose friendship has made us better
people and the world we inhabit a better place to be. Alain loved life and
he loved to enjoy everything on offer but what made him so important was
that he was equally prepared to put in the hard work that after completion
makes achievements even sweeter. Alain has left his mark with everything he
did. It remains for us to honor his life by continuing his legacy by taking
what his life has taught us and to move forward with his spirit on our
side.