Nominations in a Nutshell

By Jason Byrne – Senior Customer Success Analyst

Every year, the ARIN community engages in a process of selecting nominees and then electing candidates to the ARIN Board of Trustees and Advisory Council (AC). As you may have seen, this process is already underway for 2021 with the Call for Nominations having opened 18 June 2021. The nomination period will remain open until 5:00 PM EDT on 9 Jul 2021.

Who can make nominations, and what should a nominee expect as someone taking part in the process? What qualifications are the Nomination Committee looking for?

The Nomination Committee

First, let’s begin by discussing the Nomination Committee (or “NomCom” as it is often referred to). This Special Committee is chartered by the ARIN Board of Trustees and initially two Board members are appointed – one as Chair, and the other as Vice Chair. For 2021, the Chair is Trustee, Catherine Middleton, and the Vice Chair is Trustee, Tina Morris.

Volunteers are then solicited from those affiliated with a General Member in Good Standing and five are selected by the Chair and Vice Chair to serve. The following individuals have been selected to serve on the 2021 Nomination Committee:

Catherine Middleton, Committee Chair
Tina Morris, ARIN Board Trustee
Celeste Anderson, Pacific Wave
Byron Holland, CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority / Autorit Canadienne pour les enregistrements Internet)
Jonathan Kalbfeld, ThoughtWave Technologies, Inc.
Leif Sawyer, GCI Communications Corp
Chris Tacit, Vancouver Internet Exchange (VANIX)

In order to help protect the NomCom deliberations and the information of nominees, all members of the Nomination Committee must complete and submit a Nondisclosure Agreement.

The Qualifications

There are separate sets of qualifications, requirements, and responsibilities for the Board of Trustees and the Advisory Council, with some areas of overlap as well. To begin with the commonalities, the following criteria apply to all nominees for the Board and AC: Conflicts of Interest Policy

Board of Trustees

For the Board of Trustees, the following also applies either as a requirement or as something the Nomination Committee will be considering in their evaluation:

Board of Trustees Nominee Questionnaire details specific questions and topics each nominee will need to answer.
Expected Qualifications and Responsibilities which provides an overview of Trustee responsibilities, generally desired skills and experience, and provides information on the time commitment involved.
Board’s Guidance Letter to the 2021 Nomination Committee in their evaluation of nominees. This highlights specific relevant experience, background, and skills that the Board is looking to meet for the open seats.
Item “e” of the Election Slate Development Process.

Advisory Council

Just like the Board, the Advisory Council also has specific requirements, mainly focused around the Advisory Council Requirements and Responsibilities. This document details the actions and responsibilities required of members of the Advisory Council. In addition, the Advisory Council Nominee Questionnaire presents questions and topics for feedback, and the NomCom will consider those answers as part of their evaluation.

How It All Comes Together

The information provided here is just an overview of a fairly complex series of procedures and processes described in detail in the following source documents:

The Nominations Process is just the start of all this of course. For information on Petitions, the Final Slate, and actual Voting Procedures, be sure to check out the information linked above.

Take the Next Step!

Are you affiliated with an ARIN Member organization and interested in either running for the Board or Advisory Council, or nominating a qualified individual to participate in one of these important roles? Select one of the links below to take the next step and submit a nomination before 5:00 PM EDT on 9 July 2021.

Board of Trustees Nomination:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2021BoardNom
Advisory Council Nomination:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2021ACNom

Post written by:

Jason Byrne
Senior Customer Success Analyst

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