As the great gaggle in the sky shares with
us,
when smaller communities come together,
unified as a larger community,
we
can travel greater distances with a
shared mission and shared leadership.
-Philosophy of Geese
I find myself greatly honoured, as an Indigenous community
representative, to have just been a part of my most intense– intellectually,
emotionally, spiritually and physically - ICANN meeting experience within the
three-month ICANN Mentorship Program.
Although it appears that ICANN meetings are often subject to information
overload for newcomers, ICANN50, which included ATLAS II, opened my eyes to the
magnitude of the DNS industry and Internet Governance dialogues, and the
opportunities that exist for the Indigenous community as a whole.
Initially, when I first received my invitation to
participate in the Mentorship Program at ICANN 49 in Singapore, I was
unprepared for the amount of new information about the DNS industry and
Internet Governance topics that I must be familiar with prior to the meeting
itself. This was due not to lack of
effort by the ICANN staff or my mentor Eduardo Diaz
On reflection, this program was the step in the right
direction to empower Indigenous community participation. Without a doubt, the
perspectives and feedback I provided throughout the ICANN experience can be the
foundation to connecting with geo-graphic cultural groups on the marginal side
of the social, economic, political and digital divides. Potential new participants
will need the necessary supports within this mentorship program to facilitation
their active participation in the ICANN multistakeholder community and global Internet
Governance dialogues – possibility a much larger community with unfamiliar
players - and an industry that will need to become accustomed to interacting
with diverse geo-graphical cultural groups that have unique perspectives of the
world around us. Moreover, Indigenous
communities have centuries of environmental stewardship and consensus build
experience beneficial, and needed, to guide the evolution of the Internet
ecosystems and become leadership partners in this virtual industry.
It may be true that the original idea of the Pilot Program
was to be offered specifically to First Nation participants, but once the
program was approved, it provided an opportunity and experience for a group of
three individuals – from different geo-graphical regions and backgrounds - that
may not have otherwise come together without the support of this program. Even
so, the Mentorship Program has great potential to empower participation from
the Indigenous community and would be a positive investment for ICANN – should
the program continue. Obviously, there
was much discussion and planning within the ICANN community - particularly within
NARALO – about developing and testing a fast track process for communities on
the marginal side of the digital divide – before the three of us were selected.
As experience has taught me, such
programs can bring highly talented and confident community members to the table
and it sometimes requires innovative approaches to be inclusive of groups and
individuals – those who can make valuable contributions - that may not have the financial resources or
may fall outside, or within the gaps, of the current engagement program design.
To be sure, I was faced with the challenges of thinking
globally and adapting to a faced paced volunteer environment, including being
an advocate for an under-represented diverse community. Indeed, while fulfilling my commitment, it
was not without the support and collaboration of the ICANN Staff and ALAC
members or Mentorship program leaders, each who offered information,
connections and total support. Guided by
Fouad to constantly challenge my own reasons for accepting the invitation – or
to see a global perspective of the discussions- and my Mentor , Eduardo
with the leadership teams of the RALOs - facilitated my active participation
within the meetings. I also became an active member in the Accessible Taskforce
at ICANN49 and a member of the At-Large Social Media Working Group for ICANN50,
and Manitoba E-Association has recently received accreditation as an At-Large
Structure.
I also would like to acknowledge the other two mentees,
Gunela and Mercy – each brought a wealth of knowledge, enthusiasm and
initiative to the program, and I am grateful to have shared this first
experience of the ICANN Mentorship program with these two wonderful women. As explorers in new territory, we added our
own distinctiveness to the program experience, and build upon the success of
the each phase of the program to open the door for others join and participate within
the ICANN community.
As for myself, there is no denying that this program opened
my eyes to my role as an Internet Citizen and, instilled an awareness of our
shared stewardship responsibility over the Internet. I observed the passion and dedication of each participating community member to raise the question of, and
ensuring, the protection of end-user rights, and the divergent perspectives
that discovered, or created, the various components necessary to make up the multistakeholder
governance model – like the geese, we can travel greater distances together.
Although I am truly saddened that my participation in the
Pilot Program is come to an end, I feel that there ultimately is an opportunity
for my continued participation through Manitoba E-Association as an ALS, and for ICANN to assist and offer
support to increase the Indigenous community participation and presence at the
meetings, and in the policy development process. A big thank you to all those who support this program and to those who made me feel welcome. Kinanaskomitinawa!
