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Thanks to work of our Outreach Committee (Andrew Mack, Jimson Olufuye, Marilyn Cade, and Lawrence OlaWale-Roberts), today we filed a reply on ICANN’s public comment period for our proposed charter.</div>
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See <a href="https://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-bc-charter-amend-06jan17/msg00003.html">
here</a> and below.</div>
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<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">Business Constituency (BC) response to Afnic comment regarding proposed BC charter amendments</font></div>
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<div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Business Constituency (BC) prides itself on its continued commitment to </span></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">increase diversity, especially geographic diversity.</font></div>
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<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">Among our general membership and within the BC leadership we have made </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">significant efforts to expand representation from regions around the world, </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">including outreach to SMEs and businesses from regions historically </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">under-represented in ICANN. We have made much progress, and we embrace </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">outreach as an ongoing priority of our constituency.</font></div>
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<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">Within the BC, many regions and languages are represented. And many BC </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">businesses work around the world in multiple geographies and languages.</font></div>
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<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">In direct response to the comment from Afnic expressing concern about French </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">language representation in the BC, the BC counts among its members many </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">representatives from many language groups – including a number of French and </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">French-speaking businesses, as well as associations with geographically and </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">linguistically diverse memberships.</font></div>
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<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">Our goal is to represent businesses large and small, and reflect the depth and </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">regional diversity of the global business community. The BC actively welcomes </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">Business representatives from all regions, and will continue to encourage BC </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">members from diverse regions and backgrounds to run for leadership positions.</font></div>
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<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">This comment was drafted by the Business Constituency Outreach Committee, </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">including Andrew Mack (chair), Jimson Olufuye, Marilyn Cade, and Lawrence </font></div>
<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">OlaWale-Roberts.</font></div>
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<div><font face="Calibri,sans-serif">This comment was approved in accord with the BC charter.</font></div>
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