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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<font face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Thank
you very much, Martin for nominating me and to everyone who
seconded
the nomination. </font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<font face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">It
has been a productive year working as NPOC Secretariat and we
have
put a lot of stucture in place and are ready to launch NPOC
into a
higher level of membership and policy engagement. I look
forward to
being part of this process.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<font face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Kindly
find my statement below and I look forward to providing
additional
information in the candidates call on Thursday.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left"><font face="Cambria, serif"><font
style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Best regards,</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left"><font face="Cambria, serif"><font
style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Ore<br>
</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<font face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">***************</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><b>Name:</b>
Oreoluwa Lesi</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><br>
<b>Affiliation:
</b>Women's Technology Empowerment Centre - W.TEC</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><br>
<b>Position
applied for: </b>Secretariat</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><br>
<b>Why
you are running for the position?:</b> I believe that the
work that
ICANN does is deeply important and my professional experience
and
interests place me in an excellent position to contribute
meaningfully to achieving its goals.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Many
nonprofit organisations do not fully understand what ICANN
does and
its relevance to their work. This means that they do not have
the
opportunity to get involved in shaping policies, which affects
them.
NPOC’s role in educating and galvanising nonprofits to greater
participation in internet governance in general and domain
name
policy, more specifically, is crucial in maintaining a vibrant
community that includes diverse perspectives and contributions
–
especially one where nonprofit concerns are valued as much as
those
of other stakeholders.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">I
</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">bring
with me deep experience in </span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">the
</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">nonprofit
</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">sector
</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">and
understand their concerns, especially as it relates
to technology and
specifically Internet-related issues.</span></span></span></span></font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">I
have worked in the nonprofit space for 1</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">7</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">
years and </span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">le</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">a</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">d
a nonprofit </span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">(the
<a href="https://wtec.org.ng/">Women’s Technology
Empowerment
Centre – W.TEC</a>), which</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">
work</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">s</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">
to build an inclusive technology ecosystem, with
more women
</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">technology
creators, entrepreneurs and leaders</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">.
I </span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">also
</span></span></span></span></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="letter-spacing: normal"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">ensure
that women and women-focused nonprofits are
represented on the
Internet, own and can manage their domains
effectively, and
understand how to address issues like domain name
abuse,
cybersecurity and privacy challenges. My work
centers on increasing
digital inclusivity in who can use the Internet
safely and
effectively to enhance their educational,
professional and civic
activities. </span></span></span></span></font></font></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; letter-spacing: normal; font-weight:
normal; line-height: 100%; text-decoration: none" align="left">
<br>
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<font face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none">This
means that I need to stay abreast of the changing </span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none">domain
name and wider </span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none">technology
policy landscape, especially as related to data
security and privacy
issues </span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none">and
their intersections with</span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none">
gender.</span></span></span></font></font></font><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal"> Through
ICANN, I have had the opportunity to be at the
forefront of learning
about the latest </span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">domain
name </span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">systems
</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">and
related </span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">policy
and </span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">understanding
how </span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">they</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">
affect the communities I work with. </span></span></span></span></font></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">Over
</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">the
last year, I have serve</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">d</span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">
as NPOC’s Secretariat </span></span></span></span></font><font
color="#000000"><span style="letter-spacing: normal"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span
style="font-weight: normal">and
t</span></span></span></span></font>ogether, the
Executive Committee
and NPOC community have developed a strategic outreach plan to
recruit new members, developed informational materials to
educate the
wider community about what NPOC does (which includes a
booklet, flier
and slide deck), rebuilt and launched a more informative and
engaging
website, organised well-attended sessions at ICANN64 and
ICANN63,
completed the revision of the new Charter document and renewed
its
commitment to policy development by successfully submitting a
comment
to the dot org registry agreement call for public comments.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><span
style="font-weight: normal">Personally,
I coordinated the </span><span style="font-weight: normal">documenting
and monitoring </span><span style="font-weight: normal">of
</span><span style="font-weight: normal">the
EC’s huge workload, helping to keep team members on track
with
their </span><span style="font-weight: normal">respective </span><span
style="font-weight: normal">action
items. </span><span style="font-weight: normal">I</span><span
style="font-weight: normal">
provid</span><span style="font-weight: normal">ed</span><span
style="font-weight: normal">
administrative support, making available information about
NPOC
meetings and action plans </span><span style="font-weight:
normal">to
the EC and NPOC community. Recruitment and engagement of new
members
is very important to me and </span><span
style="font-weight: normal">I
</span><span style="font-weight: normal">co-organised</span><span
style="font-weight: normal">
</span><span style="font-weight: normal">and moderated </span><span
style="font-weight: normal">a
</span><span style="font-weight: normal">panel discussion</span><span
style="font-weight: normal">
at </span><span style="font-weight: normal">the Digital
Rights and
Inclusion Forum, a leading </span><span style="font-weight:
normal">African
</span><span style="font-weight: normal">internet governance
forum in
April 2019</span><span style="font-weight: normal">, </span><span
style="font-weight: normal">which
also</span><span style="font-weight: normal"> serve</span><span
style="font-weight: normal">d</span><span
style="font-weight: normal">
as outreach for NPOC.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><span
style="font-weight: normal">Working
as Secretariat has also provided me with a unique overview
of </span><span style="font-weight: normal">and
the opportunity to work across </span><span
style="font-weight: normal">the
</span><span style="font-weight: normal">broader NPOC
landscape from
finance to membership, policy, communications and
administration. I
believe that this experience will strengthen my ability to
coordinate
NPOC’s administrative </span><span style="font-weight:
normal">tasks
and provide more support where needed. </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">In
my professional capacity outside of ICANN, I have led and
worked as
part of teams and have developed the project management and
collaborative skills that are valuable for working in the
Secretariat
role. <span style="font-weight: normal">I am also a member of
the
Nigerian chapter of ISOC </span><span style="font-weight:
normal">and
Alliance for Affordable Internet, as well as</span><span
style="font-weight: normal">
ISOC SIG Women. I am also a member of the Best Practices
Forum on
Gender and Access of the IGF and have contributed comments </span><span
style="font-weight: normal">over
the last year. </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
style="font-weight: normal">I
am</span></font><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal">
a </span></span></font><font color="#0000ff"><u><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">Vital
Voices Lead Fellow</span></span></font></u></font><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">
(awarded to emerging and established women leaders across
the world)
</span></span></font><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal">and
an</span></span></font><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal">
</span></span></font><font color="#0000ff"><u><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">Ashoka
Fellow</span></span></font></u></font><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">
(a network of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs). </span></span></font><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">I
speak frequently at </span></span></font><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">Nigerian
and international </span></span></font><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">conferences
and other fora on </span></span></font><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">the
intersection of technology and gender</span></span></font><font
face="Cambria, serif"><span lang="en-US"><span
style="font-weight: normal">.
</span></span></font><font face="Cambria, serif"><span
lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal">I
sit on several boards, including the FAS Foundation, which
builds the
capacities of Nigerian engineers and supports engineering
research.</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height:
100%" align="left">
<font face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Within
ICANN, I am also a member of the African Regional At-Large
Organisation (AFRALO) and NCSG.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">You
can learn more about me and my work on my:</font></font></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">LinkedIn
profile: </font></font><font color="#0000ff"><u><a
href="https://bit.ly/2ke8u78"><font face="Cambria,
serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">https://bit.ly/2ke8u78</font></font></a></u></font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Organisation
W.TEC’s website: </font></font><font color="#0000ff"><u><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt"
size="3"><a href="https://wtec.org.ng/">https://wtec.org.ng</a>
</font></font></u></font> </p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">ICANN
Wiki page: <a
href="https://icannwiki.org/Oreoluwa_Somolu_Lesi">https://icannwiki.org/Oreoluwa_Somolu_Lesi</a>
</font></font><font face="Cambria, serif"><font
style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"> </font></font> </p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><br>
<b>Do
you have any conflict(s) of interest?:</b> No</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><br>
<b>How
many hours per week you are able to dedicate to the
position:</b> At
least 5 hours (As the current Secretariat, some weeks I devote
up to
10 hours or more to NPOC work) </font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3"><br>
<b>Are
you involved in any working Groups or PDP efforts, if so
please
state:</b> </font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Over
the last year, I have been an active contributor to the
rewriting of
the NPOC Charter, working with the rest of the Charter Review
team at
public meetings and remotely in-between meetings.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">I
was part of the team that worked on NPOC’s comment to the dot
org
registry agreement call for public comments.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" align="left"><font
face="Cambria, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Prior
to that, I was a mentee on the Community Onboarding programme
and
helped to refine the processes to integrate new members to
NPOC. I
also participated in an NCSG Policy course Advisory Group,
where I
contributed scenarios for the development of a NCSG Policy
course. </font></font>
</p>
<br>
<p>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Oreoluwa Lesi - Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC)
Executive Director
+234.803.621.1307, +234.813.339.9999 | <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.wtec.org.ng">www.wtec.org.ng</a> | @wteconline
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