Executive Committee (ExCom)
The Executive Committee consists of five officers who manage the Registrar Stakeholder Group (Chair, Vice-Chair of Policy, Vice-Chair of Technical Operations, Secretary, Treasurer). The Executive Committee officers are selected from existing members, who are nominated and seconded by other members. Then a ballot has taken where the majority vote selects the successful candidate. The two-year term for an ExCom officer runs from AGM to AGM, and their duties are specified in the RrSG Charter.
Ashley Heineman
Executive Committee – Chair
Ashley Heineman is Director, Global Policy at GoDaddy, and was elected as Chair of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in June 2020, concluding at the AGM 2022.
Owen Smigelski
Executive Committee – Vice Chair, Policy
Owen Smigelski is Head of ICANN Compliance & Relations at Namecheap and was elected as Vice-Chair, Policy of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in May 2019, re-elected to serve a 2nd term concluding at the AGM 2022.
Jothan Frakes
Executive Committee – Vice Chair, Technical Operations
Jothan Frakes was elected as Vice-Chair, Technical Operations of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in June 2020. Jothan also is co-chair of CPH TechOps and RrSG rep to the GNSO Standing Selection Committee (SSC). He’s held a variety of senior executive roles with registries and registrars since first working with domains in 1991. Currently, He is owner/CEO of PLISK.COM, known for his enthusiasm for domain names and our industry, his work on the Public Suffix List (PSL), and for being a co-founder of NamesCon. His term concludes at the AGM 2022
Benny Samuelsen
Executive Committee – Treasurer
Benny Samuelsen is the Domain Expert at Nordreg AB, a Swedish registrar who is part of MissGroup Ltd. He has been working with domains since 1996 and holds board positions on all the Scandinavian registrar associations. Benny was elected as Treasurer in March 2019 and re-elected to serve a 2nd term concluding at the AGM 2022.
Eric Rokobauer
Executive Committee – Secretary
Eric Rokobauer is a Corporate Compliance Manager at Endurance International Group, which operates several registrars, including Domain.com, PublicDomainRegistry, and FastDomain. Eric was elected as Secretary of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in June 2020, concluding at the AGM 2022.
ICANN Representatives
The Registrar Stakeholder Group elects three GNSO representatives and one Nominating Committee member.
The GNSO is ICANN’s policy-making body for generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). It has a bicameral structure, with one house for those parties that have a direct contract with ICANN and the other house for those that do not. The Registrar Stakeholder Group is one of two in the Contracted Parties House. There are also two Stakeholder Groups in the Non-Contracted Parties House. The Registrar Stakeholder Group has three seats on the GNSO Council. These are filled by a representative from one of the five geographic regions: Africa, Asia/Australia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America/ Caribbean, and North America. These representatives are elected to represent the Registrar Stakeholder Group on the GNSO Council. Learn more about the GNSO HERE.
The Nominating Committee (NomCom) member is responsible for selecting individuals to serve in key leadership positions within the ICANN structure. Although the Registrar Stakeholder Group elects a member of the Nominating Committee, that member is not accountable to the Stakeholder Group but IS responsible for adherence to the Bylaws and compliance with the rules and procedures established the NomCom. Learn more about the NomCom HERE.
Gregory DiBiase
GNSO Representative – North America
Gregory DiBiase is the Corporate Counsel at Amazon Registrar and was elected as the Registrars’ representative to the GNSO Council in December 2019, after holding the positions of Co-Chair of the Registrar Stakeholder Group Compliance Sub-Committee.
Michele Neylon
GNSO Representative – Europe / outgoing
Michele Neylon is the founder and managing director of Blacknight Solutions and was elected as the Registrars’ European representative to the GNSO Council in June 2016 after serving as Chairman to the Registrar Stakeholder Group.
Kristian Ørmen
GNSO Representative – Europe / incoming
Kristian Ørmen is the Domain Specialist at Larsen Data and was elected as the Registrars’ European representative to the GNSO Council in June 2020 after serving as Secretary to the Registrar Stakeholder Group.
Pam Little
GNSO Representative – Asia Pacific
Pam Little is Head of Policy & Compliance at Alibaba and was elected as the Registrars’ Asia Pacific representative to the GNSO Council in August 2017.
Graeme Bunton
Nominating Committee Member / outgoing
Graeme Bunton is the Head of Policy for Tucows, Inc. He was seated as the registrars’ representative for the 2020 Nominating Committee in September 2020, to complete the extended term for the original 2019/20 representative.
Tobias Sattler
Nominating Committee Member / incoming
Tobias Sattler is Board Member / CTO at united-domains AG and was elected as the registrars’ representative for the 2021 Nominating Committee after serving as Vice-Chair to the Registrar Stakeholder Group.
Supporting Staff
In addition to the Executive Committee and ICANN Representatives, the Registrar Stakeholder Group has a Secretariat that provides numerous services.
Zoe Bonython
Registrar Stakeholder Group Secretariat
As Secretariat, Zoe works on a variety of projects with the ExCom to support the efforts of the RrSG.