Executive Committee (ExCom)
The Executive Committee is made up of four officers who manage the Registrar Stakeholder Group (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer). The Executive Committee officers are selected from existing members, who are nominated and seconded by other members, and then a ballot taken where the successful candidate is selected by majority vote. The term for an ExCom officer runs from from July 1 to June 30 and their duties are specified in the RrSG Charter.
Executive Committee – Chair
Graeme Bunton is manager of public policy at Tucows, and was elected as Chair of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in July 2016, and re-elected twice to serve a 3rd term concluding in June 2020. Prior becoming the Chair, he served the group as the Vice Chair. The chair, in consultation with the executive committee and members, organizes the work of the Stakeholder Group and conducts Registrar Stakeholder Group meetings. The chair often confers with others in the ICANN community on Registrar-related policy and business issues, and is the primary point of contact between the Registrar Stakeholder Group and ICANN staff.
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 concluding in June 2020. The Vice Chair, Policy assumes leadership of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in the absence of the Chairman; manages the development of RrSG policy positions intended for the wider ICANN audience to meet prescribed timelines and deadline; notes policy activities and report items of interest to the Registrar Stakeholder Group on a regular basis.
Executive Committee – Vice Chair, Technical Operations
Tobias Sattler is Board Member / CTO at united-domains AG and was elected as Vice Chair of Technical Operations for the Registrar Stakeholder Group in October 2016, and re-elected twice to serve a 3rd term concluding in June 2020. The Vice Chair of Technical Operations assumes leadership of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in the absence of the Chairman; manages the development of Registrar Stakeholder Group technical and operational positions intended for the wider ICANN audience to meet prescribed timelines and deadlines; reports technical & operational activities of interest and import to the Registrar Stakeholder Group on a regular basis.
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 Treasurer in March 2019. Among other tasks, the Treasurer is expected to manage Stakeholder Group bookkeeping and accounting; Report on the Stakeholder Group budget monthly; Make recommendations for and prepare an annual Stakeholder Group budget; Act as liaison with ICANN and Names Council budget staff and the Budget Committee; And collect dues and fees.
Executive Committee – Secretary
Kristian Ørmen is the Domain Specialist at Larsen Data and was elected as Secretary of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in July 2017, and re-elected to serve a second term concluding in June 2020. The Secretary assists the Chair in conducting Stakeholder Group business as well as other duties including managing the groups’ ballots and elections, taking and distributing minutes at meetings, conveying information to the members, management of the web site, and encouraging new members to join.
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 contracted 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, which are filled by a representative from one of the 5 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 Constituency elects a member of the Nominating Committee, that member is not accountable to the Stakeholder Group, but IS accountable for adherence to the Bylaws and for compliance with the rules and procedures established by the NomCom. Learn more about the NomCom HERE.
GNSO Representative – North America
Darcy Southwell is the Compliance Officer at Endurance International Group and was elected as the Registrars’ representative to the GNSO Council in September 2016, after holding the positions of Secretary and Vice-Chair of the Registrar Stakeholder Group.
GNSO Representative – Europe
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
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.
Nominating Committee Member
Caroline Greer is the Head of European Public Policy for Cloudflare. She was seated as the registrars’ representative for the 2019 Nominating Committee at the ICANN AGM 2018. Nominating Committee members are responsible for filling leadership positions on the ICANN Board, the ALAC, ccNSO Council, GNSO Council and the PTI Board.
Supporting Staff
In addition to the Executive Committee and ICANN Representatives, the Registrar Stakeholder Group has a Secretariat that provides numerous services.
Registrar Stakeholder Group Secretariat
As Secretariat, Zoe works on a variety of projects with the ExCom to support the efforts of the RrSG. She currently also teaches Business Communication at LCI, South Mediterranean University. Her background is in project, event and operations management and she has previously worked for another international non-profit membership organisation.
