Nick Ashton-Hart, Director for At-Large
Nick Ashton-Hart is Director for At-Large. He is responsible for leading the team that provides the Secretariat and policy advice development support for the community of Individual Internet Users engaged in ICANN ("At-Large").
Prior to joining ICANN in 2006, he was a consultant in private practice with more than 15 years of experience in international strategic policy development and intergovernmental negotiations. His primary focus was in assisting civil society and private sector non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Fortune 50 multinational corporations, and international NGOs representing industry and Intellectual Property rightsholders create and develop partnerships with UN member-state Governments to achieve their objectives in multilateral processes at the United Nations and its agencies and the European Union's Parliament and Commission.
He has served as a Director and Managing Director of various companies during his professional career, including as the Executive Director of the International Music Managers Forum (IMMF) the international NGO representing the interests of music managers and their clients, the featured artist community.
In the private sector he has led a successful IT consultancy, providing consulting services for companies in transition, or during reorganisations or periods of rapid growth. His work there ranged from advising companies on how to achieve greater ROI on their IT systems whilst increasing IT departmental efficiency and morale to designing (or redesigning) enterprise-wide IP based networks. He has been engaged at various times as a temporary IT Director or CTO/CIO.
He has been a participant in multilateral negotiations in fields as diverse as sustainable unban development (UN HABITAT II Conference, Istanbul, 1996 and preparatory conferences), and Intellectual Property (WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, 2001-)
Ashton-Hart's business career began in the music industry managing performers such as James Brown and Heaven 17, which involved the practical application of intellectual property law and the management of people of diverse skill sets and backgrounds, projects with multi-million-dollar budgets and revenues, as well as complex negotiations of long-term recording, publishing, sponsorship, and other contractual arrangements for globally successful artists.