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ICANN85 Fellowship Program – 2026 Community Forum

ICANN85 Fellows official photo
ICANN85 Fellows with alums
Name Country or region of residence Working sector and/or area of interest
Abdul Manaf Sulemana Ghana Academia, Civil society, Internet end user, Security
Abdulrahman Motahar Abdulrahman Abotaleb Yemen Civil society, Internet end user, Technical, Security
Ajay Sharma India Internet end user, Technical
Altangerel Altankhuyag Mongolia ccTLD operations, ICANN contracted party, Internet end user, Government
Angela Jankoska North Macedonia Civil society, Intellectual property
Asteway Shoarega Negash Ethiopia

Business and Commerce, Technical

Recipient of Paul Muchene Fellowship Award
Barnabas Muuo Peter Poland Academia, Business and Commerce, Civil Society, Internet end user
Benson King'Ori Mugure Mauritius Academia, Internet end user, Technical, Security
Ceasar Kabue Kenya Civil society, Internet end user, Technical, Security
Cliff Agaba Mutegeki Uganda ccTLD operations, Civil society, Technical
Dana Cramer Canada Academia, Civil society, Internet end user
Dessyo Peniamina Lika-Lipitoa Sioneholo Niue Business and Commerce, ccTLD operations, Civil society, Internet end user, Government
Doreen Nandutu Nabuzale Uganda Civil society, Internet end user, Technical
Godsway Kubi Ghana Civil society, Internet end user, Technical
İdil Kula Türkiye, Republic of Academia, Business and Commerce, Civil society, Internet end user, Government
Jasbindar Singh Fiji Academia, Internet end user, Technical, Security
Jorge Carlos Canto Esquivel Mexico Academia, Internet end user, Technical, Government
Joshua Ibitoye United States of America

Business and Commerce, Internet service providers and connectivity providers, Technical, Security

Participate virtually
Joyeeta Sen Rimpee Bangladesh ccTLD operations, Technical, Security, Government
Khaoula Elhabyb Morocco Academia, Internet end user
Loic Kliemann Germany Civil Society, Internet service providers and connectivity providers, Technical
Maria Camila Rojas Azula Colombia

ccTLD operations, Government

Participate virtually
Melanie Aldunce Chile Academia, ccTLD Operations, Intellectual Property, Technical
Millenium Anthony Tanzania, United Republic of Academia, Civil society, Internet end user
Mohammad BinSelim Saudi Arabia Academia, Civil Society, Internet end user, Technical, Security
Mohammad Zulqar Nayen Canada Business and Commerce, Civil Society, Intellectual Property, Internet Service Providers and Connectivity Providers
Nancy Kanasa Papua New Guinea Government
Pramod Dhungana Nepal Academia, Business and Commerce, Civil society, Internet end user, Technical
Pramod Harsha Kumara Saparamadu Mahabalage Don Sri Lanka ccTLD operations, Security
Richard Juan Huchani Cahuana Bolivia, Plurinational State of Academia, Intellectual property, Internet service providers and connectivity providers, Technical, Security
Saiidnajib Saidislomzoda Tajikistan Internet end user, Internet service providers and connectivity providers, Technical, Security
Samira Ali Danburam Nigeria Internet end user, Technical
Seluvaia Kauvaka Tonga Academia, Civil society, Internet end user, Technical, Security
Sourena Maroofi France Academia, ICANN contracted party, Technical, Security
Steve Chu United States of America Academia, Business and Commerce, Intellectual property, Internet end user, Technical
Suncica Rosic Austria Academia, ccTLD operations, Technical
Valeriia Filinovych Ukraine Academia, Intellectual property
Vallarie Yiega Kenya Business and Commerce, Intellectual property, Internet End User

Note: All information above is self-reported by applicants.

Mentors:

  • Jenifer López – ccNSO
  • Glen De Saint Géry – GNSO
  • Tracy Hackshaw – GAC
  • James Olorundare – RSSAC
  • Raymond Mamattah – At-Large
Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."