2026 ICANN Nominating Committee - Bios

Thomas Barrett – Chair

Tom Barrett has been involved with DNS projects since 1995 and participated in the green paper discussions that led to the birth of ICANN in 1998.

Currently, Tom is the founder and President of the ICANN-accredited registrars EnCirca Inc. (c. 2001) and Name Share Inc. (c. 2003). Tom is also the founder of PW Registry Corp. (c. 2003) for the .pw country code top-level domain. Tom is also the founder of Altroots (c. 2022), which provides blockchain and digital identity services.

Tom also serves on the board of the DotAsia Registry and is the current Chair of the Web3 Working Group of the International Trademark Association.

He was previously the CEO of corporate registrar NetNames, which he sold to NetBenefit, and Vice President at Thomson CompuMark (now part of Clarivate), where he led the development of the SAEGIS trademark research platform and Name Stake corporate registrar. He also previously engaged in business process reengineering at Accenture and factory automation at General Electric Aircraft Engines and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft.

Tom has engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and lives in Rockport, Massachusetts, with spouse Colleen. He is a member of the town's Finance Committee, helping to oversee the town's USD 35 million annual budget.

James Gannon – Chair-Elect

James Gannon is a longtime member of the ICANN community, recognized for his contributions to Internet governance, technical coordination, and security policy. He served on the Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) Board from 2020 to 2023, and served as its Chair from 2022 to 2023. He also chaired the PTI Audit Committee during his tenure, providing oversight of IANA's operational and fiduciary functions.

Within ICANN's policy structures, James has played multiple key roles across the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) and accountability mechanisms. He served as a GNSO Council member representing the Non-Contracted Parties House from 2020 to 2022, and as the GNSO Liaison to the Customer Standing Committee (CSC) from 2016 to 2020, where he helped ensure continued excellence in the performance of the IANA naming functions. James also acted as the CSC Liaison to the IANA Naming Function Review Team between 2019 and 2020, contributing to the first formal review of IANA naming service performance.

Earlier in the accountability reform era, James was actively involved in the IANA stewardship transition process (2014–2016), serving as a design-team lead within both the Cross-Community Working Group on Naming and the Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability. His work helped shape the post-transition governance and operational frameworks that underpin ICANN's multistakeholder model today.

He was also a member of the Second Security, Stability, and Resiliency of the DNS Review Team, contributing to community recommendations that strengthen ICANN's security posture and DNS ecosystem resilience.

A frequent contributor to ICANN and Internet Engineering Task Force discussions on DNS security and trust, James combines policy and technical expertise, bridging communities across standards, governance, and operational layers of the Internet.

Amir Qayyum – Associate Chair

Amir Qayyum is a professor and the Dean of External Linkages and International Collaborations at the Capital University of Science and Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan. He received his doctorate in mobile wireless networks from the University of Paris-Sud, France.

Amir is the founding President and CEO of CoreNet Systems Ltd., as well as the founding Director of the Center of Research in Networks and Telecom. He is the project director of many national and international funded research and development projects in the domain of wired and wireless networks, as well as the local coordinator of many Erasmus Mundus and Erasmus Plus European projects. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Pak France Alumni Network. In recognition of his services for academic and research collaborations, he was awarded the medal of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Government of France.

Amir is also a philanthropist and actively involved in community service and social work. He is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Rifah Trust (focused on education, health care, and community service), and serves on the Board of Ehsas Trust (for education) and Meethi Zindagi Foundation (for health care of diabetic patients).

Amir has been involved with ICANN since 2012, initially as an ICANN Fellow, then as an At-Large Structure coordinator in the Asian, Australasian, and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO). He served as a member of the ICANN Nominating Committee from 2015 to 2017, representing APRALO and the At-Large Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Root Server System Advisory Committee Caucus and has served as a member of the ICANN Nominating Committee from 2019 to 2022, as well as a member of the Fellowship Selection Committee from 2018 to 2022. He served as the Chair-Elect for the 2023 NomCom and subsequently served as the Chair for the 2024–2025 NomCom.

Amir has been involved with the Internet Engineering Task Force since 1997 and was the coauthor of an RFC on Mobile Ad Hoc Networks. He is one of the founding members of the Internet Society Islamabad Chapter and was the Chair of its Board of Directors (2014–2019). He was on the Board of Directors for the Pakistan Internet Exchange (2015–2023). He has been actively involved with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) since 2004, and has also served as the Chair of the IEEE Islamabad Section (2017–2020), the Chair of Professional Activities (2014–2016), and the IEEE Computer Society Islamabad Chapter (2009–2014), as well as the Secretary and Treasurer of the section (2011–2013).

Arinola Akinyemi (GNSO – Commercial and Business Users Constituency)

Arinola Akinyemi is a successful entrepreneur and leader with over 29 years of experience in the tech industry. Her exceptional leadership, strategic vision, and innovative problem-solving skills have made a lasting impact.

As CEO of DigiSphere Limited and Omar Ventures Limited, and Founder and President of DigiSphere Centre for Digital Creativity, Arinola advocates for ICT-driven development and economic growth. She focuses on digital inclusion and empowerment in Africa, driven by excellence, teamwork, and innovation.

Arinola's leadership roles include Vice Chair (West Africa) of Africa ICT Alliance (AfICTA), Board Member and Subcommittee Chair of AfICTA (2015–2018), and National Treasurer of the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (2007–2011). She is also a member representative of the Generic Names Supporting Organization's (GNSO) Business Constituency (BC) since 2015, where she has distinguished herself as a volunteer in various roles. She served as the Chair of the GNSO Standing Selection Committee for two terms (2021–2023), Chair of the Credentials Committee (2020–2021), GNSO-appointed Fellowship Program mentor (ICANN78, 79, and 80), as well as the GNSO Commercial and Business Users Constituency Small Business Seat delegate to the 2025 Nominating Committee (NomCom).

Also at ICANN, she served on the NomCom Review Implementation Working Group, as the BC alternate on the Transfer Policy Review Working Group, and as a member of the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (Communication Subcommittee).

Her expertise includes project management, outsourcing, network design, capacity development, resource management, renewable energy, data security, and IT policy advocacy. Arinola holds a Bachelor of Science with a major in electronics from Lagos State University, a diploma in Internet governance and regulations (cybersecurity) from the University of Mendoza, Argentina, and a Mini-M.B.A. from Tekedia Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.

With her experience and knowledge, Arinola inspires and empowers individuals and organizations. Her commitment to excellence has earned her recognition as a tech industry leader.

Fiona Asonga (GNSO–Internet Service Providers and Connectivity Providers Constituency)

Information, communications, and technology (ICT) specialist Dr. Fiona Asonga has been the CEO of Technology Service Providers of Kenya (TESPOK) from 2009 to the present. She leads the private sector in stakeholder and partnership consultations. In 2023, she was recognised among the:

• 25 Most Influential CEOs impacting business in East Africa.
• Top 50 Women in Management in Africa.
• Top 50 Most Inspirational Women in Technology Africa Award at the Africa Tech Festival.

In 2024, she was recognised among the:

• Top 60 Most Transformative CEOs Impacting the Kenya Economy.
• Awarded a doctorate degree in Christian business and leadership from the Veridian Christian University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Some of the initiatives she has been involved in include:

• Operating Kenya's first Internet Exchange Point and industry computer security response team.
• 2011–2018, member of both the Number Council of the Number Resource Organization and Address Council of the Address Supporting Organization.
• 2014–2017, Public Interest Registry as the Advisory Council member of the .ngo domain name.
• 2018, consultant on the Collaborative Governance Project by the Internet Society delivered at the U.S. Technical Training Institute, Washington, D.C.
• 2021, Cenerva consultant to the Ethiopian Regulatory Authority on Internet governance systems and processes.
• 2022, fostering diversity and inclusion by leading the TESPOK team in hosting the TESPOK Autism Marathon in Nairobi.
• 2022 to present, Executive Council member – U.N. Internet Governance Forum Support Association.
• 2022 to present, Advisor to the Global President and CEO, Global Cybersecurity Alliance.

Fiona's passion for ICT for development and inclusion has helped to highlight ICT business opportunities. As an ICT industry thought leader at the national, regional, and global space, she sets the pace in offering impactful leadership by transforming the world with ICT. She is keen on ensuring digital diversity and inclusion.

Karen Day (GNSO – Registries Stakeholder Group)

Karen Day is a Certified Paralegal and intellectual property specialist with over 35 years of legal experience. Based in the Research Triangle of North Carolina, Karen spent the vast majority of her career at the world's largest privately owned software company, SAS Institute Inc. Karen held responsibility for both trademark and domain strategy for SAS and its many subsidiary companies. Having been appointed as Registry Operations Manager, she oversaw all matters related to the operation of three top-level domain registries – .sas, .jmp, and .analytics – which were awarded to SAS in the 2012 round of the New gTLD Program. Additionally, Karen provided legal support to SAS' global procurement organization inbound goods and services contracting team.

After an early retirement from SAS, Karen joined the Chicago- and Nashville-based law firm Elster & McGrady LLC in the summer of 2025 to manage the firm's new gTLD applicant program, under the direction of Paul McGrady, and assist other companies through the complexities of the ICANN application and contracting processes.

Karen has been extensively involved in the ICANN policymaking process beginning in 2015 when she served as a member of the Subsequent Procedures Leadership Team. Since 2017, she has served as an officer and board member of both the gTLD Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) and the Brand Registry Group in various capacities. Her term as Treasurer of the RySG ended at the close of the ICANN84 Annual General Meeting (AGM). She is continuing to serve as a Special Advisor to the Board of the Brand Registry Group while also chairing the GNSO Standing Selection Committee through the end of 2025, and serving on the Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team.

Karen was elected to serve as the RySG delegate to the NomCom for a two-year term beginning at the 2025 AGM.

Hafiz Farooq (GNSO – Commercial and Business Users Constituency, Large)

Hafiz Farooq is an active cybersecurity and Internet researcher and has been working as Senior Cybersecurity Architect at Aramco for the last 10 years. He has around 22 years of experience working in the data center, telecommunications, and security domains. He has also worked with Dell Inc., Juniper Networks, British Telecom, and other telecommunication companies in the areas of network and cybersecurity. He has been actively participating in the ICANN community since 2022.

He holds a master's degree in next generation networks (Aston University, United Kingdom) and a computer engineering degree (NUST, Pakistan), and he holds multiple routing and security certifications including JNCIE-SP (Service Provider), JNCIE-SEC, SANS Forensic Examiner and Exploit Researcher, CISSP, and CISM. He is currently an advisory board member for multiple Fortune 500 companies (mainly, Splunk and Elasticsearch). He is also a member of the Internet Society (ISOC) Islamabad Chapter and ISOC's Cybersecurity Special Interest Group and Forum of Incident Response Teams.

He has been a member of ICANN's Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) Caucus and the Generic Names Supporting Organization's Business Constituency, representing Aramco, for more than three years. He is also a member of Universal Acceptance working groups and has coordinated ICANN events in Saudi Aramco. He was a fellow at ICANN75 (Kuala Lumpur), ICANN76 (Cancún), ICANN77 (Washington, D.C.), ICANN79 (San Juan), and ICANN81 (Istanbul). He contributed to the RSSAC's Research Management Platform (Zotero) for ICANN's RSSAC Caucus and also participated in the Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team for the New gTLD Program: Next Round. He has also contributed to RSSAC by assisting in building the Root Server System Incident Reporting System.

Hafiz presented an open-source DNSSEC Verification Platform (DNSCapture) at the DNSSEC Tech Day at ICANN79 and has conducted multiple technical sessions during different ICANN meetings. He currently supports the Aramco's gTLD (.aramco) and ensures the security and monitoring of Aramco's ASN (AS5080).

Jothan Frakes (GNSO – Registrars Stakeholder Group)

Jothan Frakes is serving as the NomCom representative for the Registrars Stakeholder Group (RrSG). Jothan currently is owner and CEO of PLISK.COM, known for his enthusiasm for domain names and the domain industry, his work on the Public Suffix List, and for being a co-founder of NamesCon. Jothan is a member of the Security and Stability Advisory Committee, and served two terms as Vice Chair, Technical Operations of the Registrars Stakeholder Group in 2020 and 2022, where he also was Co-Chair of CPH TechOps. He has also served as the RrSG representative to the GNSO Standing Selection Committee. Jothan has held a variety of founder and senior executive roles with registries and registrars since first working with domains in 1991.

Bram Fudzulani (At-Large Community – Africa)

Bram Fudzulani is a member of the digital rights coalition in Malawi and currently serves on the Multistakeholder Advisory Group for the African Internet Governance Forum. He chairs the Malawi Internet Governance Forum and works closely with the Open Government Partnership Malawi under the Digital Governance Thematic Area. Bram was appointed by the U.N. Secretary-General to serve on the Multistakeholder Advisory Group for the global Internet Governance Forum for the period of 2021 to 2024.

He also served as the Vice Chair of the African Regional At-Large Organization. Bram served as President of the ICT Association of Malawi from 2018 to 2022. Through these roles, Bram continues to push for inclusive and forward-looking digital policies, both at home and across the region.

Alan Greenberg (At-Large Community – North America)

Alan Greenberg has been involved with ICANN since 2006, working with the At-Large community. He has served on the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), including four years as ALAC Chair and eight years as the ALAC Liaison to the Generic Names Supporting Organization. As well, Alan has participated in numerous working groups, reviews, and other ICANN activities, including holding leadership roles in many of them.

Professionally, Alan was responsible for all central computing and networking at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He was instrumental in building the first Canadian education and research network and in bringing the Internet into Canada. He organized Internet Society workshops training people from developing countries to build, use, and manage the Internet in their countries. These workshops and their spinoffs trained key personnel from virtually all developing countries. Alan also served on the Internet Society Board of Trustees. Following his retirement from McGill, he worked with several European international donor agencies to support the use of technology in developing countries, primarily in Sri Lanka and East and Central Africa.

Alan holds a B.S. in physics and an M.S. in computer science, both from McGill University.

Pablo Hinojosa (Address Supporting Organization)

Pablo Hinojosa is an experienced Internet governance professional with over two decades of continuous contribution to the ICANN ecosystem. His involvement spans critical phases in ICANN's history, from government representative to staff member, and later as a senior leader in the technical community. Pablo brings a rare 360-degree perspective that bridges policy, community management, and technical engagement.

He began his ICANN journey in 2000 as a member and then Vice Chair of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), representing Mexico during a pivotal era that shaped ICANN 2.0, including the creation of the Nominating Committee and the Country Code Names Supporting Organization. He was a lead government negotiator in the World Summit on the Information Society, championing the multistakeholder model and ensuring its institutional recognition.

Later, as one of ICANN's first non-U.S. staff members, Pablo played a foundational role in building regional strategies for Latin America. He also contributed to initiatives like the Fellowship Program and the creation of the At-Large Advisory Committee. He helped to establish ICANN's Washington, D.C., office, promoting ICANN's position in U.S. policy discussions, while he was instrumental in increasing regional participation and growing trust among other governments, industry, and civil society.

Pablo was also deeply engaged in the IANA stewardship transition. Working from both Washington, D.C., and later from Brisbane at Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, he played a key role in shaping and negotiating the numbers community's contribution to the successful transition of the stewardship of the IANA functions to the global multistakeholder community culminating in 2016. He has attended over 60 ICANN meetings worldwide and has worked across the GAC, the Address Supporting Organization, and the Internet Service Providers and Connectivity Providers Constituency within the Generic Names Supporting Organization.

For the past 15 years, Pablo has led APNIC's global engagement efforts. As a senior executive, he maintained consistent presence at every Number Resource Organization meeting and active participation in the I* community, involving the CEOs of the Internet coordinating body organizations. His enduring commitment to ICANN's mission is grounded in collaboration, strengthening multilateral and multistakeholder collaboration, integrity, and the promotion of inclusive, community-driven governance.

Eyitayo Iyortim (Country Code Names Supporting Organization)

Eyitayo Iyortim is a psychologist, human resource management specialist, and ICT project manager with close to three decades of leadership experience in project management, organizational development, policy advocacy, and talent management. She has led large-scale IT transformation initiatives, designed learning and development programs, and delivered organizational change interventions for major institutions in Nigeria's public and private sectors.

Between 2018 and 2023, Eyitayo served as CEO of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association, where she oversaw the strategic management of the .ng country code top-level domain (ccTLD). She also contributed to Nigeria's Internet policy ecosystem through service on the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Nigeria Internet Governance Forum and the Local Organising Committee of the Africa Internet Governance Forum.

Currently, she is President and Chairperson of the Africa Top Level Domains Organization, where she provides continental leadership for the development and sustainability of African ccTLDs. She also serves as the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Appointee to the 2025–2026 Nominating Committee of ICANN, reflecting her deep engagement in global Internet governance. Her prior contributions include membership on the Meetings Planning Committe of the ccNSO and the Board of Trustees of the Ndukwe Kalu Foundation.

Eyitayo holds an M.S. in organizational psychology from the Alliance Manchester Business School and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration with a focus on policy development. She is an ICT Project Manager, cognitive behavioural therapist, and life coach, and is a member of the Internet Society, the Life Coaches Association of Nigeria, and the American Psychological Association.

Her governance leadership also extends beyond the digital ecosystem. She leads Talent Urbanity Limited, an organizational development firm providing recruitment, leadership, and change-management services to institutions across Africa.

Anne-Marie Joly-Bachollet (At-Large Community – Europe)

Anne-Marie Joly-Bachollet represents E-senior, an At-Large Structure (ALS) within the European Regional At-Large Organization (EURALO) and AFNIC. E-senior is committed to combating e-exclusion by providing seniors and people with disabilities access to, and training in, information and communication technologies. The association's mission focuses on:

• Bridging the digital divide between generations.
• Reducing isolation among seniors.
• Expanding opportunities for seniors to effectively use their free time.

E-senior also plays an active role in European projects, advocating for the needs and interests of senior end users in the digital space.

In addition to her work with E-senior, Anne-Marie serves as Vice Chair of the Internet Society France, where she leads initiatives for the inclusion of seniors in the digital world. She has contributed to the French Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and participated in several global IGF events.

Anne-Marie was a member of the EURALO Board from 2019 to 2023 and has been an active participant in ICANN and EURALO meetings for over a decade. From 2020 to 2023, she served as a delegate to the At-Large Advisory Committee Subcommittee on Appointee Selection. She is currently involved in the EURALO ALS Engagement Working Group and the Constituency and Public Policy Working Group.

With a strong professional background in human resources within a major international organization, Anne-Marie brings extensive experience in executive recruitment, leadership, and organizational management to her various roles in the Internet governance community.

Charles Mok – (At-Large Community – Asia Pacific)

Charles Mok is a research scholar at the Global Digital Policy Incubator of the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford University, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society, and a board member of the International Centre for Trade Transparency and Monitoring. Charles served as an elected member of the Legislative Council in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, representing the information technology functional constituency, for two terms from 2012 to 2020. In 2021, he founded Tech for Good Asia, an initiative to advocate positive use of technology for businesses and civil communities. As an entrepreneur, Charles co-founded HKNet in 1994. One of the earliest Internet service providers in Hong Kong, HKNet was acquired by NTT Communications in 2000. He was the founding Chair of the Internet Society Hong Kong, Honorary President and President of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, Chair of the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association, and Chair of the Asian, Australasian, and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization of ICANN. Charles holds a B.S. in computer and electrical engineering and an M.S. in electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Abdulkarim Oloyede (Root Server System Advisory Committee)

Abdulkarim Oloyede is a Professor of Wireless Telecommunications at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He is the current Director of the Centre for Research Development and In-House Training. He obtained his bachelor's in electrical engineering from Bayero University, Kano, and completed both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in telecommunications/electronics at the University of York, United Kingdom.

Since ICANN61, Abdulkarim has participated in all ICANN meetings (physically or virtually). He is a Universal Access Ambassador and is active across the global Internet governance ecosystem, contributing to Regional Internet Registry meetings, the Internet Engineering Task Force, ICANN, and local, regional, and global Internet Governance Forums. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Advisory Group, representing Nigeria in ITU processes since 2016. He was also Co-Chair of the African Network Information Centre Policy Development Working Group and a member of the At-Large Advisory Committee at ICANN.

He has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals and conferences in wireless telecommunications.

Abdulkarim is a registered engineer and a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the IEEE, and the Internet Society. He has traveled to over 90 countries in the course of his professional and academic engagements.

He has now been appointed to the ICANN Nominating Committee representing the Root Server System Advisory Committee for the 2025–2027 term.

Stephanie Perrin (GNSO – Noncommercial Users Constituency)

Dr. Stephanie Perrin has worked for most of her career in information and privacy issues, having started in 1984 as one of the first federal access to information and privacy coordinators at the then-Department of Communications. The first President of the Canadian Access and Privacy Association, she helped establish the Canadian Standards Association's Technical Committee on the protection of personal information in 1991. She worked on the drafting committee of the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, and collaborated with Heather Black on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act to incorporate this code in law for the private sector, acquiring in the process a deep grounding in the practical issues surrounding the interpretation of data protection law and assessment of privacy risk.

Stephanie has given countless speeches and presentations on data protection, privacy risk and impact assessment, privacy enhancing technologies, cryptography policy, risk management, values and ethics, and civil liberties. She worked in international relations for many years, representing Canada at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on the committee dealing with privacy and security issues. She also has participated in the Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference since 1992, chairing the CFP Conference in 2007 in Montreal.

In 2000, Stephanie took a break from her government work to become Chief Privacy Officer for Zero Knowledge, a Montreal-based anonymity software company. In 2003, she launched Digital Discretion, producing reports on matters ranging from identity theft to RFID, conducting risk assessments and training sessions, and developing privacy impact assessments and audits. During this period, she also worked as Research Coordinator for the On the Identity Trail project, a SSHRC-funded 4 million Canadian dollars project on identity led by Dr. Ian Kerr at the University of Ottawa. In 2005, she returned to the federal government in Ottawa as Director of Policy and Research at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, before moving to Service Canada as a Director of Risk Management Policy. Now retired from the Canadian public service after 30 years of stimulating work, she has re-launched Digital Discretion as a top-tier privacy and transparency consulting firm.

Stephanie graduated from Carleton University with an M.A. in English literature and received her doctorate from the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto in 2018. She has volunteered in various leadership capacities at ICANN for the past 12 years, working to rectify a lamentable lack of privacy protection for the holders of domain names. Her current research interests are focused on artificial intelligence.

Pete Resnick (Internet Architecture Board of the Internet Engineering Task Force)

Pete Resnick is an independent consultant who advises on engineering, legal, and policy issues in Internet technology and standardization.

Pete has been working with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for over 30 years. In the IETF, he has authored many Internet protocol documents, mostly in the area of Internet email, as well as policy and procedures documents. He has chaired assorted working groups and birds-of-a-feather sessions, served on the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) from 2004 to 2006, served as the Area Director for Applications on the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) from 2011 to 2015, served as a member of the IETF Ombudsteam from 2016 to 2025, and currently serves as a Chair of RFC Series Working Group. Pete was an invited expert for two ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee documents regarding Internationalized Domain Name reviews in country code top-level domains and the use of emoji in domain names. He has also had involvement through the IAB and IESG with the Internet Society, the International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication Standardization Sector, and the Internet Governance Forum.

Pete holds a bachelor's degree in biological sciences and a master's degree in philosophy and computer and systems sciences from Binghamton University in New York. He was a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Urbana, Illinois (where he still lives), but left the program to join Qualcomm, where he worked for 24 years as an engineer in the Office of the Chief Scientist and the Standards and Industry Organizations Division.

In addition to his consulting work, Pete is a scuba diving instructor and avid diver, and enjoys tai chi ch'uan (太極拳).

Mike Rodenbaugh (GNSO – Intellectual Property Constituency)

My firm represents a wide variety of clients from all over the globe, in all matters relating to domain names, trademarks, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property, and in e-commerce, licensing, and marketing transactions and dispute resolution efforts. I am an expert in trademark and domain name law, and highly experienced in the domain name industry. I am an arbitrator of domain name disputes, and have extensive experience mediating and litigating international and domestic commercial disputes.

Matthew Thomas (Security and Stability Advisory Committee)

Matt Thomas is a fellow at Verisign. His research focuses on numerous aspects of Internet security, stability, and resiliency, including distributed denial-of-service attacks, domain name abuse, miscreant behavior within the Domain Name System, and large-scale measurements and evolving trends in Internet architecture.

In his role as a fellow, Matt is responsible for supporting an array of activities across the company, including data-driven analytical functions for Verisign's value-added services, supporting internal research initiatives, external engagement, and supporting critical data analysis efforts. He has more than 20 years of experience working with large, distributed data collection and analysis systems.

Prior to joining Verisign in 2008, Matt worked as a software engineer at AT&T. He was responsible for designing and implementing a distributed data collection system that measured and analyzed the operational performance of systems and services throughout the world.

Matt currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group. He is also an active member of the Security and Stability Advisory Committee. Matt has authored more than 10 peer-reviewed publications and has been awarded more than 15 patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and Certified Hadoop Developer.

Matt holds a Master of Science in information systems and technology and a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Johns Hopkins University.

Christelle Vaval (At-Large Community – Latin America and the Caribbean)

Christelle Vaval is a business lawyer with over a decade of experience, specializing in corporate law, contract negotiation, and business transactions. She earned a Bachelor of Laws from the Université du Québec à Montréal, followed by a master's degree in business law from the Université de Montréal. She also holds a Juris Doctor and a Graduate Diploma in common law and transnational law from the Université de Sherbrooke, as well as an LL.M. from the University of California, Berkeley, with a concentration in business law, artificial intelligence, intellectual property, and technology.

Since 2011, Christelle has been practicing at Cabinet Salès in Haiti, where she advises local and international clients across various sectors, including intellectual property, renewable energy, banking, infrastructure, and industrial development. Her work covers corporate governance, labor law, corporate tax matters, and complex contract negotiations.

In addition to her legal practice, she serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti. She is admitted to the bars of Quebec and Port-au-Prince, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Christelle is also a panelist for domain name disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Her areas of expertise include intellectual property law, corporate law, labor and employment law, technology law, and international business transactions.

She contributes pro bono to initiatives aimed at improving dispute resolution systems, notably for Haiti's country code top-level domain (.ht), and is involved in institutional governance reform within ICANN. Her work reflects a commitment to legal innovation, entrepreneurship, and the responsible development of digital infrastructure in emerging markets.