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

Ashley Heineman

Executive Committee – Chair

Ashley Heineman is Director, Global Policy at GoDaddy, and was first elected as Chair of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in June 2020, then re-elected in 2022 and her term concludes at the AGM 2024.

Owen Smigelski

Executive Committee – Vice Chair, Policy

Owen Smigelski is Head of ICANN Compliance & Relations at Namecheap and was first elected as Vice-Chair, Policy of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in May 2019, then re-elected in 2020 and 2022 and his term concludes at the AGM 2024.

Owen Smigelski
Jothan Frakes

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 and he was re-elected in 2022. 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 2024

Benny Samuelsen

Executive Committee – Treasurer

Benny Samuelsen is the Domain Expert at NameSRS 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 first elected as Treasurer in March 2019, then re-elected in 2020 and 2022 and his term concludes at the AGM 2024.

Benny Samuelsen
Eric Rokobauer

Eric Rokobauer

Executive Committee – Secretary

Eric Rokobauer is the ICANN Compliance Manager at Squarespace. Eric was first elected as Secretary of the Registrar Stakeholder Group in June 2020 and re-elected in 2022 representing a different registrar.  He was subsequently re-elected in February 2024 as a Squarespace representative and his term now concludes at the AGM 2025.

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

Gregory DiBiase

GNSO Representative – North America

Gregory DiBiase is the Corporate Counsel at Amazon Registrar and was first elected as the Registrars’ representative to the GNSO Council in December 2019 and then re-elected in 2021 & 2023 and his term concludes in 2025.  Gregory previously held the position of Co-Chair of the Registrar Stakeholder Group Compliance Sub-Group and was elected as the Chair of the GNSO Council in 2023 .

Prudence Malinki

GNSO Representative – Europe

Prudence Malinki is the Head of Industry Relations at Markmonitor, a corporate registrar. She was elected as the Registrars’ European representative to the GNSO Council in November 2023.

Antonia Chu

GNSO Representative – Asia Pacific

Antonia Chu is Head of Senior Compliance Manager at Alibaba and was first elected as the Registrars’ Asia Pacific representative to the GNSO Council in July 2021.  She was reelected in 2023 and her term concludes at the AGM 2025.

Tom Barrett

Nominating Committee Member

Tom Barrett is the President of EnCirca and was elected as the registrars’ representative for the 2024 Nominating Committee after standing in for the second part of the 2023 Nominating Committee term.

Supporting Staff

In addition to the Executive Committee and ICANN Representatives, the Registrar Stakeholder Group has a Secretariat that provides numerous services.

Zoe Bonython

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.