ICANN Names New CEO

DotGreen Community, Inc. continues to be an integral part of the ICANN multi-stakeholder model, actively participating in a positive and inclusive manner.  So during the recent ICANN 44 meeting in Prague, we were excited, along with rest of the ICANN global community, to attend the press conference and official announcement of a new Chief Executive Officer for ICANN in Prague, Czech Republic.

Rod Beckstrom, Akram Atallah, and Fadi Chehade, at ICANN 44 (DotGreen Photo)

But first, we would like to thank Rod Beckstrom, former and accomplished ICANN President and CEO, for his hard work and leadership over the last three years.  Rod brought passion, an international focus and a continued commitment to the multi-stakeholder model to ICANN.   As he departs, ICANN operating in the Public Interest is well-positioned to continue to provide the world the direction it needs to fuel the growth of the internet in a secure, stable and open fashion.  Rod was an active proponent of the New gTLD process which will change the Internet forever.  Rod, thank you from DotGreen!

And welcome to the next ICANN CEO, Fadi Chehade!  Fadi brings a wealth of management, global and Internet experience to his new role.  Fadi clearly is a strong and well-qualified next ICANN CEO and at the ICANN meeting in Prague, he highlighted some very important aspects and focus areas that he plans to bring to the ICANN community:

• He is driven to build consensus, which is the foundation for the ICANN multi-stakeholder environment
• Cares more about “getting things done” than “who gets credit”
• Will strive to continue making ICANN very international
• Is adamant that ICANN must operate with excellence
• 3 pledges from Fadi – he will listen, he will be super transparent and he will make decisions for Public Interest

Fadi will not officially become the next ICANN CEO until October 1st.  In the interim, Akram Atallah, ICANN’s current COO, will step in to the CEO role.  Steve Crocker, ICANN Board Chair, made it clear that Akram is not simply “filling the chair” from July 1 through October 1, but will be moving the organization forward in his CEO role.  And at the same time, Fadi pledged to stay close to what was going on over the next three months.

Will the road ahead be challenging for Akram and Fadi?  Yes, it will be but DotGreen is confident that the right ICANN leadership team is in place.  Throughout the week at the Prague ICANN meeting, the DotGreen Team had multiple opportunities to converse directly with Fadi and came away with a very positive feeling about the direction Fadi desires to take ICANN. It was a pleasure for all of the DotGreen team to meet Fadi and we have full confidence in both his character and abilities.

Annalisa Roger, DotGreen CEO, Jennifer Knoll, DotGreen Director, Fadi Chehade, new ICANN CEO, and Jenny Bullock, DotGreen Director of Communications (DotGreen Photo)

Akram and Fadi, good luck, the DotGreen Team is behind you both and we stand ready to work with you to move the internet forward in an exciting and global manner!