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GNSO Council

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The Structure of the GNSO Council

The 21 members of the Council govern policy development in the GNSO. Stakeholder Groups appoint 18 of its members. For voting purposes, the Council has two houses, like the US Congress or the British Parliament.

The Contracted Parties House (CPH) holds the Registries and Registrars Stakeholder Groups, while the Non-Contracted Parties House (NCPH) holds the Commercial and Non-Commercial Stakeholder Groups.

ICANN's Nominating Committee appoints three Council members, two of which are voting members assigned to each House. The third appointee is an advisor to the Council as a whole.

The Council also includes formally appointed but non-voting Liaisons and Observers from other groups within ICANN. This elaborate system provides checks and balances so no single interest group can dominate the Council.

Group photo of the GNSO Council
GNSO Structure

GNSO Council Leadership

Ashley Heineman Vice-Chair, CPH – NA (AGM 2027)

Samantha Demetriou, Chair – NA (AGM 2027)

Taiwo Peter Akinremi Vice-Chair, NCPH – NA (AGM 2026)

Contracted Party House {6+1}

Non-Contracted Party House {12+1}

Registries
Stakeholder
Group {3}

  • Registries

Samantha Demetriou NA
End of term 2: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 3

Jennifer Chung AAPAC
End of term 2: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 4

Ajith Francis EU
End of term 1: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 1

Registrar
Stakeholder
Group {3}

  • Registrars

Hong-Fu (Tom) Meng, AAPAC,
End of term 1: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 53

Ashley Heineman NA
End of Term 1: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 31

Volker Greimann EU
End of term 2: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 22

Commercial
Stakeholder
Group {6}

  • Business
  • Intellectual Property
  • Internet Service Providers

Commercial and Business Users

Lawrence Olawale-Roberts AF
End of term 2: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 4

Vivek Goyal AAPAC
End of term 2: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 3

Intellectual Property Interests

Damon Ashcraft NA
End of term 2: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 4

Hector Ariel Manoff LAC
End of term 1: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 1

Internet Service and Connection Providers

Nitin Walia AAPAC
End of term 1: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 1

Susan Mohr NA
End of term 1: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 2

Non-Commercial
Stakeholder
Group {6}

  • Non-Commercial Users
  • Not-for-Profit Organizations Constituency

Julf Helsingius EU
End of term 2: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 3

Farzaneh Badiei NA
End of Term 2: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 3

Benjamin Akinmoyeje AF
End of term 1: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 2

Christabel Mebaghandu AF
End of term 1: AGM 2028
Years on Council: 1

Taiwo Peter Akinremi NA
End of term 2: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 4

Tapani Tarvainen EU
End of term 1: AGM 2027
Years on Council: 2

GNSO Council NomCom Appointees

Gaurav Vedi NCA CPH- NA (AGM 2027)

Alan Woods NCA, non-voting – EU (AGM 2028)

Christian Dawson NCA NCPH – NA (AGM 2027)

 

GNSO Council Liaisons/Observers

Antonia Chu ccNSO Liaison – AAPAC**

Sebastien Ducos GNSO Liaison to the GAC – EU**

Greg Shatan ALAC Liaison – NA**

1 Completed Gregory DiBiase term, started own term AGM 2025

2 Completed Prudence Malinki term 2026. started own term AGM 2026

3 Completed Antonia Chu term 2024 – 2025, started own term AGM 2025

Legend

{} Voting

[] Non-Voting

* Non-Voting Liaison – Counted as a Member

** Observer – Not Counted as a Member

*** The GNSO - Chair is elected for a one year term

AGM = Annual General Meeting

Regions

  • AF = Africa
  • NA = North America
  • EU = Europe
  • LAC = Latin America/Caribbean
  • AAPAC = Asia/Australia/Pacific