Two out, two in as NomCom picks new ICANN directors
Two ICANN directors will lose their seats on the board and be replaced by newcomers at the Org’s annual general meeting later this year.
Vice chair Danko Jevtović and Edmon Chung, who have served two and one of the maximum three three-year terms respectively, will depart, according to the announcement of this year’s Nominating Committee picks.
They will be replaced by Amitabh Singhal, from the Asia-Pacific region, who I believe is an Indian internet policy expert who founded .in registry NIXI and also sits on the board of .org manager Public Interest Registry.
Also named, Miriam Sapiro, who I can only assume is Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, a US Trade Representative under the Obama administration who also held a senior policy role at Verisign for a couple of years two decades ago before leaving on acrimonious terms.
Chair Tripti Sinha of North America has also been reappointed for a final term.
The noobs, who both seem incredibly well-qualified for their new roles, will take their seats for the first time at the end of ICANN 81 in Istanbul in October.
I have known Ambassador Sapiro for many years beginning when she was at VeriSign. After leaving VeriSign, she set up a consultancy called Summit Strategies who was hired by ICANN to draft the first review of new gTLDs in 2004 (https://archive.icann.org/en/tlds/new-gtld-eval-31aug04.pdf).
She has been deeply involved in the political campaigns for Obama, Hillary Clinton, and President Biden.
I believe she will make a fantastic addition to the ICANN Board and am excited for her to take on this new role.