I am an experienced Business Development, Marketing and Communications professional. From experience gained at Sedo (United Internet), Nominet and IPRota, I have an excellent understanding of the domain name industry and the role of registries and registrars in keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable.
I am a Member-elected Non Executive Director at Nominet, where I am Chair of the Nominations Committee and a member of the Audit committee. I am also a Trustee of the Nominet Trust and an independent business development and marketing/communications consultant at Nanayakkara.co.uk.
Previously, I held a leadership role at Sedo (United Internet), responsible for international sales and went on to successfully launch their UK presence in 2009.
I have also served as an elected Member of Nominet’s policy advisory body and provided business consultancy services to small charities through Pilotlight, a UK charity that works to help small local charities build sustainable operating models.
I specialize in developing business development strategies to deliver business objectives and ensure efficient deployment of an organisation’s resources. A fluent German speaker, I bring an informed perspective of the international domain name industry and a wide network of strong and positive relationships with key stakeholders in the domain name space.
I hold an MBA from Rheinische Fachhochschule / University of East London (Germany / UK) and a BA with Joint Honours in German and European Studies from University College Cork in Ireland.
Specialties
domain names, new TLDs, domain name sunrise, domain name auctions, intellectual property, rights validation, gTLDs, ccTLDs, primary domain market, secondary domain market, domain name evaluation, business development, marketing, communications, PR, blog writing, social media, branding, strategy development, non executive director, trustee, charities, social investment, social philanthropy, ROI, sales, marcomms, ICANN, Nominet, internet governance, nominations committee, domain name sunrise
Non Executive Director – Nominet
June 2009 – Present
Nominet operates at the heart of e-commerce in the UK, running one of the world’s largest Internet registries with over nine million domain names. With highly respected industry credentials, it is entrusted with the management of the .uk and .44 registries, employs 115 staff and has an annual turnover of £20m. As a Non Executive Director at Nominet, I am a member of the Audit Committee, am Chair of the Nominations Committee and I:
- provide leadership within a framework of prudent and effective controls
- help set the Company’s strategic aims, ensure that the necessary financial and human resources are in place for the Company to meet its objectives, and review management performance; and
- set the Company’s values and standards and ensure that its obligations to its shareholders and others are understood and met
- bring broad industry perspective to the Board,
- contribute to strategy development
- provide oversight of and support to the Executive in their efforts to achieve Nominet’s vision
- leverage networks,
- work to build consensus.
Trustee – Nominet Trust
January 2011-Present
Nominet Trust is a UK registered charity founded to provide support to organisations and projects working to increase access to the internet, online safety and education, and who apply an innovative use of the internet for achieving our areas of focus.
I was appointed to the Trust as a Nominet Board representative and together with my Trustee colleagues, I am responsible for oversight, strategy and decisions on investments in initiatives that contribute to a safe, accessible Internet through web access, web safety and imaginative applications of the Web in society.
Various Roles/Marketing and Communications – Sedo UK
2007 – Present
Originally responsible for the launch of Sedo’s UK office in 2007 as a business
development director, tasks included sourcing a location and team, leading client
acquisitions and the effective implementation of strategy.
My role now involves developing and executing successful multi-channel
communications and stakeholder education programmes, including media relations
and PR. As of June 2010, this role evolved to a pure marketing and communications
role, which I fulfil on a part-time basis.
- developing marketing collateral to support sales efforts in English-speaking markets
- managing agency relationships for Sedo UK, including public relations
- editing and reshaping key documents for use in domain name sales and negotiations
Member “Pilotlighter” – Pilotlight UK
January 2009 – January 2010
Pilotlight addresses the need of small charities who have the expertise to address the needs of their beneficiaries but do not have/could not afford to buy the time and skills to develop their business infrastructure. As a member, or “Pilotlighter”, I provide business consultancy to selected charities to support their social visions and to help ensure strong, sustainable organisations. This involves business planning, helping to set strategic priorities, advising on effective financial management and cost control and helping these charities ensure sustainable and long term funding through donations and investments.
Elected PAB member – Nominet Policy Advisory Body (PAB)
June 2008 – 2009
In my role as a Nominet member-elected PAB representative, I provide advice to the Board of Directors on the non-operational guiding principles regarding the oversight of the .uk domain name registry. This includes:
* Providing policy advice which is clear and flexible
* Assisting in advising on the policy direction Nominet should take
* Considering and bringing to the attention of the Board any policy issues that may be of future importance or affect the .uk namespace.
* The periodic review of current policies.
* Periodic review of the performance of the PAB and PAB members
Director of UK/International Operations – Sedo GmbH, Germany
June 2005 – December 2007
Key responsibilities included day-to-day operations of Sedo’s UK and international markets, managing an international team and handling a large portfolio of key B2B and B2C customers. Central tasks included the growth of Sedo’s domain monetization and domain trade solutions in the UK and other key markets, internal and external contract negotiations and regular on- and off-site client meetings. I liaised daily with other team managers, the marketing and Bus Dev teams and reported directly to the VP of Sales.
Brokerage Manager – Sedo GmbH, Germany
June 2004 – June 2005
Key responsibilities included domain and website evaluations and high-value domain sales. I negotiated directly with traders, including the terms of their contracts and sourced and managed buyers and sellers as well as leading a team of brokers.
