Author: Kieren McCarthy

Senior management restructure to fix organizational weaknesses

Fadi Chehade (left) and new hires Sally Costerton and Tarek Kamel

ICANN's new CEO Fadi Chehade has embarked on a bold restructure of the organization's management on his first day in the job.

Announcing two new senior management members - Sally Costerton as head of stakeholder relations and communications and Tarek Kamel as head of governmental affairs - Chehade told .Nxt his focus was on engaging at a global level with stakeholders, building relationships and improving accountability.

On top of the two new hires, Chehade has made significant structural changes: he has pulled compliance out from under the general counsel's office; put registrar and registry functions under the chief operating officer; elevated the policy department to a direct report; and shifted senior VP Kurt Pritz into a new strategy office.

A management cull has begun at ICANN to remove under-performing executives hired by former CEO Rod Beckstrom.

Vice president of communications Barbara Ann Clay announced to staff earlier this week that she had resigned, and vice president of organizational effectiveness, Elad Levinson, is also leaving with immediate effect.

Although new CEO Fadi Chehade has yet to formally start, the firings represent his first actions at an organizational level and come one week before the ICANN Board holds a two-day retreat in Los Angeles. Board members are expected to press on staff changes and ask Chehade what his plans are to strengthen the organization.

As well as Clay and Levinson, a number of other Beckstrom hires could soon be given their marching orders and we understand some pre-Beckstrom executives are also under review. See our rundown below for more information.

Clay

ICANN's COO and acting CEO talks TAS, digital archery, his old friend the new CEO and how he will make the organization function better

Akram Atallah: ICANN needs to raise itself to the next level. Photo: ICANN

Akram Atallah has had a rough couple of years. When he was brought in as Chief Operating Officer for ICANN in September 2010, the organization was getting used to a new CEO and had just lost its CFO as well as a number of other key executive positions.

Just two months later an independent report into the organization's accountability and transparency recommended a number of significant operational changes. Four months after that, the organization's Board approved the rules for its largest ever project - the introduction of thousands of new Internet extensions - but left a significant number of operational issues undecided.