Lesley Cowley

Lesley Cowley is a former Council member and former Chair of ICANN's ccNSO Council; Her tenure as chair lasted from March 2011 until March 2013.

Country:	UK
LinkedIn:	Lesley Cowley
Twitter:	@lesleycowley
Formerly a member of ICANN's ccNSO Featured in the ICANN 49 - Singapore playing card deck

Professional Experience and ICANN

Lesley Cowley was Chief Executive at Nominet from 2004 until 2014. She joined Nominet in 1999 as Operations Director. Nominet is the non-profit domain registry for the .uk ccTLD, and acts in the interest of all 3,000+ .uk stakeholders. The company has a long standing commitment to being a leader in Internet governance.

As part of this commitment, Lesley Cowley has been a member of the Country Code Names Supporting Organisation at ICANN since 2007, and was appointed its Chair in 2011. Lesley Cowley has an MBA (with distinction) and is a respected member of various professional bodies, including:

• Fellow, British Computer Society
• Fellow, Institute of Credit Management
• Fellow, Chartered Management Institute
• Fellow, Royal Society for Arts
• Freeman, Worshipful Company of Information Technologists
• Fellow, Institute of Directors
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Ambassador to schools
• Founding Trustee of the Nominet Trust, now the Social Tech Trust

In September, 2011 Lesley Cowley was part of a panel held in London to discuss ICANN's new gTLD program. Rod Beckstrom, CEO of ICANN, was also a panelist, and the discussion was part of a larger tour by him used to publicize and create knowledge and awareness of ICANN's new program.

Participation

Ms. Cowley is a long-time ICANN participant. Notable moments in her years of participation include pressing ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom on his record of turning-over highly experienced, long-term staff members at ICANN 40 in San Francisco.

Awards

• Highly commended, Institute of Directors UK Awards 2011: not for profit/3rd sector
• OBE for services to Internet and e-commerce, 2011
• Institute of Directors, London & SE, not for profit Director of the Year, 2010
• CBI First Women Award for Technology, 2007
• Special commendation from Britain's Best Boss awards for encouraging a can-do attitude, 2006

Other

In January 2013, Nominet and Cowley filed a defamation suit against That Internet Ltd. and Graeme Wingate, the owner of the domains that.co.uk and avoid.co.uk. The sites acted as protest and complaint sites regarding Nominet's policies, particularly its decision to open registration of second level domains. The sites specifically targeted Cowley, with the goal of having her replaced. Nominet filed the suit noting that it was "against harassment and victimization of its staff." After attempts at mediation, Nominet withdrew the suit. That Internet Ltd. subsequently dissolved, and Wingate transitioned his energy and attention back to his original brand, GreyWing.