DONUTS - Key Persons
Akram joins Identity Digital from ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, where he served as the first president of ICANN's Global Domains Division and oversaw the management of generic domain operations, domain name industry engagement, and web services. Previously, Akram served as ICANN's Chief Operating Officer. Akram's diversified technology experience runs the gamut from engineering to operations to product development and marketing. Before ICANN, he was Chief Operating Officer at CoreObjects Software, an engineering services start-up. Prior to CoreObjects, he was General Manager of the Broadband Access business unit at Conexant, and before that, he was the General Manager of its Universal Access business. His accomplishments at Conexant included increasing business unit revenue to more than $800 million, improving profit margins, transforming the marketing and engineering functions, and strengthening its position as a global market leader. Akram holds a Master's degree in Business Administration, a Master's in Electrical Engineering, and a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Colorado at Denver. He is trilingual in English, Arabic, and French.
Job Titles:
- EVP
- General Counsel
- Secretary
Alvaro leads Identity Digital's global legal, compliance and policy teams and counsels the company on its most important strategic initiatives. Alvaro has over twenty-five years of experience working with Internet-focused enterprises, including over a decade with Identity Digital, where he has helped build its core businesses and expand its reach via acquisition and internal development.
Prior to Identity Digital, Alvaro represented early-stage, private, and public companies as a senior International Business associate at Perkins Coie LLP. Alvaro received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. Alvaro also studied law at the University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) and the University of Havana, Cuba, and pursued coursework at the University of London (King's College) and the London School of Economics. Outside of work, Alvaro defies weather forecasts and footwear conventions on sunrise runs and has conscripted his family to help him build the perfect playlist.
Ben brings to Identity Digital nearly 20 years of engineering experience in the domain industry. He joined Identity Digital when it acquired Rightside in July 2017. Before his five-year tenure at Rightside, Ben was a development manager at Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). Prior to CIRA, he was VP of Engineering for Momentous.CA, the parent company of Internet brands that include Rebel.com / Rebel.ca, Internic.ca, Pool.com, Turkberry, and others. Ben holds a B.Sc. Information Management Systems, from the University of Ottawa.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Product Strategy
As Vice President of Product Strategy, Brian manages Identity Digital's future product vision, roadmap development and innovation efforts.
Before Identity Digital acquired Rightside, Brian held senior product roles and led the product group in developing services such as DPML™ , Domain Engine™ and Anti-Phishing technology.
Prior to his 10-year tenure in the domain industry, Brian started his career in the engineering sector where he worked on improving semiconductor manufacturing processes at Intel. Brian holds a BEng & MEng in Automation Engineering from the Technological University of Dublin. When he is not working, Brian is an avid golfer (in all weather) and enjoys traveling, cooking & a well poured pint of Guinness…timing is paramount.
Job Titles:
- General Manager, Name.Com
Cameron Walker leads Identity Digital's registrar, Name.com, guiding its strategy, product, and operations. Prior to Name.com, he held senior leadership positions at Twitter, Google, Disney/Pixar, and VF Corporation across finance, general management, and operations.
Cameron completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Calgary in Canada with a focus in Marketing and his MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Business. He volunteers his time with his alma mater and other organizations mentoring up-and-coming entrepreneurial professionals.
Cameron loves a good long run during the summer months and snowboarding in the winter. He resides in Denver, CO with his wife and two kids.
Job Titles:
- Registrar
- Head of Name.Com
In his role as VP of Registrar, Dave is the head of Name.com and oversees the strategic direction for the registrar. Dave has long acted as both a technical and business leader at Name.com and has two decades of experience in the domain name industry. Prior to his current role, he oversaw engineering for Name.com and contributed to the foundations of its codebase today. Dave has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from The University of Colorado. When he is not working, he enjoys time with his wife and two children, working out, playing video games, and camping.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- EVP
As EVP & Chief Financial Officer, Donald brings experience in both PE-backed and public organizations. Prior to joining Identity Digital, he served as CFO at Pelitas, a leading, PE-backed, SAAS-based revenue cycle management solutions provider in the healthcare sector. Donald helped lead Pelitas through a period of rapid growth, culminating in its sale to Clearlake Capital-backed FinThrive in 2022.
Donald previously served in various financial leadership roles with publicly-traded Brinks Home Security. While at Brinks, Donald's responsibilities included strategy and corporate development, financial planning and analysis, investor relations, capital markets, and treasury. He helped lead the company through over $600M of strategic acquisitions, $2.4B of debt financing processes, and a $2.0B debt restructuring process. Donald began his career in investment banking with Raymond James.
Donald is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a BSBA in Finance/Economics and Strategy and is a CFA charterholder. He lives in Denver with his wife and three young children where he enjoys skiing, running, cycling and hiking.
John brings 17+ years of Technology and Operations experience, serving in various IT management and engineering roles. He currently serves as VP of Information Technology and Data Operations, overseeing several talented cross-functional teams of Developers and Engineers. John previously served as the T Director for eNom and Rightside and held various Engineering and Operations Management roles at Demand Media. John's versatile management experience in corporate, operations, and engineering management continues to benefit him as he leads Information Technology Operations here at Identity Digital. He holds a B.A. in Business Management from Northwest University.
As Chief People Officer, Kim acts as a culture guardian, leads the People team, manages facilities, and oversees Identity Digital's Corporate Social Responsibility programs.
Kim has a proven track record within public and private companies at various stages of growth and maturity, building and developing successful teams and healthy cultures. She is an influencer and coach with the determination, strength, and vulnerability to lead during challenging times and through complex situations.
Prior to joining Identity Digital, Kim held CPO and Sr. Leadership roles with notable companies in the Pacific Northwest, including Microsoft, T-Mobile, Washington Mutual, TrueBlue, and Holland America. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Marquette University.
When she is not working, she enjoys time with her husband and grown children, baking, playing games, or getting lost in a jigsaw puzzle.
Job Titles:
- Chief Revenue Officer
- Leader
As Chief Revenue Officer, Matt oversees sales and registry growth. Matt has been a highly respected leader in the domain industry for nearly 15 years. Before Identity Digital acquired registry Rightside, Matt led Rightside's monetization and premium domain sales business. Previously serving as General Manager of NameJet, he established it as the premier auction marketplace in the domain name industry. Prior to joining Rightside, Matt started his career by working in advertising at McCann Erickson in Seattle. Matt has a B.A. from DePauw University. He enjoys chicken and oyster farming, pickling…and eating pickles too.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Pete brings over 30 years of experience as a growth and turnaround leader, successfully transforming various domestic and international organizations. Most recently, as CIO, he helped transform CIBT into the largest and most well-established travel visa and passport company globally by spearheading the company's immigration practice expansion and performing due diligence on over 60 successful acquisitions. Before CIBT, serving as Network Solutions' SVP of engineering, product development, and M&A, Pete led two major acquisitions and helped sell the company twice. He also held senior leadership positions at Lockheed Martin and General Electric. Pete's extensive experience includes leading and developing large-scale distributed network applications, web-based applications, and global marketing and e-commerce products. He holds a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Rachel Sterling serves as Chief Marketing Officer where she is focused on expanding Identity Digital's impact on driving awareness and adoption of our top level domain portfolio. Prior to joining Identity Digital, Rachel held senior leadership positions at Proximie, Instagram, Twitter, and Google where she developed impactful strategies around product, integrated, content, and event marketing.
Rachel also possesses a creative background, spending the first eight years of her career working in TV production and post-production. Rachel lives in Belmont, CA with her husband and two children.
Ram
Mohan - Chief Strategy Officer
A seasoned executive with a strong strategy orientation, Ram works closely with the CEO, board members, and executives to achieve Identity Digital's long-term vision. Ram served as COO and co-founder at Afilias, acquired by Donuts in 2020, where he launched the .INFO, .ORG and .IO registries, building the world's second-largest domain name registry.
Ram's previous positions include Co-Founder of TurnTide (acquired by Symantec 2001) and COO of Infonautics (publicly traded Ed-Tech company). His board positions include Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) and ICANN (2008-2018). Ram also co-founded ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC).
He is an inventor of nineteen U.S. patents in Internet technology, recipient of InfoWorld's 'Premier 100 Technology Leaders' award, a CIO100 honoree, and Guinness World Record holder (2018).
Ram enjoys running (7 marathons and counting), playing with his two girls, and living with his wife in picturesque Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- VP, Finance and Accounting
In her role as VP of Finance and Accounting, Serina leads the team performing the accounting, reporting, tax, and treasury operations of Identity Digital. Serina promotes a culture of high performance and continuous improvement and values learning and a commitment to quality.
Serina has extensive finance, administration, and public accounting experience in diverse industries, including ecommerce, multi-channel retail, and technology. She is skilled at integrating and improving operations, setting strategy and driving process improvement, implementing policies and procedures, and fostering cross-functional collaboration.
Prior to joining Identity Digital, Serina held leadership roles in the digital commerce business of Walgreens, drugstore.com, and served a variety of public and private companies as a Senior Manager at Grant Thornton. She holds an undergraduate degree in Accounting from Seattle University's Albers School of Business and Economics and is a licensed CPA.
In her free time, she enjoys time with her family and friends, staying active, trying new recipes, and sipping a glass of wine.
Job Titles:
- VP of Vertical Growth
- VP, Business Development
In her role as VP of Vertical Growth, Trang leads Identity Digital's efforts to drive the adoption of our portfolio of vertical domains.
Trang has a proven track record of helping companies launch programs and products to market that ignite breakthrough profit and market results. An expert at orchestrating large-scale projects and strategic initiatives, Trang excels at bringing diverse stakeholders together to tackle complex challenges and solve business-critical issues that help companies transform and grow.
Prior to joining Identity Digital, Trang held leadership positions at public and private companies of varying sizes, such as ICANN, KPMG, First Consulting Group, and ERI Economic Research Institute. She has an MBA from USC and has served on multiple non-profit Boards, including Public Technical Identifiers and The Travel Partnership Corporation, amongst others.
In her spare time, Trang enjoys baking, hiking, biking, running, and planning the next epic trip with her family.