Karla Valente

Karla Valente has joined ICANN in 2007 and is currently the gTLD Registry Programs Director. She has also an advisory role in the New gTLD Program development.

She has been in the Domain Name industry since 1998. She has developed and managed over 160 worldwide partnerships and devised strategies to Fortune 500 companies on global online branding, domain name portfolio development and protection. She worked for VeriSign for 7 years as Senior Product Manager/Senior Registry Relations. In this role, Karla was responsible for developing, deploying and managing a wide range of TLD products and partnerships for the Digital Brand Management Services Group. Prior to joining VeriSign, Karla was Director of Global Service Development of 1GlobalPlace, Inc. As the international operations point-of-contact, she developed and managed the company's global operations, all TLD and brand protection service portfolio and communications. Additionally, she served as in-house co-counsel for international IP issues, supported the company's acquisition process and transition of intellectual property assets. Before working at the TLD industry, Karla has helped US companies with international expansion planning and provided cross-cultural communications training.

Karla earned her MA in International Relations and International Public Law from the University of Amsterdam and has a Bachelor of Law (JD) from Brazil. She speaks several languages.