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Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

Theresa Swinehart has served as Vice President, Global and Strategic Partnerships, for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) since 2004. In this capacity, she leads ICANN’s efforts in the global coordination of the organization’s planning activities as well as its work with regional Internet communities. In leading ICANN’s outreach activities through her regional liaison network team, she builds relationships with all participants and regional organizations interested in the Internet, both those in the private sector and in government. She also represents the organization in numerous forums, including discussions on Internet governance.

She joined ICANN in 2001 as Counsel for International Legal Affairs, where her work involved strengthening the corporation’s relationship with its Governmental Advisory Committee, country code top level domains (ccTLDs), and other global coordination activities.

Before joining ICANN, Theresa was Director for Global E-Commerce at MCI, where she oversaw international issues related to e-commerce such as data protection, ISP liability and content-related matters, and monitored emerging technical areas such as ENUM (telephone numbering on the Internet) as well as the company’s participation in the Global Business Dialogue (GBDe) and the Global Internet Project (GIP) initiatives, among others.

Theresa also participated in the global Internet community’s discussions leading to the 1998 transition of the Domain Name System to private sector management and the establishment of ICANN, and she served as a North American representative on the ICANN Domain Name Supporting Organization’s Names Council from 1999 to 2001.

Theresa holds a law degree from American University (USA), Washington College of Law (USA), a postgraduate degree in International Studies from Universität Wien (Austria), and a BA in International Relations from the University of California, Davis (USA).

She is fluent in English and German, and is conversant in several other languages.