Last August, we announced that Mozilla was seeking a new executive director to lead its movement building arm. I’m excited to announce that Nabiha Syed — media executive, lawyer, and champion of public interest technology — is joining us to take on this role.
I’ve gotten to know — and admire — Nabiha over the last few years in her role as the chief executive officer of The Markup. I’ve been impressed by her thinking on how technology, humanity and society intersect — and the way she has used journalism and research to uncover the challenges and opportunities we face in the AI era.
As we talked about the executive director role, I also found a thought partner who sees the potential to combine the ‘market’ and ‘movement’ sides of Mozilla’s personality to shape how the tech universe works. I am convinced that Nabiha will make us a stronger, bigger and more impactful organization, at a time when the internet needs it most.
Nabiha will take over leadership of Mozilla Foundation’s $30M/year portfolio of movement building programs starting on July 1. Her first task will be to supercharge the Foundation’s trustworthy AI efforts, with an initial focus on:
- Partnering with other public interest organizations to shift the narrative on AI.
- Creating — and funding — open source and community-driven data sets, tools, and research.
- Growing a global community of talent committed to building responsible and trustworthy tech.
She will take on the responsibility for all of Mozilla’s philanthropic and advocacy programs, and will lead fundraising for our charitable initiatives.
It’s important to note: Nabiha’s appointment is part of a broader effort to build new leadership that can take Mozilla into its next chapter. She joins Laura Chambers (CEO, Mozilla Corporation), Moez Draief (Managing Director, Mozilla.ai), Mohamed Nanabhay (Managing Partner, Mozilla Ventures) as well as Mitchell Baker (Executive Chair of Mozilla Corporation) and I, as part of the senior leadership team charged with advancing the Mozilla Manifesto in the AI era.
As Nabiha joins, I will be moving full-time to the role of Mozilla Foundation President, focusing even more deeply on the growth, cohesion and sustainability of the overall Mozilla portfolio of organizations. This includes further work with Mitchell and our Boards to develop a clear roadmap for Mozilla’s next chapter — with a particular focus on the role Mozilla can play in AI. It also includes support for senior leaders at Mozilla.ai and Mozilla Ventures — our two newest entities — as well as Mozilla’s new Global Head of Public Policy, Linda Griffin.
This is an exciting and pivotal moment — for Mozilla, the internet and the world. More and more people are realizing the need for tech products that are designed to be trustworthy, empowering and delightful — and for a movement that mobilizes people to reclaim the internet and ownership over their digital lives. We have a chance to build these things right now, and to reshape the relationship between technology and humanity for the better. I’m so glad Nabiha has joined us to make this happen. Welcome!
