2025 Mozilla grantees working on topics like environmental justice, data stewardship and trustworthy AI will compete live to pitch their projects to a live audience. Attendees will vote to choose which project is the most impactful; the winning project will walk away with a prize.
Senior Program Officer at Mozilla Foundation
Nabiha Syed is Executive Director of Mozilla Foundation, the global nonprofit that champions trustworthy AI and advocates for a more open, equitable internet. Formerly, Nabiha was CEO of The Markup, an award-winning journalism non-profit recognized as “Most Innovative” by FastCompany in 2022. Prior to The Markup, Nabiha was a highly acclaimed media lawyer with a legal career spanning private practice and the New York Times First Amendment Fellowship. Nabiha sits on the board of the Scott Trust, the $1B+ British company that owns The Guardian newspaper, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, and the New Press. She also serves as an advisor to ex/ante, the first venture fund dedicated to agentic tech, and is a current member of The World Economic Forum’s AI Governance Alliance. In 2023, Nabiha was awarded the NAACP/Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award.
Alix Dunn is the founder and CEO of The Maybe, a critical consultancy, collective, and media studio challenging the power and politics of tech. She hosts the Computer Says Maybe weekly podcast, sits on the board of Foxglove and is an advisor for AI Now and the AI Collaborative.
Ellie Bertani is the President/CEO of GitLab Foundation, a private foundation launched in 2022 to improve lifetime earnings and economic mobility worldwide. In its first three years, the Foundation has approved over 140 grants, unlocking billions in projected lifetime earnings across the U.S., Latin America, and Africa. Known for its agile, transparent, and outcomes-focused approach, it has helped shift philanthropy toward evidence-driven, collaborative practices.
Under Ellie’s leadership, the Foundation has pioneered investments in AI for economic opportunity and co-founded Opportunity AI, the largest global network of funders advancing economic mobility through AI. By combining rigorous Social ROI modeling with a community-centered lens, the Foundation is recognized as a leader in outcomes-focused philanthropy.
A former frontline worker, Ellie previously led workforce strategy and innovation at Wells Fargo and Walmart. She holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from MIT Sloan.