I’m excited to announce that Alan Davidson is joining us today as our new Vice President of Global Policy, Trust and Security.

At a time when people are questioning the impact of technology on their lives and looking for leadership from organizations like Mozilla, Alan will add considerable capacity to our public policy, trust and security efforts, drawing from his extensive professional history working to advance a free and open digital economy.

Alan will work closely with me to help scale and reinforce our policy, trust and security capabilities and impact. He will be responsible for leading Mozilla’s public policy work promoting an open Internet and a healthy web around the world. He will also supervise a trust and security team focused on promoting innovative privacy and security features that put people in control of their online lives.

“For over 15 years, Mozilla has been a driving force for a free and open Internet, building open source products with industry-leading privacy and security features. I am thrilled to be joining an organization so committed to putting the user first, and to making technology a force for good in people’s lives,” says Alan Davidson, Mozilla’s new Vice President of Global Policy, Trust and Security.

Alan is not new to Mozilla. He was a Mozilla Fellow for a year in 2017-2018. During his tenure with us, Alan worked on advancing policies and practices to support the nascent field of public interest technologists — the next generation of leaders with expertise in technology and public policy who we need to guide our society through coming challenges such as encryption, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, cybersecurity, and more.

“Alan was a tremendous asset to the Commerce Department in our groundbreaking work to promote a strong and prosperous digital economy for all Americans,” said Penny Pritzker, former United States Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of PSP Capital. “I am sure he will be a terrific addition to Mozilla and its role as a leading voice for a free and open Internet around the world.” Until early 2017, Alan served as the first Director of Digital Economy at the U.S. Department of Commerce and a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce.

Alan joins Mozilla from his most recent engagements as Senior Program Fellow with New America in Washington D.C. and as a private consultant. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Commerce, he was the director of New America’s Open Technology Institute. Prior to that, Alan opened and grew Google’s Washington D.C. office, and led the company’s public policy and government relations efforts in North and South America for seven years.

Join me in welcoming Alan to Mozilla!

-Denelle