May 22nd, 2014

Please join me in welcoming Ronaldo Lemos to the Mozilla Foundation Board of Directors. Ronaldo brings a passion for the open Web and a wealth of new knowledge to the Mozilla Foundation Board. Ronaldo is an internationally respected Brazilian academic, lawyer and commentator on intellectual property, technology, and culture. He is the director of the Rio Institute for Technology & Society, and professor at the Rio de Janeiro State University´s Law School. He has also been the Project Lead for Creative Commons in Brazil since 2003.

Lemos was one of the creators of the Marco Civil da Internet, legislation for protecting civil rights, privacy and net neutrality for the Internet in Brazil—key, given Mozilla’s increasing focus on the role of policy in protecting (or harming) the open nature of the internet. Ronaldo also brings a broad view of the nature of the internet in markets like Brazil, where an increasing amount of people are coming online primarily via mobile.

Ronaldo has been working with Mozilla since 2005, helping Mozilla conduct activities in Brazil, working together on policy issues, and increasingly providing advice about Firefox OS as a tool for mobile empowerment. Ronaldo strengthens our voice and expands our reach. You can follow him (in Portugese mostly) on twitter at @lemos_ronaldo, Facebook and the Instituto de Tecnologia & Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro. We are excited to have Ronaldo’s expertise and energy as part of our leadership team.