J. Bob Alotta
J. Bob Alotta. Photo credit: Lola Flash

The fifth-annual Queer 50 Awards honor LGBTQ individuals transforming tech, business, and more

(NEW YORK, NY | JUNE 11, 2024) -- Today, Mozilla Senior Vice President of Global Programs J. Bob Alotta has been named to Fast Company’s Queer 50 List. The award recognizes leading LGBTQ innovators across tech, business, finance, venture capital, politics, and media.

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J. Bob Alotta is a radical philanthropist and nonprofit executive who shifts funding — and power — to the communities making digital technology more just. At Mozilla, J. Bob leads an international portfolio of events, research, fellowships, and awards centered on trustworthy AI and data agency. Their goal: to expand and diversify the infrastructure that allows like-minded activists to network, succeed, and operate at a level greater than the sum of their parts, so that technology may serve the public interest.

Prior to Mozilla, J. Bob led the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, providing critical resources to LGBTQ activists and artists around the world.

The main criteria that Fast Company’s editors considered for this year’s list include the size and growth prospects of each person’s business or organization; their place in the broader business and social conversation; the impact of their contributions over the past 12 months, their career trajectory and potential for growth; and their activism and advocacy for the queer community.

Says J. Bob Alotta: “I’ve focused my career to ensure LGBTQ+ movements are truly intersectional — helping to build, strengthen, and activate our efforts around the world. It’s an honor to be included alongside others who have done the same — and will continue to do the same, as our movements confront new challenges, injustices, and opportunities. What I am more sure of than ever is that ‘queering’ technology is a liberatory act.”

Says Mark Surman, Mozilla President: “J. Bob’s impact at Mozilla is indelible. They have launched and stewarded ambitious, urgent programs around the world — from reimagining computer science curricula in the U.S. and in Kenya, to leading cutting-edge research around data stewardship. And J. Bob’s approach to movement building has been unwavering: acknowledge that expertise lives at the site of experience, and then do the work to shift power to those communities.”