MZLA Technologies Corp.

Ryan Sipes has spent over a decade building technology that empowers people while protecting their privacy and freedom.

Ryan is CEO of MZLA Technologies Corp., the company that creates Thunderbird and productivity software for millions of users worldwide. In 2026, under his leadership, MZLA launched Thunderbolt - an open-source AI client that gives organizations full ownership of their data and AI infrastructure without vendor lock-in. Under his leadership since 2017, Thunderbird has experienced a remarkable transformation: growing annual revenue from $700,000 to over $12 million, expanding the team from a handful of contractors to more than 60 full-time employees, and bringing Thunderbird to mobile platforms with launches on Android and iOS alongside its desktop presence on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Ryan was instrumental in Thunderbird's turnaround after the project was declared "dead" by many in 2012. As Managing Director and later CEO, he spearheaded major initiatives including Thunderbird 115 "Supernova," bringing Thunderbird to all platforms, the launch of Thundermail (Thunderbird's own email service), and the launch of Thunderbolt. His leadership emphasizes community-driven development, with transparent two-way conversations that have been central to Thunderbird's success and its unique community governance model.

Prior, Ryan was Co-Founder and CTO of Mycroft A.I., an early open source artificial intelligence platform for home automation. He served as Community Manager at System76, building community around Linux-based computer hardware and open source software. Ryan has also contributed to many open source projects for over 20 years including many different Linux distributions and the GNOME project.

Ryan operates according to three core principles: keeping technology open, inclusive, and interoperable; designing for human-centered privacy and agency; and maintaining transparent, community-driven impact that prioritizes public benefit over profit.

Lisa McCormack is Chief Operating Officer of MZLA Technologies Corp., the Mozilla subsidiary behind Thunderbird and Thunderbolt. She leads operational strategy and builds the systems that help the organization grow sustainably while staying grounded in its mission: building open source, privacy-respecting communication and productivity tools that give people more control over their digital lives.

Since joining MZLA in 2022, Lisa has helped guide the organization through significant growth and transformation. She works across teams and stakeholders to support strategic planning, strengthen organizational practices, and create the conditions for distributed teams to do their best work.

Lisa brings more than three decades of experience helping organizations adapt and navigate operational complexity across nonprofit, consulting, and technology services environments. Her work has centered on building the people, structures, and strategies organizations need to scale thoughtfully, manage change, and sustain their impact.

Lisa holds a master’s degree in Chinese Studies from Harvard University and a BA from Smith College.

Angela Plohman is Chief Operating Officer of the Mozilla Foundation, one of the world’s most recognizable tech-for-good organizations. She is an experienced nonprofit executive and strategic operations professional with a long track record of building and growing nonprofit organizations and programs.

Based in Montreal, she has spent over twenty years playing key leadership roles in the fields of arts and culture, community building, and technology in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Angela joined Mozilla in 2012. She has played many critical roles since, eventually building up a team that serves as the bedrock of all of Mozilla Foundation’s work. Over the last few years, she has: developed a strategy and a team aimed at helping Mozilla Foundation become an effective, healthy and sustainable movement building organization; and, at the same time, she has played a role in supporting the Board and executive leadership in growing the scope of Mozilla’s efforts. Angela also plays a critical role as the Secretary and Treasurer of multiple Mozilla Boards.

Since 2019, she has also served on the Board of OpenMedia, a community-driven organization that works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free. She serves on the Board of the Toronto Biennial of Art, and is also the President of the Board of Le Livart, a non-profit organization whose mission is to democratize access to art and culture, located in a former presbytery in Montreal.

Mark Surman has spent three decades building a better internet, from the advent of the web to the rise of artificial intelligence.

Mark is President of Mozilla, a non profit that works with companies and communities around the world to ensure the internet is built for people, not for profit. Mozilla's double bottom line portfolio includes the public benefit companies that make Firefox, Thunderbird and open source AI developer tools; a venture fund that invests in double bottom line tech companies; and a global foundation which backs the work of artists, educators and builders. Mark works across this whole portfolio to ensure Mozilla's people and resources are aimed at bending tech — and the tech industry — in a direction that serves all of humanity.

Mark was Executive Director of Mozilla Foundation for 15 years. He grew the organization into an international movement-building force, renowned for its fellowships, philanthropy, advocacy, and insights work, launching projects including Common Voice, the world's largest open source voice data set, and the Mozilla Festival, a yearly conference that brings together technologists, activists, artists, and others to collaboratively shape a healthier and more just digital future.

Prior, Mark was the founding Director of telecentre.org, a $26M initiative connecting community technology centers in more than 30 countries. He ran the Commons Group, a boutique consulting firm specializing in open source and social enterprise. And he was awarded the prestigious Shuttleworth Fellowship to explore open source approaches to philanthropy.

Mark serves on the Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Corporation Boards, and on the Boards of Ushahidi, a global not-for-profit technology company that develops integrated tools and services to enable people to generate solutions and mobilize communities for good, and ROOST, a non-profit building open source tools that aim to radically improve the state of trust and safety across the tech industry. He is a professor of practice in the MacMaster University Masters in Public Policy program, and is engaged as a writer, speaker and thinker in global conversations about open source, trustworthy AI and the future of the internet.

Mark lives in Toronto. He holds a BA in the History of Community Media from the University of Toronto. You can keep up with Mark on Linkedin, and see his recent talks here.