Every once in a while procrastination works in your favor, even if by sheer luck.

That’s the case for our newest podcast episode, which I first recorded almost a year ago with Ashley Boyd, SVP of Global Advocacy at the Mozilla Foundation. Back in March, Ashley insightfully reflected on the technology turnaround project we had just wrapped up, and some of the early results from their new Technology Platforms Team.

Listen: The Greatmakers - Ep. 3: Ashley Boyd, Mozilla Foundation

But as luck would have it, the year delay it took to get the episode out also worked out nicely, since it gave Ashley time to experience more of the outcomes of the transformation, which you’ll hear in an updated intro. 

The headline-grabber is a rather jaw-dropping increase in fundraising revenue over the past year. 

But she also relates other benefits that are equally transformative, such as a huge reduction in internal conflict and confusion, an increase in collaboration and trust, better ability to attract high level talent, and increased confidence and ambition for the future. 

So for those of you wondering what this model really looks like when it works, you can hear the Mozilla Foundation's story directly from Ashley (or read the transcript) in the latest episode of "The Greatmakers" either on our site or wherever you eat your podcasts. :)

Notable highlights

"We had really lost traction [with digital fundraising] because of our problems with data and tooling and team structure, team processes. So we were trying to see whether we could turn the tide on that. And we have. For 2023 was we raised $3.43 million, which is $1.2 million more in 2023 than we had in 2022. It was a 54 percent increase. And so much of that is really due to the work that we did with you and with our teams to really invest in our digital infrastructure and our team structure."

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"Day to day, the amount of conflict and confusion is down by 95%. Which creates a lot more energy. So a lot more clarity about sort of who's doing what and how to resolve concerns.... A lot of trust that a solution [will] be resolved, a lot of communication, and a lot of partnership in figuring it out. So that's been a huge transformation." 

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"What I'm hearing from people- which is really exciting- is just that they feel like this group of technology leaders are excited to do creative new things. They're not saying no all the time, they're saying yes.... listening, providing options, providing feedback and then sort of energetically catching the ball.... So it's a 'yes-and' approach to breathe life into the creative collaborative space."

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"It was surprising and exhilarating to see what a quick turnaround- with a lot of hard work- we were able to produce. If we think about it, too... it also equals more than the investment we made."

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"Because we had a clear pathway to improving our infrastructure, we were able to attract the talent who were excited about the transformation we were making, wanted to be a part of it and then able to make the most of the changes we had already implemented."

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"What I've noticed is then it allows for the confidence and the ambition to take on more advanced projects together. So that's really what's happening in our system. There seems to be a confidence, and a collective ambition that's taking root, organically that wouldn't have happened before."

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Listen: The Greatmakers - Ep. 3: Ashley Boyd, Mozilla Foundation