Mark Surman

Mark Surman is the executive director of the Mozilla Foundation.[1] He supports the notions of web literacy (the skills and competencies needed for reading, writing, and participating on the web) and Open Philanthropy (which advocates the transparency of the operations of nonprofit organizations toward the public).

Mark Surman
Mark Surman at SIF 2019
Born (1969-02-20) February 20, 1969
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
OccupationExecutive director of the Mozilla Foundation
Spouse(s)Tonya Surman (divorced)
ChildrenTristan Surman (1999) Ethan Surman (2002)
Websitemarksurman.commons.ca

Surman is a board member of the Toronto Arts Foundation[2] and an advisor to Peer to Peer University.[3]

Education and early employment

Surman received his bachelor's degree in the history of community media from the University of Toronto in 1994.

In 1998, Surman co-founded and became president of the Commons Group, providing advice on networks, technology, and social change.[4]

From 2005 to 2008, Surman was the managing director of telecentre.org.[5] Created by Canada's International Development Research Centre, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Microsoft, telecentre.org worked to network the global telecentre community, and improve their sustainability.[6]

The Shuttleworth Foundation, which provides funding for people engaged in social change,[7] awarded Surman one of its inaugural fellowship in 2007. There he helped advance thinking about how to apply open source approaches to philanthropy.[8]

Mozilla Foundation
Mark Surman at Mozfest 2019

In August 2008, Surman became the executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, an independent non-profit that was launched on July 15, 2003, as America Online shut down the Netscape browser division and drastically scaled back its involvement with the Mozilla project.[9]

As executive director, Surman oversaw the launch of Drumbeat,[10] a "global community of people who steward the open web, explaining and protecting the internet as a critical public resource," by supporting projects and local events that gathers creative people "around big ideas, solving problems and building the open web." [11]

In 2012 Surman launched Mozilla's Maker Party.[12] In those events, volunteers associated with the Mozilla Foundation teach web-literacy classes, focusing on tools, projects, and community.[13]

In 2013, foundation volunteers conducted 1,700 teaching events in 331 cities.[14] At the White House's first-ever Maker's Faire in 2014, hosted by President Barack Obama, Surman and Mozilla announced that Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National 4-H Council, and the Association of Science and Technology Centers would partner with Mozilla for the 2014 Maker Parties.[15]

In 2015 the Mozilla Foundation and Surman started expanding this work by launching Mozilla Learning Networks in 500 cities. These networks design, deliver and spread web literacy curriculum and teaching tools.[16]

Author

In 2005, Prentice Hall published his book "Commonspace: Beyond Virtual Community."[17] And "From the Ground Up: The Evolution of the Telecentre Movement" was published by Telecentre.org in 2006.[18]

Surman also has written opinion editorials for The Washington Post,[19] CNN.com,[20] The Globe and Mail,[21] Chronicle of Philanthropy,[22] MIT's Innovations,[23] and Fast Company.[24]

Surman has been interviewed by NPR Morning Edition,[25] The Irish Times,[26] CBC,[27] and other outlets.

Personal life

Surman was born in Toronto, Ontario. He currently resides in Toronto with his two sons, Ethan and Tristan Surman.

gollark: Google's DNS servers, it's easy to remember.
gollark: I admittedly haven't checked very hard, but `ping 8.8.8.8` says `(DUP!)` a lot sometimes and sometimes receives the same sequence number twice.
gollark: Apparently my internet connection is even more broken now. It seems to somehow be duplicating packets and having wildly variable latency.
gollark: Having a good antenna does help with *receiving* the signal from your phone or whatever, at least, as far as I know.
gollark: A wireless mesh thing is *probably* going to be better than basically no signal.

References
  1. "Mark Surman – Open philanthropy". Shuttleworth Foundation. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  2. "Board of Directors". Toronto Arts Foundation. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  3. "Org". Peer 2 Peer University. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  4. "Mozilla's Webmaker is providing a new tool for users to read, write and participate on the Web". Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  5. "Mozilla Press Center: Mark Surman". Mozilla. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  6. "Connecting ICTs to Development: The IDRC Experience". IRDC. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  7. "We are the Shuttleworth Foundation". The Shuttleworth Foundation. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  8. "Welcome to the 7th Annual Seneca Free Software and Open Source Symposium". Seneca College. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  9. Anderssen, Mark. "100 Most Influential People in the World: Scientists & Thinkers". Time. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  10. Cameron Parkins. "Mark Surman from the Mozilla Foundation". Creative Commons. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  11. "Drumbeat Workshop and Consultancy Bureau by and with Henrik Moltke & Mark Surman". Transmediale. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  12. "Mozilla's Webmaker is providing a new tool for users to read, write and participate on the Web". TechChange. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  13. Gilbertson, Scott. "Mozilla Aims to Build a Better Web with 'Webmakers' Project". Wired. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  14. Reilly, Richard Byrne. "Web 101: Mozilla's next act teaches people how to use the Internet – for free". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  15. "FACT SHEET: President Obama to Host First-Ever White House Maker Faire". The White House. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  16. "Mozilla Press Center: Mark Surman". Mozilla Foundation. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  17. Wershler-Henry, Darren Sean; Surman, Mark (January 2001). Commonspace: Beyond Virtual Community. ISBN 0130893617.
  18. "IRDC Research Results". IRDC. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  19. Surman, Mark (October 7, 2015). "Smartphone users in emerging markets deserve better than a watered-down Internet". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  20. Surman, Mark (February 18, 2016). "Mozilla chief: FBI snooping at Apple 'back door' makes you less safe". CNN. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  21. Surman, Mark (December 18, 2013). "What did you learn out of school today?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  22. Ibargüen, Alberto; Surman, Mark & Walker, Darren (February 11, 2015). "Philanthropy Must Jump-Start a Digital Revolution for the Common Good". Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  23. Surman, Mark; Gardner, Corina & Ascher, David (December 31, 2014). "Local Content, Smartphones, and Digital Inclusion". Innovations. 9 (3–4): 63–74. doi:10.1162/inov_a_00217.
  24. Davidson, Cathy & Surman, Mark (August 8, 2012). "Why Web Literacy Should Be Part of Every Education". Fast Company. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  25. "Mozilla Foundation Backs Apple In Encryption Case With Federal Government". Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  26. "Mozilla chief: Public need to become involved in encryption debate". Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  27. "Mark Surman argues for encryption". Retrieved April 28, 2016.
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