[gustavus]

Looking at the qualifications and past experience of this pick I am starting to wonder what exactly was the rationale behind this? The only work history listed in her resume is as a consultant, and as "Holly Million the Shaman Artist".

This will be interesting to say the least.

[type0]

I was surprised that such high profile science education bio-engineering project like BioBricks was led by a shaman. Never heard of scientific shamanism before, maybe it is the development model of GNOME which would explain a lot of things.

[booleandilemma]

Her name sounds like something out of a William Gibson novel, for one.

[not_your_mentat]

Can she at least have razor blades under her fingernails?

[lproven]

I am glad it's not just me that thought of Saint Molly.

[striking]

From TFA:

> Holly brings three decades of invaluable experience in nonprofit management, having served as a consultant, director of development, executive director, and board member for numerous organizations. Notably, she founded the nonprofit organization Artists United, dedicated to empowering individual artists and fostering collaboration across artistic disciplines for the collective good. Additionally, Holly served as the Executive Director of the BioBricks Foundation, an international, open-source biotechnology nonprofit.

Is it possible that you missed some items somehow? Would cross checking them against the article be a good idea?

[FireBeyond]

> Notably, she founded the nonprofit organization Artists United

Artists United (https://www.artists-united.org/) is not confidence-inspiring. A barely edited Squarespace template with a few pages with a few paragraphs on most, including some unremoved Squarespace boilerplate.

No contact information.

No information on who runs it. Just a "manifesto" and a "call to action".

[toasteros]

Looks like her Shamanism business is a side gig. I see her listed as a VP on another non-profit website[0], so I guess she actually does have a track record of non-profit management. It don't think it's entirely unusual for people to have side gigs, especially when they're in management consultancy. I have a C-suite sister-in-law who is also a Reiki practitioner.

[0]: https://dignitymoves.org/team/holly-million/

[josteink]

I would beg to differ. It seems to have been one of her primary activities which she has invested quite a bit into.

And which she is trying to remove from historical records as we speak.

https://lunduke.locals.com/upost/4740497/gnome-foundation-hi...

Who decided this seemingly unqualified person, of all unlikely people, was fit for the highest role in managing a multi-decade software project?

This is a shady hire. I wouldn’t be surprised to see personal connections turning out to be the sole factor behind her getting offered this job.

[toppy]

"has raised millions of dollars throughout her career"

[nvm0n2]

Gonna be another Mozilla, it seems?

[kbrosnan]

I know it is cool to hate on Mitchell Baker here. Lack of qualifications is not a valid criticism. She has a law degree from Berkley. Passed the California bar exam in '87. Was a high ranking lawyer in Netscape as their first legal hire. Designed the Mozilla Public License. Created the Mozilla Foundation. She has been in executive roles for 20-30 years.

[pseudalopex]

Yes. Mitchell Baker had every top job at Mozilla from 1999 to 2008. She was the Mozilla project's general manager, Mozilla Foundation's 1st president, and Mozilla Corporation's 1st CEO. She could be the wrong CEO for Mozilla now. But it couldn't be for inexperience.

[kyleee]

Just goes to show hiring in house is no silver bullet

[josteink]

> Lack of qualifications is not a valid criticism.

On the contrary I would consider that the absolutely most justified, objective criticism one could find.

But then I’m one of those guys who thinks DEI (as preached by today’s social activists) is horseshit, and I think meritocracy is a good thing.

I’m not sure how those things are seen from within, by people more left leaning than me.

[lproven]

> I think meritocracy is a good thing.

The term "meritocracy" was coined as a satirical parody of effective governance.

https://www.routledge.com/The-Rise-of-the-Meritocracy/Young/...

It was meant to be a negative, and is used as a pejorative: as a very bad idea that became effectively a swearword.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41427674

Be careful what you wish for.

[r-w]

“It […] is used as a pejorative” Not to nitpick, but it clearly isn’t used that way by everyone, certainly not by the person you’re replying to.

[lproven]

It is used _in the book_ as a pejorative. That is the explanation from the definition that I link to.

The problem when a prominent wealthy company attempts to run its business on the basis of meritocracy is illustrated by the existence of projects such as GNOME, systemd, Wayland, and Flatpak.

[pseudalopex]

What qualifications did she lack?

[nvm0n2]

Who said anything about qualifications? She is a terrible CEO because she knows nothing about web browsers, and clearly couldn't care less about her companies products. Why would anyone ever make a lawyer a CEO of anything except a law firm? It's a self evidently terrible idea and the results are exactly what you'd expect.

[shadowgovt]

Leadership's extensive knowledge of web browsers hasn't exactly been the silver bullet to guarantee Mozilla's future, given past performance. Technological superiority is less relevant when your opponents are monopolists who are making deals with each other to interlock their hardware and software.

Perhaps in a world where the largest threats to Mozilla's survival as a company are corporate maneuvering and deal making, a lawyer is the best CEO to choose by meritocracy argument.

[type0]

How is this relevant, as far as I know Mozilla isn't a law firm