Denelle Dixon

Denelle Dixon is the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on working with and supporting changemakers to create equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology. She leads the teams that help maintain the Stellar network's codebase, support the communities around Stellar, and advocate on behalf of the network with international stakeholders — work that makes SDF's mission of promoting financial access possible.

Before joining Stellar, Dixon served as COO of Mozilla, one of the most successful mission-driven open-source organizations. During her tenure at Mozilla, she led the organization’s business, revenue, and policy teams, including the ongoing fight for net neutrality and the global effort to ensure that people can control their personal data. She also pushed Mozilla to understand how to partner with commercial entities while staying true to its core mission of openness, innovation, and opportunity on the web. A lawyer by trade, Dixon previously served as a general counsel and legal advisor in private equity and technology.

Throughout her career, Dixon has been a vocal advocate for net neutrality, encryption, government disclosure of vulnerabilities, and greater user choice and control.

Born and raised in Gilroy, California, Dixon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Davis, and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She currently sits on boards for Airtm, a blockchain and bank-connected digital wallet and peer-to-peer exchange platform, Tala, a financial services platform serving the world’s underbanked, MoneyGram International, a leading global financial technology company that connects the world's communities, and Trust and Safety Professional Association, a nonprofit that supports professionals who develop and enforce principles and policies that define acceptable behavior and content online. She was named to the Forbes 50 over 50 list in 2023.