Hugh Molotsi, a technologist with a background in computer engineering, spent most of his 22-year career at Intuit, where he distinguished himself working on new offerings and helped launch many new products. His last role at Intuit was Vice President of Innovation, running an internal incubator called Intuit Labs. Molotsi’s board journey began when he was asked to serve on the board of a nonprofit called Fresh Lifelines for Youth, which he found fulfilling and educational. After leaving Intuit in 2015, he joined the boards of Bottle World, a publicly listed company headquartered in Johannesburg, and Mozilla Corporation.
In his first board meetings, Molotsi primarily took the posture of a listener, asking questions to learn and catch up with the ongoing conversations. He found his biggest impact on the strategy committee at Bottle World and volunteered to lead the nominations committee at Mozilla. Molotsi believes that having genuine dialogue and productive conflict in board meetings is a good sign that the work being done is meaningful.
Molotsi is optimistic about the future of Black representation on corporate boards, noting the progress made in the last 10-15 years. He believes that if society and businesses value diversity and inclusion, the progress will sustain itself. Molotsi advises aspiring board candidates to serve on nonprofit boards to gain experience, be inclusive in their search, and expect the journey to take time. He emphasizes the importance of Black voices in the boardroom and encourages more people to think about board service as part of their career aspirations, noting that while it is a lot of work, it can be very fulfilling.
