Introducing Navigating AI
Artificial Intelligence isn't just the future – it's already here, opening up incredible new possibilities for all of us to amplify our impact. At Emerson Collective, we see this every day: partners using AI to expand career opportunities, enhance accountability, accelerate clean energy adoption, improve healthcare access, and help kids learn. The breakthroughs we're witnessing are just the beginning, and the potential for social impact is extraordinary.
If you're like many of our non-profit partners, you're already exploring how generative AI can advance your work. You're asking questions about the potential of these technologies, and are thoughtfully considering how to align new tools with your values and mission. You're likely engaging with your board, donors, customers, and partners to discuss how AI might accelerate your impact. It's an exciting moment of possibility – and an opportunity to be intentional about how we harness these powerful new tools.
At Emerson Collective, where I am the Chief Technology Officer, we're diving deep into this transformation ourselves. We're enthusiastic users of generative AI tools across our work, and we're building our own AI-powered tools to better understand emerging trends and make sense of the rapidly changing world around us. Through our own exploration, and refined through our own AI education webinars and conversations with partners over the past two years, we have found ways to use AI ourselves as a tool to drive impact. We’ve also developed best practices and guidelines for Emerson Collective. We've even open-sourced our AI usage policy to help others on this journey.
As Shing Suiter at Mozilla Foundation wisely reminds us: "A lot of the time, people encounter a new technology and get excited about its potential, forgetting about all of the existing processes, evaluation structures, and safety considerations in place. (We call this shiny object syndrome!)" At the end of the day, bringing generative AI tools into your organization is like adopting any other powerful tool: It requires thoughtful implementation, clear processes, and alignment with your existing values and practices.
That's why we've reached out to some remarkable leaders who've walked this path before you, from one of the original architects of the open internet to America's premier civil rights organization to pioneering organizations working on criminal justice reform, workplace equity, and child protection. Each has successfully integrated generative AI into their work, and their experiences offer valuable insights for your own journey.
Let me introduce you to the leaders sharing their stories through our Navigating AI series, which will be rolled out in the coming weeks and live here:
Shing Suiter of Mozilla Foundation describes how they maintain their commitment to an open internet and user privacy while embracing AI's potential.
Ijeoma Mbamalu shows how she and her team at the ACLU developed a practical framework that preserves their core values of privacy, fairness, and transparency as they explore AI adoption. As they note, the goal is to incorporate this technology "so that it creates, rather than risks or diminishes value."
Josh Essex draws from his experience as CTO of Recidiviz, offering clear criteria for identifying which problems AI can meaningfully solve, based on their work using data to reduce incarceration rates.
Dr. Maya Wilson brings hands-on guidance from Syndio for evaluating and implementing AI tools, grounded in their mission of advancing workplace equity.
Dr. Rebecca Portnoff rounds out the collection with practical strategies from Thorn for keeping AI systems safe and effective over time, informed by their work protecting children from online exploitation.
These case studies aren't prescriptive solutions or endorsements; they're honest accounts from those who've successfully navigated the same questions you're asking now. Each has found different answers that work for their unique context, and you can draw inspiration from their experiences as you chart your own path forward.
You're not alone in this journey. The leaders featured here started exactly where you might be today: wondering how to choose the right tools, how to ensure they align with their work, and how to protect the communities they serve. Through careful consideration, they've found ways to harness AI's tremendous potential while staying true to their missions – and you can, too.
And this is just the beginning of an ongoing conversation! Drop me a line at raffi@emersoncollective.com. I'd love to hear what questions are on your mind and what topics you'd like us to explore next.
Worth the Read
ChatGPT can do more than answer your questions. Meet OpenAI’s new AI agent, Operator. Working in your browser, it can book your travel, order your groceries and slowly take over your life.
Here we go! This week, OpenAI, Softback and Oracle announced a joint venture to build computing infrastructure to power AI. Meanwhile, the federal government is taking down all of its open data sets. And on Tuesday, Trump announced that he’s repealing Biden’s 2023 Executive Order on minimizing the risks posed by AI.
