Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm. Its ability to churn out research, generate reports, and create stunning images – all at lightning speed – has generated both excitement and deep anxiety. The impact of AI has already been enormous and the nonprofit world is no exception. With the sector notoriously slow when it comes to investing in technology, the question remains: Will nonprofits embrace these revolutionary new tools or be left in the dust of this whirlwind of change?
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Meet Our Guests
- Brendan Howe, CEO and Founder, Techify
- Alexandra Samuel, Technology Journalist and Author
- Meena Das, Founder, Namaste Data
- Beth Kanter, International Nonprofit Thought Leader and Author
- Jason Shim, Chief Digital Officer, Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience
- Dan Kershaw, Executive Director, Furniture Bank
- Charles Buchanan, CEO and Founder, Technology Helps
This episode of CharityVillage Connects is brought to you by the RISE Program. Funded by Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada, this free, self-guided and fully virtual training program is available to all charities and nonprofits looking to leverage user-centric design to update, enhance or add to their services. Visit riseprogram.ca to learn more, register and begin your user-centric design journey today.
Meet Our Guests (in order of appearance)
Brendan Howe
CEO and Founder, Techify
Brendan Howe is the CEO and visionary founder of Techify, a technology company specializing in proactive technology, productivity, and cybersecurity driven by data and AI. With over 15 years of experience, Brendan has led Techify to become a leading player in the industry. Techify has consistently been included on Canada’s list of top-growing companies, demonstrating its remarkable progress and achievements.
Alexandra Samuel
Digital Workplace Expert
Alexandra Samuel is an expert on remote work and the digital workplace. A speaker and data journalist, she is the co-author (with Robert Pozen) of Remote, Inc: How To Thrive at Work….Wherever You Are (Harper Business, 2021) and the author of Work Smarter with Social Media: A Guide to Managing Evernote, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Your Email (Harvard Business Review Press, 2015).
Meena Das
Founder, NamasteData and Data Is For Everyone
Meena Das (she/her/hers) is the founder, consultant, and facilitator at her practices NamasteData and Data Is For Everyone. NamasteData is focused on advancing data equity for nonprofits and social impact agencies. Meena specializes in designing and teaching equitable research tools and analyzing engagement. She leads her work with love for the community, respect for her lived experiences and knowledge from decade plus experience of working with data.
Beth Kanter
International Nonprofit Thought Leader & Author
Beth Kanter is a well-established international nonprofit thought leader and author. Her first book, The Networked Nonprofit, introduced the sector to a new way of thinking and operating in a connected world. Her second book, Measuring the Networked Nonprofit, is a practical guide for using measurement and learning to achieve social impact.
Jason Shim
Chief Digital Officer, Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience
How can we harness technology to make a difference in the world? That’s the question Jason loves to explore with organizations. Jason serves as Chief Digital Officer of the Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience which aims to build a digitally-enabled nonprofit sector, where Canada’s diverse nonprofits use data and tech to advance their mission and multiply their impact.
Dan Kershaw
Executive Director, Furniture Bank
Dan Kershaw, also known as the “Furniture Banker,” leads the Furniture Bank, a charity social enterprise that seeks to end furniture poverty across Canada. Inspired by sustainability and backed by over 17 years of digital experience, Dan applies his education in Environmental Studies and Marketing Technology to encourage innovative sustainable, data-driven impact strategies in the charitable sector.
Charles Buchanan
CEO and Founder, Technology Helps
Charles Buchanan is the Founder and CEO of Technology Helps. As an innovator and visionary, he has a distinguished history in corporate technology leadership (including Suncor Energy, Deloitte, Oracle, MNP, and Royal LePage), management consulting, and entrepreneurship.
About your Host
Mary Barroll
President of CharityVillage
Mary Barroll, president of CharityVillage, is an online business executive and lawyer with a background in media, technology and IP law. A former CBC journalist and independent TV producer, in 2013 she was appointed General Counsel & VP Media Affairs at CharityVillage.com, Canada’s largest job portal for charities and not-for-profits in Canada, and then President in 2021. Mary is also President of sister company, TalentEgg.ca, Canada’s No.1, award-winning job board and online career resource that connects top employers with top students and grads.
CharityVillage Resources from this Episode
Additional Resources from this Episode
We’ve gathered the resources from this episode into one helpful list:
- “We can’t refuse to look at artificial intelligence until it passes us by”: a new survey finds that most charities don’t understand how they could use artificial intelligence (Future of Good)
- Weekly Report: Artificial Intelligence (Charity Insights Canada Project)
- KPMG in Canada Generative AI Adoption Index
- ChatGPT
- The Smart Nonprofit: Staying Human-Centred in an Automated World by Beth Kanter
- How we created AI photos of poverty without harming those we seek to help (Furniture Bank)
- The Picture Isn’t Real, The Reality Is (Furniture Bank)
- An eating disorders chatbot offered dieting advice, raising fears about AI in health (NPR)
- Microsoft pulls article recommending Ottawa Food Bank to tourists (CBC)
- KFC apologises after German Kristallnacht promotion (BBC)
- Journalist says he had a creepy encounter with new tech that left him unable to sleep (CNN)
- Canadian AI pioneer brings plea to U.S. Congress: Pass a law now (CBC)
- AI could lead to extinction, experts warn (BBC)
- We Got Social Media Wrong. Can We Get AI Right? By Alexandra Samuel (JSTOR)
- Why Furniture Bank Has a Responsible AI Manifesto (Furniture Bank)
- 8 Steps Nonprofits Can Take to Adopt AI Responsibly by Beth Kanter, Allison Fine & Philip Deng (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
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