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Fund.AI – Fast Forward

Fund.AI: A Convening on AI for Humanity

Fund.AI brought together funders, philanthropists, and technologists to chart a path for AI that serves humanity. Hosted by Fast Forward & The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, the convening surfaced new ideas, collaborations, and commitments for backing AI-powered nonprofits.

Across two days, conversations centered on:

  • How philanthropy can responsibly accelerate AI-powered nonprofits
  • Where AI is already delivering measurable social impact
  • What funders need to evaluate AI grant proposals with confidence
  • How collaboration across sectors unlocks faster, safer adoption

Read the recap: Five Big Ideas from Fund.AI

What to Expect

Whether you joined us in New York last fall or are new to this conversation, this year’s convening will offer:

  • A deeper dive into what’s changed in the fast-moving AI landscape — and how those shifts should inform funding strategies.

  • Collaborative workshops designed to surface shared infrastructure needs, opportunities for joint investment, and actionable ways to accelerate impact.

  • Candid dialogue with technologists, nonprofit leaders, and AI companies about how philanthropy can help unlock the potential of cutting-edge models for the communities that need them most.

And, lots of time for networking & connection!

Fund.AI – Fast Forward
"Funders and nonprofits are in the same boat, trying to navigate this AI moment in a responsible and ethical way. Fund.AI gave me practical, well-vetted tools that I continue to reference each time I receive an AI-related grant proposal. I’m excited to come back for year two!”
Amanda Reed, Program & Systems Officer, Michigan Health Endowment Fund

Agenda

Tuesday, October 7th

8:00 – 9:00 AM: Coffee & Connections: Registration and Breakfast

Fuel up and meet peers before diving into the program.

9:00 – 9:10 AM: Welcome: Why We’re Here

Setting the stage for two days of connection and learning.

With: Vilas Dhar, President & Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

9:10 – 9:45 AM: AI for Humanity: The Big Picture

A candid conversation on how AI is reshaping society, and what philanthropy can do to steer its impact.

With: Vilas Dhar, President & Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation and Baratunde Thurston, Writer, Host, Comedian, Life With Machines

9:45 – 10:00 AM: AI Year in Review: What’s Changed, and What’s Next for Philanthropy

A look at how the AI landscape continues to shift—new capabilities, breakthroughs, and challenges—and what it all means for philanthropy.

With: Nick Cain, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

10:00 – 10:45 AM: Responsible AI in Action: From Principles to Practice

A hands-on session equipping funders with practical ways to support nonprofits in building and using AI responsibly.

With: Kevin Barenblat, Co-Founder & President, Fast Forward; Divya Siddarth, Executive Director, Collective Intelligence Project; Jacqui Watts, Learning & Insights Lead, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

10:45 – 11:15 AM: Coffee & Connections: Snack Break

Stretch your legs and meet fellow funders

11:15 – 12:00 PM: Curiosity to Commitment: How Funders Are Embracing AI Grantmaking

Philanthropic leaders share real examples of how they’re approaching AI: what’s worked, what’s been hard, and how it’s reshaping their grantmaking strategies.

With: Pauline Fong, Chief Program and Impact Officer, Murdock Charitable Trust; Marie Groark, Managing Director, Schultz Family Foundation; Anu Malipatil, Executive Director, Overdeck Family Foundation, and Antoinette Marie, Director, Strategic Capital, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

12:00 – 12:30 PM: Curiosity to Commitment: Mapping the Room

Interactive session where funders share where they are on the AI learning curve, surface common challenges, and identify opportunities to collaborate and support one another.

With: Shannon Farley, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Fast Forward

12:30 – 2:00 PM: Lunch: Networking & Connection

For those interested, find the Quiet Questions table, where you can ask all your pressing questions in a safe space.

With: Kevin Barenblat, Co-Founder & President, Fast Forward

2:00 – 3:00 PM: Insights to Action: Skill-Building Tracks

Trade insights and explore practical approaches to proposal review, grantee technical support, and internal AI adoption.

3:00 – 3:30 PM: Coffee & Connections: Snack Break

Stretch your legs and meet fellow funders

3:30 – 3:45 PM: Lightning Learn: AI-Powered Nonprofit Case Studies

Lightning demos from three AI-powered nonprofits showcasing real-world examples of impact

With: Kevin Barenblat, Co-Founder & President, Fast Forward, Alysia Garmulewicz, Co-Founder, Materiom; Liz Corbin, Co-Founder, Materiom; Dana Gunders, President, ReFED, and Kasumi Quinlan, Executive Director, Lemontree

3:45 – 4:30 PM: AI + Ops: Doing More With Less

Learn how funders can back operational AI that strengthens grantees’ systems, cuts inefficiencies, and fuels long-term sustainability.

With: Gozi Egbuonu, Director of Programs, Technology Association of Grantmakers; Chantal Forster, Independent Philanthropy Advisor, and Naomi Morenzoni, SVP, Climate & Innovation Philanthropy, Salesforce.org

4:30 - 6:30 PM: Shared Futures Happy Hour

Relax with colleagues, and explore what it means to be human in an age of intelligent machines.

With: Evo Heyning, Executive Producer & CEO, Realitycraft

Wednesday, October 8th

8:00 – 9:00 AM: Coffee & Connections: Registration and Breakfast

Fuel up and meet peers before diving into the program.

9:00 – 9:10 AM: Reflections and Directions: Looking Ahead

Reconnect as a group, recap key takeaways, and set the tone for Day Two.

With: Nick Cain, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation and Shannon Farley, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Fast Forward

9:10 – 10:10 AM: Building Together: Platform Partnerships for Impact

Hear from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic about how collaboration between tech platforms and philanthropy can maximize impact

With: Josh Achiam, Head of Mission Alignment, OpenAI; Shad Ahmed, Economic Mobility Lead, Anthropic; Alexander Diaz, Head of AI for Social Good, Google.org and Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink, Director, AI & Social Impact, Google; Aras Jizan, Principal, AI, NextLadder Ventures

10:10 – 11:00 AM: Impact Tracks: Climate, Workforce, and Health & Science

Continue the conversation from the platform firesides in small-group tracks across climate, workforce, and health & science.

With: Josh Achiam, Head of Mission Alignment, OpenAI; Shad Ahmed, Economic Mobility Lead, Anthropic; Nick Cain, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation; Alexander Diaz, Head of AI for Social Good, Google.org; Adam Goldfarb, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Opportunity AI; Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink, Director, AI & Social Impact, Google; Aras Jizan, Principal, AI, NextLadder Ventures; Nisha Kadaba, Director, Global Impact, PagerDuty.org and Matt Zieger, Chief Programs & Partnerships Officer, GitLab Foundation

11:00 – 11:30 AM: Coffee & Connections: Snack Break

Stretch your legs and meet fellow funders.

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Future-Proofing the Ecosystem: Philanthropy’s Role in the AI Era

Discussion on risks, opportunities, and recommendations for how philanthropy can help nonprofits adapt and thrive in the age of AI.

With: Charles Duhigg, Writer at The New Yorker, Author at Random House; Shannon Farley, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Fast Forward, and Maggie Johnson, Global Head and VP, Google.org

12:00 – 12:45 PM: Insights to Action: Skill-Building Tracks

Continue trading insights and exploring practical approaches to this work together.

12:45 – 2:15 PM: Lunch: Networking & Connection

Enjoy time for lunch and connection

2:15 – 3:00 PM: A Last Look Forward: Fireside with a Leading Voice

Hear how radical, tech-enabled collaboration between like-minded nonprofits can help funders create leveraged impact.

With: Vilas Dhar, President & Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation and Stacy Palmer, CEO, Chronicle of Philanthropy

3:00 – 3:25 PM: Training Models, Building Coalitions: Scaling Climate Action Through ML

Hear how radical, tech-enabled collaboration between like-minded nonprofits can help funders create leveraged impact.

With: Former Vice President Al Gore, Co-Founder, Climate TRACE; Nick Cain, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, and Vilas Dhar, President & Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

3:25 – 3:45 PM: Moving Forward Together: Collective Priorities for the Ecosystem

Together we’ll shape the key insights, shared priorities, and concrete actions that will carry Fund.AI forward.

With: Nick Cain, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation and Shannon Farley, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Fast Forward

3:45 – 5:00 PM: Last Call: Closing Cheers

Wrap up Fund.AI with a final round of drinks, casual conversation, and connections before heading out.

Confirmed Speakers

  • Josh Achiam, Head of Mission Alignment, OpenAI
  • Shad Ahmed, Economic Mobility Lead, Anthropic
  • Kevin Barenblat, Co-Founder & President, Fast Forward
  • Nick Cain, Vice President of Strategy & Innovation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
  • Alexander Diaz, Head of AI for Social Good, Google.org
  • Vilas Dhar, President & Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
  • Charles Duhigg, Writer at The New Yorker, Author at Random House
  • Shannon Farley, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Fast Forward
  • Gozi Egbuonu, Director of Programs, Technology Association of Grantmakers
  • Pauline Fong, Chief Program and Impact Officer, Murdock Charitable Trust
  • Chantal Forster, Independent Philanthropy Advisor
  • Alysia Garmulewicz, Co-Founder, Materiom
  • Liz Corbin, Co-Founder, Materiom
  • Adam Goldfarb, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Opportunity AI
  • Marie Groark, Managing Director, Schultz Family Foundation
  • Dana Gunders, President, ReFED
  • Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink, Director, AI & Social Impact, Google
  • Maggie Johnson, Global Head and VP, Google.org
  • Nisha Kadaba, Director, Global Impact, PagerDuty.org
  • Anu Malipatil, Executive Director, Overdeck Family Foundation
  • Antoinette Marie, Director, Strategic Capital, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
  • Naomi Morenzoni, SVP, Climate & Innovation Philanthropy, Salesforce.org
  • Stacy Palmer, CEO, Chronicle of Philanthropy
  • Kasumi Quinlan, Executive Director, Lemontree
  • Divya Siddarth, Executive Director, Collective Intelligence Project
  • Jacqui Watts, Learning & Insights Lead, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
  • Matt Zieger, Chief Programs & Partnerships Officer, GitLab Foundation
  • Baratunde Thurston, Writer, Host, Comedian, Life With Machines