AI for Social Good agenda

AI for Social Good agenda is sponsored by The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. The Patrick J.

McGovern Foundation supports initiatives that advance AI for social good, including projects related to environmental data, climate, and species detection for conservation efforts.

# Patrick J. McGovern Foundation * ## Aboutshow submenu for “About” * ## Resourcesshow submenu for “Resources” * ## Products and Servicesshow submenu for “Products and Services” * ## Legacyshow submenu for “Legacy” * McGovern Institute for Brain Research Patrick J.

McGovern Foundation * Aboutshow submenu for “About” * Resourcesshow submenu for “Resources” * Products and Servicesshow submenu for “Products and Services” * Legacyshow submenu for “Legacy” * McGovern Institute for Brain Research # Home, sweet home. This is the homepage h1. Media error: Format(s) not supported or source(s) not found Download File: https://www.

mcgovern. org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Untitled-design-8. mp4?

_=1 Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume. ;) The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_aiforgood-publicinteresttech-digitalwellbeing-activity-7495155359528013824-t0sv) Social platforms are built to hold your attention. Real connection is a different design problem entirely.

New_ Public's latest research, After the Feed, tracks how AI summaries and chatbots are pulling traffic and trust away from journalism and community spaces. One response is Roundabout, a New_ Public product designed to help people build real relationships with actual neighbors, not another feed of alerts. It's part of what Vox recently called "neighborism": people choosing real relationships with those who live near them.

A single product isn't enough to reshape our online lives. That's why New_ Public runs the Open Social Awards, backing builders creating alternatives to today's dominant platforms. This year's winners include Rudolph Fraser, founder of Blacksky Algorithms, building tools that give communities more control over their online spaces.

As AI reshapes how people find information and connect, New_ Public is working to make sure communities have a say in what comes next. #AIForGood#PublicInterestTech#DigitalWellbeing#ResponsibleAI The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_responsibleai-publicinteresttech-techforgood-activity-7491576650128797697-Ls_r) There's a shopping bag being developed right now that, once thrown away, sprouts seeds and grows into a plant. It's frontier work built on constant trial and error, and purpose-built AI tools are increasingly part of how that work gets done.

Materiom, an open-data and biotechnology platform that provides recipes, tools, and AI-driven insights for creating regenerative, 100% bio-based materials, built Materiom AI to act like a lab partner. It recalls relevant research and asks the right follow-up questions. Materiom spoke with three practitioners about how they use it.

Julia Brière, a product designer working with sea salt composites, uses it to troubleshoot failed experiments in real time. Muireann Nic an Bheatha, a bio lab technician, uses it to help students define what a material needs to do before they start building. Adele Zavagno, developing compostable bioplastics, uses it for grounded research she can build on herself.

As Adele put it: "On your tool it feels like you're reading something accurate. I noticed sometimes that ChatGPT kind of invents things. I prefer to use this kind of tool for this purpose."

Read the full conversation at materiom. org/resources #ResponsibleAI#PublicInterestTech#TechForGood The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_responsibleai-publicinteresttech-techforgood-activity-7490869959183523840-98mU) A single data center project can now require as much power as a small city. State regulators and local officials built their systems for slower, predictable growth in electricity demand, and today's surge in data center construction is testing that model.

These projects affect local land, water, and infrastructure long before anyone sees a change on their utility bill. Climate Cabinet has a new series of reports for state legislators, designed to walk states through important considerations for approving data center projects.

A Regulatory Framework to Meet Today's Challenges series focuses on questions like who pays, what gets built, how to keep the costs off regular ratepayers, and how to give residents a real voice before projects get approved. As communities grapple with data center development, this gives local leaders a real framework for deciding what's best for their community. Learn more at https://lnkd.

in/gVXTwywA #ResponsibleAI#PublicInterestTech#TechForGood The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www. linkedin.

com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_the-patrick-j-mcgovern-foundation-is-expanding-activity-7490867053558480896-GhIg) The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation is expanding its leadership team! We are delighted to announce that Vivian Schiller will join PJMF as CEO on September 11.

Vivian brings decades of executive leadership across media, technology, and public-interest institutions, including Aspen Digital, NPR, NBC News, and Twitter, and will join President Vilas Dhar to co-lead the Foundation. The demands facing philanthropy, civil society, and the institutions working at the intersection of technology and public purpose are growing. The questions ahead go well beyond any single technology.

They focus on how our institutions adapt, how communities retain agency, and whether our society can build the public trust that this moment requires. This appointment expands PJMF’s leadership bandwidth to explore and act against those opportunities. We look forward to what we will build together in this next chapter.

Please join us in welcoming Vivian to the Foundation! The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_when-civil-society-organizations-are-deciding-activity-7501693418113290240-QwNB) When civil society organizations are deciding whether to build technology solutions in-house, buy off-the-shelf options, or partner with a tech builder, there’s no single right answer.

The best path depends on the problem you are solving, how much customization you truly need, and what your team can realistically sustain. Take a look at PJMF’s new playbook of best practices for nonprofits weighing whether to build, buy, or partner on their technology decisions.

Rooted in insights from PJMF's grantmaking and capacity-building work, this playbook covers topics such as: How to choose the right path for your organization’s needs Building the right kind of external support Setting up external engagements for success Read the playbook on PJMF’s Learning Hub The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www. linkedin.

com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_leaving-the-hospital-is-rarely-the-end-of-activity-7501638926814740481-fPKY) Leaving the hospital is rarely the end of a patient’s care. It is often when a family member takes on the work of recovery without the training they need. Noora Health works with governments and health systems to prepare families for what comes next.

Its AI-powered Care Companion Program trains healthcare workers to teach patients and caregivers how to manage medications, recognize warning signs, and support recovery at home. In the second quarter of 2026, the program reached 7. 3 million caregivers and patients across India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Nepal.

Its growth reflects something larger: governments are beginning to make caregiver training part of how their health systems operate. Noora is also bringing caregivers' experience into the public conversation. The Caregivers, a short documentary produced through the Skoll Foundation and Video Consortium’s Solutions Storytelling Project, follows a family in Indonesia and the community health worker who supports them.

Their story has reached more than one million viewers. Caregivers already hold health systems together. Noora’s work shows what can happen when health systems recognize that role and give families the support to carry it well.

Read Noora Health’s Q2 impact reporthttps://lnkd. in/gieKQY5d Edith Elliott Anubhav Arora William Funk The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_aiadoption-responsibleai-aigovernance-activity-7501330951885565952-qUoh) Most corporate cultures were built around scarcity. AI is about to test those assumptions for leaders in and out of the boardroom.

PJMF President Vilas Dhar joined Professor Ashley Braganza on The AI Adoption Podcast, out today, to discuss how AI could change the ambitions of organizations built around limited staff, budgets, and resources. “Leaders in this era are going to be ones that have deeply empathetic and smart human skills, and can balance those with the capacity to partner with extremely good data environments,” Vilas said.

That question belongs in the boardroom. Too often, AI oversight becomes a readiness checklist, leaving a bigger conversation untouched. For Vilas, the opportunity starts with revisiting ideas once dismissed as too expensive, too demanding, or simply impossible, and being willing to put them to the test.

Listen to the full conversation: Spotify https://lnkd. in/dvR4gXxb Apple Podcasts https://lnkd. in/gtdy9AHQ YouTube https://lnkd.

in/eTAPE_ff #AIAdoption#ResponsibleAI#AIGovernance#PublicInterestTech The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www. linkedin.

com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_aiforhumanity-climateaction-publicinteresttech-activity-7498411442736361472-mYs8) Some of the most consequential climate decisions are buried in contracts few people ever read. A lease can set the energy standards for a building. A procurement agreement can shape emissions across an entire supply chain.

Once signed, those terms can influence how companies operate for years. Ben Metz and The Chancery Lane Project are changing those terms. The organization rewrites standard contract clauses so lawyers and businesses can reduce climate and environmental harm through agreements they already use every day.

The approach has already reached UK government procurement contracts and major companies in telecommunications, consumer goods, and healthcare. The next challenge was taking a proven but hands-on model to a much larger scale. AI is helping the team make that shift.

Ben describes using it to scope research, build a knowledge graph, map priorities across climate and health, and generate prototype clauses in one weekend. He estimates that the same work would previously have required six months of fundraising and $250,000.

In the latest Humans of AI for Humanity, Ben joins PJMF Vice President of Strategy and Innovation Nick Cain to discuss how AI is helping the project scale, why its legal knowledge should remain open, and what it means to make law an infrastructure for care. “Law is one percent of the global economy, and it governs the other ninety-nine percent through contracts. ” Read the conversation between Ben and Nick: https://lnkd.

in/g5hAGW5P? #AIForHumanity#ClimateAction#PublicInterestTech The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_aiforgood-publicinteresttech-digitalwellbeing-activity-7495155359528013824-t0sv) Social platforms are built to hold your attention. Real connection is a different design problem entirely.

New_ Public's latest research, After the Feed, tracks how AI summaries and chatbots are pulling traffic and trust away from journalism and community spaces. One response is Roundabout, a New_ Public product designed to help people build real relationships with actual neighbors, not another feed of alerts. It's part of what Vox recently called "neighborism": people choosing real relationships with those who live near them.

A single product isn't enough to reshape our online lives. That's why New_ Public runs the Open Social Awards, backing builders creating alternatives to today's dominant platforms. This year's winners include Rudolph Fraser, founder of Blacksky Algorithms, building tools that give communities more control over their online spaces.

As AI reshapes how people find information and connect, New_ Public is working to make sure communities have a say in what comes next. #AIForGood#PublicInterestTech#DigitalWellbeing#ResponsibleAI The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_responsibleai-publicinteresttech-techforgood-activity-7491576650128797697-Ls_r) There's a shopping bag being developed right now that, once thrown away, sprouts seeds and grows into a plant. It's frontier work built on constant trial and error, and purpose-built AI tools are increasingly part of how that work gets done.

Materiom, an open-data and biotechnology platform that provides recipes, tools, and AI-driven insights for creating regenerative, 100% bio-based materials, built Materiom AI to act like a lab partner. It recalls relevant research and asks the right follow-up questions. Materiom spoke with three practitioners about how they use it.

Julia Brière, a product designer working with sea salt composites, uses it to troubleshoot failed experiments in real time. Muireann Nic an Bheatha, a bio lab technician, uses it to help students define what a material needs to do before they start building. Adele Zavagno, developing compostable bioplastics, uses it for grounded research she can build on herself.

As Adele put it: "On your tool it feels like you're reading something accurate. I noticed sometimes that ChatGPT kind of invents things. I prefer to use this kind of tool for this purpose."

Read the full conversation at materiom. org/resources #ResponsibleAI#PublicInterestTech#TechForGood The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_responsibleai-publicinteresttech-techforgood-activity-7490869959183523840-98mU) A single data center project can now require as much power as a small city. State regulators and local officials built their systems for slower, predictable growth in electricity demand, and today's surge in data center construction is testing that model.

These projects affect local land, water, and infrastructure long before anyone sees a change on their utility bill. Climate Cabinet has a new series of reports for state legislators, designed to walk states through important considerations for approving data center projects.

A Regulatory Framework to Meet Today's Challenges series focuses on questions like who pays, what gets built, how to keep the costs off regular ratepayers, and how to give residents a real voice before projects get approved. As communities grapple with data center development, this gives local leaders a real framework for deciding what's best for their community. Learn more at https://lnkd.

in/gVXTwywA #ResponsibleAI#PublicInterestTech#TechForGood The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www. linkedin.

com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_the-patrick-j-mcgovern-foundation-is-expanding-activity-7490867053558480896-GhIg) The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation is expanding its leadership team! We are delighted to announce that Vivian Schiller will join PJMF as CEO on September 11.

Vivian brings decades of executive leadership across media, technology, and public-interest institutions, including Aspen Digital, NPR, NBC News, and Twitter, and will join President Vilas Dhar to co-lead the Foundation. The demands facing philanthropy, civil society, and the institutions working at the intersection of technology and public purpose are growing. The questions ahead go well beyond any single technology.

They focus on how our institutions adapt, how communities retain agency, and whether our society can build the public trust that this moment requires. This appointment expands PJMF’s leadership bandwidth to explore and act against those opportunities. We look forward to what we will build together in this next chapter.

Please join us in welcoming Vivian to the Foundation! The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_when-civil-society-organizations-are-deciding-activity-7501693418113290240-QwNB) When civil society organizations are deciding whether to build technology solutions in-house, buy off-the-shelf options, or partner with a tech builder, there’s no single right answer.

The best path depends on the problem you are solving, how much customization you truly need, and what your team can realistically sustain. Take a look at PJMF’s new playbook of best practices for nonprofits weighing whether to build, buy, or partner on their technology decisions.

Rooted in insights from PJMF's grantmaking and capacity-building work, this playbook covers topics such as: How to choose the right path for your organization’s needs Building the right kind of external support Setting up external engagements for success Read the playbook on PJMF’s Learning Hub The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www. linkedin.

com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_leaving-the-hospital-is-rarely-the-end-of-activity-7501638926814740481-fPKY) Leaving the hospital is rarely the end of a patient’s care. It is often when a family member takes on the work of recovery without the training they need. Noora Health works with governments and health systems to prepare families for what comes next.

Its AI-powered Care Companion Program trains healthcare workers to teach patients and caregivers how to manage medications, recognize warning signs, and support recovery at home. In the second quarter of 2026, the program reached 7. 3 million caregivers and patients across India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Nepal.

Its growth reflects something larger: governments are beginning to make caregiver training part of how their health systems operate. Noora is also bringing caregivers' experience into the public conversation. The Caregivers, a short documentary produced through the Skoll Foundation and Video Consortium’s Solutions Storytelling Project, follows a family in Indonesia and the community health worker who supports them.

Their story has reached more than one million viewers. Caregivers already hold health systems together. Noora’s work shows what can happen when health systems recognize that role and give families the support to carry it well.

Read Noora Health’s Q2 impact reporthttps://lnkd. in/gieKQY5d Edith Elliott Anubhav Arora William Funk The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www.

linkedin. com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_aiadoption-responsibleai-aigovernance-activity-7501330951885565952-qUoh) Most corporate cultures were built around scarcity. AI is about to test those assumptions for leaders in and out of the boardroom.

PJMF President Vilas Dhar joined Professor Ashley Braganza on The AI Adoption Podcast, out today, to discuss how AI could change the ambitions of organizations built around limited staff, budgets, and resources. “Leaders in this era are going to be ones that have deeply empathetic and smart human skills, and can balance those with the capacity to partner with extremely good data environments,” Vilas said.

That question belongs in the boardroom. Too often, AI oversight becomes a readiness checklist, leaving a bigger conversation untouched. For Vilas, the opportunity starts with revisiting ideas once dismissed as too expensive, too demanding, or simply impossible, and being willing to put them to the test.

Listen to the full conversation: Spotify https://lnkd. in/dvR4gXxb Apple Podcasts https://lnkd. in/gtdy9AHQ YouTube https://lnkd.

in/eTAPE_ff #AIAdoption#ResponsibleAI#AIGovernance#PublicInterestTech The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation [](https://www. linkedin.

com/posts/mcgovern-foundation_aiforhumanity-climateaction-publicinteresttech-activity-7498411442736361472-mYs8) Some of the most consequential climate decisions are buried in contracts few people ever read. A lease can set the energy standards for a building. A procurement agreement can shape emissions across an entire supply chain.

Once signed, those terms can influence how companies operate for years. Ben Metz and The Chancery Lane Project are changing those terms. The organization rewrites standard contract clauses so lawyers and businesses can reduce climate and environmental harm through agreements they already use every day.

The approach has already reached UK government procurement contracts and major companies in telecommunications, consumer goods, and healthcare. The next challenge was taking a proven but hands-on model to a much larger scale. AI is helping the team make that shift.

Ben describes using it to scope research, build a knowledge graph, map priorities across climate and health, and generate prototype clauses in one weekend. He estimates that the same work would previously have required six months of fundraising and $250,000.

In the latest Humans of AI for Humanity, Ben joins PJMF Vice President of Strategy and Innovation Nick Cain to discuss how AI is helping the project scale, why its legal knowledge should remain open, and what it means to make law an infrastructure for care. “Law is one percent of the global economy, and it governs the other ninety-nine percent through contracts. ” Read the conversation between Ben and Nick: https://lnkd.

in/g5hAGW5P? #AIForHumanity#ClimateAction#PublicInterestTech We are tech-inspired global changemakers, optimists, and visionaries advancing AI and data solutions to create a thriving, equitable, and sustainable future for all.

## The Fight Over AI Is Really a Fight Over Who Governs Vilas Dhar argues that this spring's papal encyclical and presidential order took opposite stances on AI while revealing the same shift: authority moving from citizens to private hands, with ordinary democracy the way to reclaim it. We focus on ideas + action in technology, AI, and data science that can radically transform our world for the better.

Unlock AI & data approaches for betterment of humanity Strengthen non-profit impact with technology, AI, and data Accelerate applications of AI to maximize human potential Advocate for digital dignity, data stewardship, and ethical technology Innovate technology, AI, and data solutions for pressing global challenges Legacy of Patrick J.

McGovern ## The Pages of Tech History A tumultuous series of court hearings granted a software patent to two engineers and helped establish the legality of software patents. More Tech History Stories "Shoot for the stars, and if you land on the moon, we'll all be better for it."

August 11, 1937 - March 19, 2014 A New Code for AI: Watch Vilas Dhar’s TEDxPaloAlto Talk Data as a Public Good The Fight Over AI Is Really a Fight Over Who Governs In the News Can AI Really Support Missions? Some Nonprofits Are Betting It Can In the News If you are human, leave this field blank. All of our website content may be republished and used for free, except for images, illustrations and videos.