All Tech Is Human Earns $650,000 in Grant Funding to Better Align Tech, Public Interest

All Tech Is Human – a nonprofit organization launched just a few years ago in Greater Hartford - has announced that it has secured over $650,000 in funding to support the growth of the organization in 2022 and beyond, while also allowing it to better execute on the multitude of projects related to building the responsible tech pipeline and better aligning tech with the public interest.

All Tech Is Human’s growth and mission is being backed by the Ford Foundation, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Susan Crown Exchange, and Pivotal Ventures, the investment and incubation company created by Melinda French Gates.

In addition to these philanthropic grants, Seattle design firm Artefact, which was behind the Tarot Cards of Tech and Ethical Explorer, committed a substantial level of pro bono support to turn its flagship resource, the Responsible Tech Guide, into an impactful site filled with helpful resources for the growing responsible tech and public interest technology communities.

Given the immense concern around how deeply areas like AI and social media impact our civil liberties, wellbeing, and even democracy at large, pointed out All Tech Is Human leaders, it is imperative that more of the public is involved in the process of how these technologies are designed, developed, and deployed.

All Tech Is Human, founded in 2018 and now based in Manhattan with a global audience and lens, has been intentionally designed to bring new voices into the process.

“Technology is not just for technologists,” says David Ryan Polgar, founder and director of All Tech Is Human. “Our organization aims to build a better tech future by promoting a culture of knowledge-sharing and collaboration with a multistakeholder, cross-sector community that greatly diversifies the voices involved in the process. Positive tech change requires a conducive environment and pathways for committed individuals to participate, and the generous funding we have received will help us achieve this goal.”

All Tech Is Human specializes in uniting a broad range of stakeholders to tackle these complex topics, along with developing ways to greatly diversify the tech pipeline and inject it with a broad range of disciplines and individuals committed to the public interest.

"Aspiring responsible technologists, activists, researchers, artists, journalists and more are flocking to the field of public interest technology. As the field grows, it is essential to establish communities and networks that help to make relevant career pathways visible and viable across sectors,” said Jenny Toomey, International Director of Technology and Society at the Ford Foundation.  “This ecosystem-building work has never been more crucial, and Ford Foundation is proud to support All Tech Is Human's efforts to convene, curate, and connect public interest technologists of all kinds."

Past participants in All Tech Is Human reports and summits have included Aspen Institute, Berkman Klein Center, World Economic Forum, Data & Society, Mozilla, IEEE, DataKind, Center for Humane Technology, IBM, Salesforce, Deloitte, Accenture, the New York Times, Avanade, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, TikTok, Discord, Thoughtworks, Google, the FCC, Roblox, Partnership on AI, Web Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Tony Blair Institute and many more.

The organization has numerous activities related to growing the responsible tech pipeline and uniting a diverse range of stakeholders, including holding online and in-person gatherings such as its recent Responsible Tech Summit that drew 1222 attendees across 60 countries and running a large Slack group of over 2k members for the community.  In addition, the organization cultivates large and diverse working groups that release impact reports such as Improving Social Media and The Business Case for AI Ethics, operating the Responsible Tech Job Board for the unique range of roles in the field, developing a pilot mentorship program that will be expanded in 2022, and launching a Responsible Tech University Ambassadors program with representatives from 60 universities.

The organization’s flagship resource is its Responsible Tech Guide, launched in September 2020 (regularly updated) as a PDF that many cite as the go-to resource for understanding the people, organizations, and ideas of the nascent responsible tech movement.

The funding that All Tech Is Human has received will allow the organization to make additional hires in early 2022, along with being able to improve and expand their current range of projects. The organization currently has a 150-person working group exploring the concept of HX (Human Experience) and ways to better align digital spaces with ideal human experiences, which will be releasing a report in late January 2022.

All Tech Is Human’s expansion as an impactful non-profit aims to help blaze pathways for new voices and better align technology with the public interest.

"In today’s world, power and control of technology rests in too few hands. We now have the opportunity and moral responsibility to put AI and data tools into the right hands to solve the global challenges we face together,” said Vilas Dhar, President, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. “All Tech Is Human is uniting stakeholders across civil society, education, government, and the private sector to co-create a future for all of us. We are proud to be supporters, collaborators, and allies in this work."

 “It’s never been more important to connect the emerging coalition of individuals, organizations, and sectors that cares deeply about the way technology impacts the lived experiences of youth,” adds Kevin Connors, Senior Director at Susan Crown Exchange. ‘As a connector, convener, and champion for a more positive and equitable Digital Age, All Tech Is Human plays a central role in this effort.”