Spotlight: Building Your AI Confidence Muscles

Virtual – Live/Online

Fee: $135 for MCN members / $175 for nonmembers

Register Now

Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) has been exploding over the past couple of years, particularly with the emergence of tools such as ChatGPT. While some estimates show that fewer than 25 percent of nonprofits have started using AI, similar surveys show that over 65 percent say they are open to doing so.

Spotlight: Building Your AI Confidence Muscles is designed for people who know the change is here and want to be proactive in introducing AI into their organizational workflow and processes. This full-day, virtual training offers four 60-minute sessions that dig into the transformational potential of AI for the nonprofit sector and build awareness and confidence in the process.

Spotlights are day-long virtual trainings, offering four to five 60-minute sessions, each exploring a different aspect of a specific topic. Each session will be led by experienced nonprofit leaders and subject-matter experts. Spotlights are designed to offer practical information that can be applied immediately along with larger-picture questions and possibilities to consider for the long-term.

We know it’s difficult to carve out large chunks of time in your day to attend trainings, so we’ve spread the sessions out over a full day, with breaks in between. You will have access to the session recordings for three months!

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Schedule (All times listed in Central Time)

9 – 10 a.m. // Get Ahead of AI Integration at Your Nonprofit By Addressing People’s AI Concerns and Curiosities
Shereese Floyd, CEO, Witness My Life & founder, AI Community Network (AICN)

Generative AI is changing how nonprofits operate, but staff often have questions and worries about using it. This session focuses on the human side of AI adoption and how leaders can approach change management . Learn ways to address concerns, guide your team through adjustments, and build an AI-friendly culture. Gain insights into practical steps for open communication, trust-building, and fostering an environment where AI can be adopted with confidence and clarity.

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. // From Marketing to Fundraising to HR: Identifying and Experimenting with AI’s Multiple and Intersecting Work Areas
Deepa Chaudhary, founder, Grant Orb

Ready to move beyond the AI hype? Join this practical, hands-on session where you’ll discover why generative AI is revolutionary and how it can transform your nonprofit’s daily operations – freeing up precious time for your real mission. In just one hour, you’ll gain clarity on what this new wave of AI is really about, explore the broad landscape of AI tools available today, and see how they can transform your daily operations. Through practical examples and insider hacks, you’ll learn how to use AI to supercharge your marketing, elevate your fundraising, and streamline your HR tasks in minutes – all while staying true to your mission.
No technical background needed – just bring your curiosity and your challenges.

12 – 12:45 p.m. // Lunch Chat with Deepa

Bring your biggest fears into the room for some myth-busting and problem solving and your AI enthusiasm and successes to share with each other.

1 – 2 p.m. // Practical Use Demo: AI and Data Analysis
Eric Molho, founder and principal, Bon Partners

In this fast-paced session, we will introduce (or review) a variety of uses for AI to help you become more efficient and save time in your work. From research to analysis, AI provides many solutions beyond writing. Specifically, we will look at examples across different functional areas such as policy development, marketing and fundraising. We will also explore how we can appropriately analyze our existing data to generate new insights.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. // Approaching an AI Policy for Your Nonprofit
Amy Sample Ward, CEO, NTEN

Clearly stating how you will use and invest in AI is an essential part of its adoption within an organization. After a day of discussing the human side of building an AI-friendly culture, ethical use concerns, and learning about AI’s transformative powers for daily operations through hands-on demos and experimentation, Amy Sample Ward will bring us full circle and introduce possible approaches to formalizing AI’s integration into the functional areas of your work.

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Event Details

This virtual event will take place on the Zoom platform. Your access link will be emailed to you the day before the event after 12 p.m.

This session will be recorded. The recording will be made available to registrants after the live event.

Captioning is provided automatically through Zoom. For information on requesting CART, ASL, or another accommodation, please visit our Registration Policies page.

Small Team Rate: Register three people from the same organization at once and the fourth registration is free! To register online, one person will login to their MCN account and will add colleagues to your group – your fourth colleague will be free! Visit our Events and Registration FAQ page (choose “How do I register multiple people?” from the FAQ options) for instructions on how to complete online group registrations.

To learn more about events, registration, and payment, visit our Event & Registration FAQ page.

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Speaker Information

Deepa Chaudhary is the founder of Grant Orb, an AI powered grant writer. She comes from a nonprofit background with expertise in fundraising and helping nonprofits embrace technology. Previously, she worked with the Salesforce Foundation and was on the founding team of United Way Mumbai.

Shereese Floyd is CEO of Witness My Life – a people and culture firm that partners with corporations and universities to create and implement women’s leadership programs. Shereese is on a mission to empower women to stop auditioning for their value so they can end self-doubt, embrace self-mastery, develop authentic leadership – and be impossible to ignore. Additionally, Shereese is the founder of AI Community Network (AICN) for Nonprofit Leaders, an author, coach, award-winning speechwriter, and sought-after keynote speaker. Her work has been featured in publications such as Essence, Chief Learning Officer, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and CEO World.

Eric Molho is an accomplished speaker and presenter. He helps nonprofits and schools achieve excellence through strategic planning, marketing support, and AI implementation. He consistently works with clients to develop innovative solutions to systemic, complex problems. He earned his Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan and Bachelor of Arts Degree from St. Olaf College.

Amy Sample Ward is driven by a belief that the nonprofit technology community can be a movement-based force for positive change. Their prior experience in direct service, policy, philanthropy, and capacity-building organizations has fueled Amy’s work to create meaningful, inclusive, and compassionate community engagement and educational opportunities for organizations around the world. As the CEO of NTEN, Amy inspires the NTEN team and global partners to believe in community-generated change. Amy believes technology can help nonprofits reach their missions more effectively and equitably, but doing so takes intention and investment in training, access, and collaboration.