Having worked both as a government contractor tasked with evaluating the impact of non-profits, as well as a 3rd party evaluator for foundation funded projects, Eric knows what funders are looking for and what makes grant proposals more competitive. He has also worked within a non-profit as a Senior Manager of Research and Evaluation (R&E), so he understands the pain points and constraints that non-profits face as they try to meet their funders' performance expectations. Working for funders to see if grantees meet their deliverables, while later working within a non-profit striving as an organization to meet those deliverables, Eric has uniquely valuable perspectives that could benefit both non-profits and foundations, who ultimately, are working towards the same goal.

As a "tech" person, Eric has always been quick to explore emerging technologies. Eric closely followed the rapid emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and following the November 2022 release of ChatGPT 3.5, he was amazed at the progression, and realized the world was about to change. Within his own non-profit, he found a significant amount of resistance, and distrust of AI -- "AI" had almost become a dirty word. Undeterred, he led his organization's efforts to adopt AI tools, and became the AI "go to" person. But as AI tools became more capable, he noticed that his colleagues -- some of whom had said, "I just don't trust it!" -- now were using ChatGPT, Otter.ai etc. Now the problem turned from unwillingness to adopt AI, to misadoption of AI tools. Suddenly he began to read grant proposals that featured the distinct tone and diction of ChatGPT, or program participant/donor outreach materials written almost entirely by an AI Chatbot. To add to the chaos was a lack of standardization and clear organization wide AI policies that established uniform protocols and best practices. He realized that his organization wasn't unique in this regard, and knew that non-profits and foundations would be slower to adopt and standardize their AI protocols compared to for-profit institutions and corporations. It was for these reasons that he founded Drivingimpact.ai, to help guide non-profits and foundations to harness AI tools to do good in a way that is effective, safe, and ethical. All organizations are different, and no standard approach fits all.

We would love to learn more about your organization and where you are on your AI journey (even if you haven't begun it yet!). We are available for free 30-minute Zoom calls to explore your needs. Our services range from a 1-hour AI best practices presentation (remote or in-person, Los Angeles area) to intensive recurring workshops to help your organization employ specific tools for specific needs. For larger organizations, we recommend the designation of one employee or a small group to serve as the organization's "AI gurus" who we would meet with on a periodic basis in a workshop format, to check progress and help overcome any obstacles.

Whether we like it or not, the ability of an organization to harness AI will increasingly be a determinant of their success. Funders can use AI to help determine the best way to make an impact with each dollar awarded, and non-profits can use AI to improve their competitiveness for those dollars, and use them to maximize impact. We all want the same thing, to increase impact, and AI, when applied properly, can and will change the world. That's why, at DrivingImpact.ai, we are dedicated to equipping the nonprofit sector with practical, ethical, effective human-centered AI systems that help non-profits and foundations to work smarter, increase impact, and build better futures.