AI / Tech for Good in Aotearoa NZ virtual workshop
Description
AI for Good, in Aotearoa NZ: What Every Charity Needs to Know
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how organisations work - and the community sector doesn't have to be left behind. As part of Tech Week 2026, Fundsorter is hosting a free two-hour online webinar designed specifically for people working in charities and community organisations across Aotearoa New Zealand. Whether you're curious, cautious, or keen to get started, this is your chance to cut through the noise and get a clear-eyed, practical introduction to AI, built for the sector, by people who know it.
The session kicks off with a 30-minute grounding in AI fundamentals: what it actually is, how it works, and what responsible use looks like. Led by Lani Evans (Fundsorter) and Jade Tang-Taylor (simpact AI), this section includes ethical considerations and a governance checklist you can take back to your team. From there, five founders will each take five minutes to share how they're using AI right now to improve outcomes and find efficiencies. Then the final hour goes hands-on: a guided practicalities session facilitated by Alanna Irving (Fundsorter) where you get into the tools yourself, with expert support in the room.
It's free, it's online via ZOOM, and it's designed to be genuinely useful - a practical starting point for charities ready to explore what AI can do for them. Register for your free ticket through Humanitix and come see what's possible.
Agenda
- 6:00 pm
Opening Karakia & Welcome
- 6:05 pm
Icebreaker Introductions (in chat)
- 6:15 pm
AI fundamentals: what it actually is, how it works, and what responsible use looks like.
Co-hosted & led by Lani Evans (Fundsorter) and Jade Tang-Taylor (simpact AI)
- 6:45 pm
Five Founders: share how they're using AI right now to improve outcomes for communities
Featuring five founders: 1) Fundsorter (Bonnie MacShannon) 2) Good Numbers (Duncan Matthews) 3) FundrAIz (Carlos Aguilera) 4) Kaha Create (Pera Barrett) 5) simpact AI (Jade Tang-Taylor)
- 7:15 pm
Interactive Workshop: a guided practical session
Facilitated by Alanna Irving (Fundsorter)
- 7:45 pm
Final Reflections (in menti-meter)
- 7:55 pm
Closing Karakia & Thank You
Lineup
Lani Evans (Co-Founder & CEO, Fundsorter)
Lani Evans (she/her/ia) has spent the last ten years leading philanthropic foundations. She is co-founder of Share Collective and Generous Ventures, and was the founding CEO of Thankyou Payroll. Lani is a 2024 Equitable Futures Fellow at the East-West Centre, a past recipient of the Winston Churchill Fellowship, an honorary member of Philanthropy New Zealand and was awarded a New Year’s Honour for services to social enterprise.
Alanna Irving (Co-Founder & CPO, Fundsorter)
Alanna Irving (she/her) has previously founded and led multiple social enterprise tech startups and foundations, with a specific focus on innovation in funding and granting, including Gift Collective, Open Collective, Share Collective, Enspiral, and Loomio. In her role prior to Fundsorter, she was at DIA leading data-driven strategic change for Aotearoa’s largest grant funder, Lotteries. She is very excited about the potential of AI to enhance equity in society.
Duncan Matthews, MNZM (Founder, Good Numbers)
Duncan has spent 20 years working in and alongside community organisations across Aotearoa, often stepping into the treasurer role and seeing firsthand how complex financial basics can be for small groups. That experience led to Good Numbers — a tech-enabled bookkeeping and reporting platform designed specifically for small non-profits. It aims to make financial compliance simple, accessible, and far less time-consuming for volunteer treasurers and community leaders. Duncan brings a practical, real-world perspective to “tech for good”, focused on reducing friction and helping organisations spend less time on admin and more time on impact.
Carlos Aguilera (CEO, fundrAIz)
Carlos Aguilera is the Founder and CEO of Fundraiz.ai - the world's first AI-native fundraising CRM built exclusively for nonprofits and charities, featuring 13 proprietary AI/ML models and a prompt-to-automation architecture that is redefining what fundraising technology can be. With 15+ years in the nonprofit sector and over $100M raised for charitable causes globally, Carlos brings rare dual fluency: the lived experience of a fundraiser and the technical vision of a platform founder. He is the author of The Kindness Economy and Great Online Fundraising, a keynote speaker on AI in the charitable sector, and a passionate advocate for the belief that removing administrative burden from fundraisers is one of the highest-leverage things technology can do for humanity. Carlos joins this session to share both the Fundraiz.ai story and a broader perspective on what AI-native tools - built with purpose, not bolted on - mean for the future of the global nonprofit sector.
Pera Barett (Founder of Kaha Create)
Kaha Create is a platform I’ve been building in response to me and a bunch of non-profits I spend my time with, not having the time, budget, or expertise to share our lived experiences and learned insights at scale. You can read more about it on the landing page here:
Jade Tang-Taylor (Co-Founder & CEO, simpact AI)
Jade brings a diverse range of experience from Design, Community to the Social Impact consulting space across Aotearoa New Zealand. As a Strategic Designer, Facilitator, Innovator, Collaborator & Educator, Jade is deeply passionate about co-designing better futures, and leveraging Emerging Tech, specifically AI for good. Jade has a strong desire to democratise AI for the community, voluntary and not-for-profit sectors to create impactful and equitable futures. Alongside simpact AI, she proudly supports the amazing mahi across academyEX, ThinkPlace and Design Futures Aotearoa.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
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