Technology Fellow: AI and Philanthropy

Please submit both a resume and cover letter in order to be considered. The deadline to apply is July 6th, 2026. About The Opportunity The Ford Foundation seeks a two-year Technology Fellow for AI and Philanthropy. This internally-facing position will focus on cross-programmatic learning and advisory support. The AI Tech Fellow will support Foundation staff in building and adapting internal frameworks for evaluating AI use in ways that prioritize mission and strategy and address ethical, sociotechnical, and operational considerations.

Reporting to the Director, Technology and Society, they will be responsible for designing and curating practical, hands-on training, workshops, and learning sessions for Foundation staff to build practical familiarity with AI tools and practices and help staff critically assess their value and efficacy. Additionally, they will curate sociotechnical conversations exploring how philanthropy and the nonprofit sector more broadly are experimenting with AI in ways that respect and advance mission, privacy, safety, and equity, and create accessible documentation and guides on AI experimentation for Foundation staff.

The AI Tech Fellow will also be responsible for research and field engagement. They will monitor emerging, global AI developments relevant to the Foundation’s program strategies and operations, providing timely briefings and analysis to program teams. They will conduct landscape research on AI initiatives in the philanthropy and social justice sectors, build relationships with AI researchers, practitioners, and organizations working on mission-enabling AI development, and identify and connect grantees and partners who are thoughtfully experimenting with the use of AI and related technologies in their work.

About The Tech Fellow Program The Ford Technology Fellows Program is designed to increase sociotechnical (understanding how technology and social systems shape each other) capacity within the Foundation, explore emerging ideas and practices at the intersection of technology and social change, and build new relationships and networks. The Technology Fellows program is administered by Ford’s Technology and Society Program, which works globally to ensure that the internet and digital technologies are increasingly equitable and are designed and governed to advance social and economic justice, particularly for those experiencing persistent discrimination. This role does not include IT and administration responsibilities, however, the Tech Fellow will partner with members of the Information Technology team to collaborate on common and overlapping initiatives and facilitate alignment between our internal and external strategies.

Technology Fellows play a strategic advisory role within the Foundation as well as provide practical technical expertise to foundation staff and grantees; identify emerging opportunities and challenges; help develop networks and communities of social justice mission-driven technology experts; and enrich the diverse perspectives of the Foundation’s program experts.

How You Will Contribute The Technology Fellowship Program has three overarching goals:

• Enrich perspectives within the foundation by adding a socio-technical lens
• Increase technical capacity throughout the foundation’s areas of work
• Generate novel, innovative ideas and build new relationships and networks

Innovative Strategic Advising

• Help Foundation staff examine the role of technology in advancing organizational objectives
• Inform development of technology strategies within program and/or operations areas, and conducting landscape research
• Design and curate hands-on trainings, workshops, and learning sessions for Foundation staff to build practical familiarity with AI tools and practices and help staff critically assess their value and efficacy
• Develop accessible documentation and guides on mission aligned AI experimentation for Foundation staff
• Serve as an internal technology advisory resource on how philanthropy and the nonprofit sector are experimenting with AI in ways that respect and advance mission
• In collaboration with the Tech and Society team, develop learning sessions and training for foundation staff about the intersections of social justice and technology
• Support the Technology and Society Director on other Foundation priorities

What You Will Need

• Minimum 7 years working within public interest, governme…