Responsible AI strategy for mission-driven organizations

Who we are

Caldera helps foundations, nonprofits, and other mission-driven organizations develop strategies for AI adoption that are responsible, practical, and aligned with their values.

With deep experience in AI implementation and a proven track record of leading organizational transformation, we provide our clients the technical expertise and operational know-how they need to navigate the technical complexity and ethical considerations of using AI.

We are AI centrists. We're not selling hype, and we're not peddling doom. We believe AI presents real opportunities and real risks for mission-driven organizations, and that both deserve a clear-eyed, practical response.

Our guidance is unbiased, grounded in a deep respect for human agency, and focused on what will actually help you serve your mission better.

Featured advisors

Bryan Pon, Ph.D.

Bryan leads on strategy and governance for Caldera. Ex-Kiva, ex-Caribou Digital, he combines a social science background with commercial expertise in his work building more equitable outcomes with digital technology.

Savita Bailur, Ph.D.

Savita leads on gender, equity, and measurement for Caldera. She is currently a member of MERL Tech, Associate Professor in digital development at Columbia University, and an Expert Board Member for actor behavior at Meta .

Marissa Dean

Marissa brings expertise in early stage ventures and ecosystem development in digital economies. Ex-Accenture, ex-Caribou Digital, she currently leads the Innevation Center at University of Nevada, Reno.

What we do

Mission-driven organizations are facing AI pressure from every direction: boards, funders, staff, vendors. Most don't have a formal plan. We help them build one, and then help them execute it.

At Caldera, we help clients at all phases of the AI adoption journey: Some of our clients are just getting started and need basic capacity-building and assessments to understand where they stand. Other clients are more mature, with AI governance and basic solutions in place, but want support in thinking strategically about how their organization or sector may transform over the next decade.

In all cases, Caldera is both a “think” and “do” partner—we help clients evaluate the opportunities and risks they face, finding the right questions to ask that will guide decisions they need to make. And in most cases, we also lean in and provide execution support to help internal teams that don’t have the capacity or bandwidth to actually put frameworks and strategy to work. "Mission-driven organizations are facing AI pressure from every direction: boards, funders, staff, vendors. Most don't have a plan. We help them build one, and then help them execute it."

AI Governance

We all understand that at this point, most staff are using AI tools. And without clear guardrails and usage policy in place, organizations risk the legal and reputational fallout from unsafe practices. We help clients craft explicit policies on approved data types, tools, and use cases, while developing the structure for decision-making and ongoing oversight.

AI Solutions

When organizations are ready to design and build, we help them evaluate potential use cases to prioritize according to their needs and goals. We do the discovery to map out a solution design that aligns with current workflows and systems as much as possible, and then build prototypes to prove out the use cases.

AI Readiness Evaluation

Organizations at the early stage of their AI adoption journey often have more questions than answers when it comes to their goals for AI adoption. For organizations looking for an exploratory first step, we offer an AI Readiness Evaluation service that provides clients a baseline understanding of where they may have the biggest opportunities and risks given their operational priorities, technology stack, data flows, and existing governance mechanisms.

AI Strategy

As with all orgwide transformation, getting aligned on rationale and goals is the critical foundation for all of the work that comes after. We help clients develop an overarching strategy for AI adoption that aligns with their organization’s values, mission, programming, and operational priorities. Clients get clear on their rationale for investing, the goals and outcomes they expect, how they’ll approach governance, and what solutions they’ll prioritize.

Contact us.

Want to work with Caldera? Get in touch, and we’ll respond immediately.