Episode 86: AI’s Role in Mission-Driven Education with Rafeel Wasif

May 13, 20263 min read

Overview

Imagine a world where AI becomes a facilitator for solving the world’s hardest challenges, but if we choose to shape it with care.

Raising both opportunities and concerns, AI is quickly reshaping the world of nonprofit and higher education sectors. In the process of adopting AI, organizations face pivotal decisions regarding ethics, agency, and creativity. Leaders can guide AI use toward a future rooted in human dignity and innovation by balancing optimism with healthy skepticism and anchoring choices in personal and organizational values.

In this episode of the Fundraising AI podcast, Nathan is joined by Rafeel Wasif, director of the Nonprofit Institute and Assistant Professor of Public Administration at Portland State University. His work is a combination of research, practice, and leadership development in the nonprofit and public sectors. Other than focusing on responsible AI adoption, he is guiding leaders to understand not only what emerging technologies are capable of, but also how they can be governed effectively. He joined Nathan to explore the evolving relationship between AI and the nonprofit sector.

Cover art for episode 86: AI’s Role in Mission-Driven Education with Rafeel Wasif

Episode highlights

03:12 The Nonprofit sector and its evolution in approaching AI.
06:52 Introduction and background to Rafeel Wasif.
11:33 Rafeel’s purpose in writing his new book.
18:06 AI as a research partner.
20:41 The growing trend in academia in structured nonprofit leadership education.
23:48 Ethical adoption, transparency, and grounding AI use in human values.
28:50 Knowing and articulating your values before AI adoption.
33:18 Staying curious, balancing optimism with healthy skepticism, and being mindful when bringing humanity into every tech decision.

Tips and tools to implement today

Always ensure that there’s always a human in the loop when AI is used.
Use AI as a critical dialogue partner in your research.
Use tools like LLM notebooks in your brainstorming process.
Look for MBA or public administration programs that offer a focus or specialization in nonprofit management.
Keep asking the relevant questions, so you can turn your passion into long-term, sustainable impact.
Stay informed on AI disruptions happening across industries and make students and peers see the stakes beyond just academia.
Create your guiding compass, identify and write down your personal and organizational values.

Favorite quotes

“I feel like the nonprofit and the mission driven sector can take, really take the lead, they're thinking about technology, but they're also thinking about ethics and ethical adoption.” - Rafeel Wasif
“I realized artificial intelligence, or machine learning, as we used to call it then, it's not just a methodological problem, it's a governance problem, it's a leadership problem, it's a strategy problem.” - Rafeel Wasif
“I don't think we can tease them with passion. They're already super passionate. It's more about picking up that passion and being strategic about it.” - Rafeel Wasif
“I think the beauty of academia is that all of us are pretty independent at some level.” - Rafeel Wasif
“Students are supposed to be challenged. Students are supposed to be exposed to all these different ideas about how to teach.” - Rafeel Wasif
“I kind of noticed that there is much more acceptance of AI for a lot of students.” - Rafeel Wasif
“People have fears. And those fears are legit. People are afraid that they're gonna get displaced.” - Rafeel Wasif
“It's a creative force. It's a creative force, because it's going to surprise you every day, and if you make it as part of your process, then human creativity, with this core intelligence, can create so many things that would really surprise us every day.” - Rafeel Wasif