When the Climate Advocacy Lab reached out about building an AI training series for their members we knew the first question we’d have to answer was: How do you help people explore such a disruptive technology that is actively (and harmfully) contributing to the very problem they’re working to solve? We couldn’t begin with simply what tools should be used for what use-cases. We had to address the elephant in the room.

When Kristin reached out, she wasn't resistant to AI. She wasn't dismissive. She was something that I think a lot of consultants in the social sector can relate to: genuinely curious, but unable to make a decision without having some expertise to lean on.

 Intention 2 Impact didn't need to be convinced that AI mattered — they'd been experimenting since 2023 and even published about it. What they needed was alignment: a way to move from individual, ad-hoc use to a shared practice that reflected their values. Here's the story of how we did that work together, and why I2I's willingness to sit in the messy middle is exactly what makes their approach worth sharing.