European AI Fund: Capacity Building with European Civil Society

About this grant

The project goal is to empower a diverse and resilient ecosystem of civil society organizations that have the capacity and the resources to take part in policy debates on artificial intelligence and related digital technologies. This will allow civil society actors to seek accountability for harms caused by artificial intelligence and advance work supportive of a public interest vision for artificial intelligence that serves people and society. To this end, a pooled fund within the Network of European Foundations will engage private funders and provide more than $7 million in grant support to digital rights and issue-specific nonprofits. The pooled fund will also hold space for learning and networking opportunities among funders and civil society actors. Since the launch of the fund in 2020, 17 foundations have contributed to the fund, which in turn supported 47 organizations with approximately $8.6 million in grants. The Network of European Foundations is based in Brussels, Belgium.