Meet the 2025 Accelerator Cohort

Big problems need bold solutions. That’s exactly what the 10 tech nonprofits in Fast Forward’s 12th annual Accelerator are building. From expanding healthcare access to closing the racial wealth gap to fighting climate change, they’re using tech to drive scalable impact. This year, AI is at the forefront: 70% of the cohort are AI-powered nonprofits, harnessing its potential to tackle these challenges in new and powerful ways.

The 2025 Accelerator kicked off last week with an in-person gathering in San Francisco, where founders met with philanthropic leaders, refined their strategies, and built connections that will fuel their missions long after the program ends.

This crew brings deep personal insight — 70% of this year’s cohort have a leader with lived experience. Plus, 80% are led by a person of color, and 60% are led by a woman. What they all share? A commitment to making tech work for the communities that need it most.

Ready to meet the tech nonprofits shaping the future?

Bayes Impact: AI case management solution helping social workers streamline care and scale impact. Led by Elodie Juan-Julia, Jérémie Doucy, and Paul Duan, three tech veterans who left high-growth startups and leading tech companies to reinvent how public services reach underserved communities.

Clinic+O: Mobile telehealth app expanding fast, quality, and affordable primary health care in rural Guinea. Founded by Nasser Diallo, a Guinea native driven by firsthand experience of his community’s healthcare challenges.

Collective Intelligence Project : R&D building practical democratic systems to direct frontier AI toward collective benefit. Led by founder and executive director Divya Siddarth, a social technologist striving to build a future where progress, safety, and participation don’t have to trade off.

Materiom: AI platform supporting the development of bio-based plastic alternatives. Co-founded by Alysia Garmulewicz and Liz Corbin, scientists whose cross-continental research exposed critical gaps between scientific knowledge and real-world sustainability solutions.

Project Own: Digital mortgage readiness tool closing the wealth gap for Black families. Co-founded by AJ Protin and Tyrell Dixon, whose contrasting family histories across Baltimore's housing divide sparked their drive to create pathways to homeownership.

Scrutinize: Data analytics and research examining judicial decisions to promote accountability. Founded by Oded Oren, a former public defender determined to strengthen public trust in state courts.

trubel&co: Digital justice platform bridging the data divide in the social and environmental sector using tech and civics education. Founded by Nick Okafor, a design researcher mobilizing communities to harness data for advocacy, digital storytelling, and good trouble.

VectorCam: AI-enabled mosquito surveillance system transforming malaria control in Africa. Led by Marina Rincon Torroella, Soumyadipta Acharya, and Sunny Patel, experts in biomedical engineering and public health whose commitment to accessible healthcare led them to transform ordinary smartphones into powerful tracking tools.

Violetta: AI chatbot fostering healthy relationship skills to eliminate gender-based violence. Led by Floretta Mayerson and Sara Kalach, who dreamed of an always-available, judgment-free digital companion — so they built it.

Visilant: Accessible AI-powered eye screenings eradicating avoidable blindness globally. Led by Jordan Shuff, Kunal Parikh, and Nakul Shekhawat, a multidisciplinary team who have combined their decades of experience in ophthalmology and biomedical engineering to improve vision care in remote communities.

Pretty incredible, right? We can’t wait to see how these founders will grow their organizations throughout the Accelerator. Kickoff Week provided the perfect launchpad for their journey, equipping them with essential tools and connections. Let's look at what made this opening week so special.

Day 1

The week opened at the Fast Forward office. From Accelerator 101 to personal stories to a big group lunch outside, day one was all about getting to know one another. Arti Dhar, co-founder of Farmers for Forests and 2024 Accelerator alum, joined to share how the cohort can make the most out of the program. We ended the day with happy hour, games, and lots of new friends.

Day 2

The cohort visited Bloomberg's downtown San Francisco office for an immersive day of learning and collaboration. Malia Simonds, Bloomberg's Head of Western U.S. and Latin America Corporate Philanthropy, opened the day with a warm welcome, highlighting inspiring examples of Bloomberg's partnerships with Fast Forward alums. The sessions began with a dynamic fireside chat on storytelling, led by Sabrina Briefel, Global Corporate Philanthropy, Social Impact at Bloomberg, and featuring Bloomberg News technology editors Tom Giles and Jillian Ward. They shared actionable advice on how founders can craft and pitch compelling stories to the media. The teams then rotated through interactive sessions, including personalized consultations on organizational strategy, AI implementation, and more, making for an impactful day.

The cohort in a session on distribution ethics. Photo by Felicia Montenegro.

Day 3

We spent our last day of programming at the beautiful GitHub office. Cynthia Lo, Github's Program Manager for Social Impact, set the tone with an energizing welcome and offered personalized GitHub coaching for the founders. Teams continued through sessions, learning about best practices, business models, and more. The day culminated in a happy hour with Accelerator alums, where we toasted to a week of progress and connections.

Chatting on the GitHub office roof. Photo by Catherine Downes.

The teams have all jetted home (and we really miss them), but this was just the beginning. Over the next few months, the cohort will continue to learn from Fast Forward alums, connect with industry leaders, engage with expert advisors from our partner companies, and gear up for the main event: Fast Forward Demo Day. If you don’t know what Demo Day is, picture 10 mini-TED Talks about all the incredible work the cohort is doing. Subscribe to our newsletter, What’s Good in Tech, for the invite. You won’t want to miss it!