A message from All Tech Is Human Founder & President David Ryan Polgar

By David Ryan Polgar

Since I started All Tech Is Human in 2018, I have poured my heart and soul into building the Responsible Tech movement to tackle wicked tech & society issues and have a vibrant community that promotes knowledge-sharing and collaboration.

It certainly hasn’t been easy. The truth is, there were multiple times early on with the organization when I almost gave up due to our lack of financial support (we weren’t funded until summer 2021). I recall a prominent funder in the space told me that there was no need for a Responsible Tech Guide, which broke my heart. Was there a need for All Tech Is Human? Was I on the wrong path?

I deeply believe that All Tech Is Human is building an organization that is quite special, which is why I didn’t give up at that moment. This was the summer of 2020 during Covid lockdown. I knew there was a need for the Responsible Tech Guide because I had been interacting with hundreds of people who attended our summits in NYC, SF, Seattle, and online who told me that they desired to be more involved with the nascent Responsible Tech movement but had no idea where to start. How do they find the others? What does the movement look like? What are the steps they can take to get involved?

So I reached out to our community and the community delivered. Over 100 people volunteered to help craft the very first Responsible Tech Guide in September 2020. To get it over the finish line, I brewed a pot of coffee and typed away on my laptop at home for nearly thirty straight hours (minus bathroom breaks). Why? Because I thought the funder who turned me down was wrong and the community was right.

The community always wins. To understand pain points you need to be surrounded by others’ pain. People in insulated spaces often have power and resources but lack knowing which way the wind is blowing. They are not actively part of the community; therefore, they struggle to understand the needs of the community.

I’ve always leaned into community and have seen firsthand its power to give back. It’s quite powerful to witness it in action.

That’s why I watch It’s a Wonderful Life every holiday season, which is all about the power of community. Yeah, sometimes I do feel like George Bailey. Getting a non-profit off the ground is a tremendous amount of work and at times can be incredibly stressful. And I have certainly felt despondent like George when there were bumps in the road.

But just as George realizes in the film that outside of his solitary focus was a generous community that was impacted by his actions and always ready to give back, I have also deeply felt the generosity of the Responsible Tech community. It’s the community that has built All Tech Is Human to what it is today, and that is what will help us grow in the coming years. Our community is quite powerful, it’s quite special, and it means a heck of a lot to me.

Thank you.

All Tech Is Human is built on the power of community. We are growing from a scrappy upstart to one of the world’s most influential organizations (yeah, it’s happening) because of the thousands of people who have helped spread the word, served in our mentorship program, spoken at our gatherings, offered their advice, made important introductions, and so much more. Community power in action.

We had a lot of wins in 2023, including growing our Slack community to over 7k members across 87 countries, expanding our mentorship program, launching our inaugural cohort of 43 affiliates, holding 23 in-person gatherings that brought together thousands, releasing our Tech & Democracy Report and the 4th version of our Responsible Tech Guide, and hiring on Elisa Fox, Sarah Welsh, Renee Cummings (Senior Fellow), Sara M. Watson, and Matt Soeth. This has all been in service of growing and strengthening the Responsible Tech community.

5️⃣ We spent the first five years building the Responsible Tech movement, and we are going to spend the next five years showcasing just how powerful this is.

In 2024, we are also going to be expanding on our unique approach to tackling complex tech & society issues which can be utilized by governments, companies, and organizations across the globe. You’ll see us tackling issues around reducing CSAM, controlling our data, elevating the field of Trust & Safety, blazing pathways for new individuals to join the ecosystem, and so much more.