When we talk about building humane technology, we often start with principles: frameworks, metrics, ideals. But before any of that, there’s a more fundamental question:

Who’s out there?

That’s what drove our recent workshop, Mapping the Humane Tech Community. We weren’t there to pitch ideas or debate definitions. We came together to make something visible: The people building with care. The efforts that often go unseen. And the ways we’re already connected.

Turns out, this movement is wider and more quietly coordinated than it looks.

Why we mapped

For many working on humane tech, the experience can feel fragmented. You might be pushing for change inside a larger org, starting something on your own, or experimenting off-hours. Even when you’re committed, it’s easy to feel alone.

This session was designed to shift that feeling.

Instead of a lecture or a panel, we created a shared map. Participants dropped in names of organizations, tools, networks, and collaborators they knew. The goal wasn’t to catalog everything. It was to draw lines between what already exists and start seeing the pattern.

What emerged wasn’t a directory. It was a living ecosystem shaped by conversation, built on trust, and powered by collective energy.

What we noticed

A few themes surfaced again and again:

🧭 People aren’t looking for validation. They’re looking for visibility.
Much of this work is already happening. What’s missing is recognition that it’s part of a larger whole.

🔄 Informal networks carry the weight.
DMs, Slack channels, quiet support systems—these lightweight connections are doing heavy lifting behind the scenes.

🛠 Frameworks help when they’re shared.
From design patterns to ethical prompts, many of us are already using great tools. But their power multiplies when we can remix, adapt, and build on each other’s work.

💸 Business models are still the sticking point.
One of the clearest tensions: even the best-intentioned products can become misaligned when their revenue model depends on engagement at all costs. As one participant noted,

“We’re not incentivized to do anything beyond a good user experience,”
and that often just means keeping people hooked.

The challenge is bigger than design. It’s structural, and it’s solvable.

What’s next

This wasn’t a session with a tidy conclusion. But it did surface some clear next steps:

• We’re continuing to build out our open-source humane tech repository with frameworks, reflection prompts, and design resources. If you have ideas, please contribute to the repo by filling out this form.
  
• We’re expanding the lens to include for-profit companies. Ethical business is part of the conversation too.
  
• We’re maintaining and inviting contributions to the Humane Tech Community List, a directory created with contributions from All Tech Is Human’s Responsible Tech list and from others in the space.
  
• We’re launching a “Gives & Gets” section in our upcoming newsletters so that energy and offers in this community have a place to land.
  

The point isn’t to centralize the work. It’s to make it easier to see and easier to build on.

A note on hope

One of the most striking moments of the session came with a remark from Erika: "What I've noticed in my hundred-plus calls with humane technologists, or with people who are working in this space, is that everyone is looking for hope."

Not vague optimism. Hope as a way of orienting. Hope as knowing you’re not the only one trying.

We’re not building a movement that requires perfection. We’re building one that values presence, persistence, and the courage to keep showing up. And we’re learning to recognize who’s beside us when we do.

Want in?

If you’re building toward more humane technology—or hoping to—here’s where to plug in:

📂 Contribute to the open-source repo
A shared toolkit of frameworks, prompts, and principles, open to remix and contribution.

📅 Explore or submit humane tech events
See what’s happening in the Bay Area, or add your own gathering to the mix.

🧭 Browse or add to the Humane Tech Community List
A growing directory of organizations, projects, and people working to make tech more ethical and human-centered.

This isn’t about centralizing the movement. It’s about making it more visible, more accessible, and easier to grow. Join us.