Who Shapes the Future of Ethical AI?

Universities and research institutions are at the forefront of shaping the social, ethical, and policy future of AI. But when only elite and exclusive institutions lead that conversation, minority perspectives, lived experience, and community-rooted research get left behind.

HAATlab, a newly launched independent nonprofit, is on a mission to change that, building an academic consortium that connects under represented universities, communities, and sectors to create shared research opportunities and a more inclusive AI future.

This is exactly the kind of work Groundswell was built for.

HAATlab came to Groundswell to identify its first cohort of university partners and build the positioning to engage them.

Finding the Right Partners

Identifying emerging AI university partners required a strategic read of a fragmented and accelerating industry through sector landscaping, issue mapping, and precise audience targeting.

• Sector landscaping: Mapped the universe of potential university partners across institution type, research classification, geographic diversity, minority-serving designations, and AI program strength
• Issue mapping: Identified the research areas, disciplines, and community contexts most relevant to HAATlab's mission across more than 30 candidate institutions
• Cohort selection: Narrowed the field to a final cohort best positioned to contribute meaningfully to an ethical AI research network
• Audience targeting: Built decision-maker profiles for each institution, identifying the faculty champions, research center directors, and administrators most likely to engage
• University profiles: Delivered fully sourced profiles spanning AI programs and research infrastructure; cross-sector disciplines in neuroscience, social psychology, and public health; private sector partnerships; government relationships; academic consortium memberships; and community engagement
• Research standards: Grounded every claim in primary institutional records, federal agency announcements, and verified press releases

What We Found

Groundswell identified ten universities well-positioned to contribute new perspectives, research, and sector-specific leadership to the AI conversation, from newly emerging curricula and research fields to well-funded, under-recognized institutions already leading in their areas of expertise.

Across the cohort, one pattern was consistent. The institutions doing the most consequential work are applying AI to the communities, sectors, and knowledge systems they know best.

• A university embedded in the gaming and hospitality economy is studying AI's effects on that labor market from the inside.
• A university with deep roots in Indigenous Pacific communities is bringing Indigenous knowledge frameworks into AI development.
• A historically Black research university is centering its AI work on algorithmic bias, studying it not as an abstract technical problem but as a documented reality for the communities it serves.

The research gave HAATlab something early-stage organizations rarely have: a clear picture of who is doing the most relevant work, and the context to build collaborative partnerships.

The Impact

"The way that we can make sure that we are relevant as humans is to tap into the liberal arts, the humanities, the creativeness, the ethics, the human judgment. It's the one thing that makes us relevant in this age of AI."

— Dr. Ayanna Howard, President, Spelman College

For a newly launched nonprofit, the distance between conviction and first meeting is research. Groundswell supported HAATlab with a fully sourced, strategically framed picture of their sector and partner-specific landscape, laying the foundation for the collaborative outreach ahead.

Because an equitable, human-centered AI future is built by expanding who gets to contribute to it.

Groundswell Strategies supports values-led organizations with the research, context, and strategic positioning to move forward.

Working to build a network that reflects the communities you serve? Let's talk.