Organizing Generosity at Scale
in the AI Era

The Social Innovation Network is IHCA’s open, civic infrastructure to support the collaborative development of AI for social good. Inspired by projects like Wikipedia, Firefox, and OpenStreetMap, we believe that when people are given a way to contribute, they surprise you with their generosity. We are building a space where engineers, psychologists, parents, and everyday volunteers can co-create AI tools—starting with mental health.

Why It Matters

AI is transforming society. But who gets to shape it? Most powerful AI systems today are built behind closed doors, by a few institutions. We believe it doesn’t have to be that way.
We Are Asking:
Can cognitive surplus—spare time, lived experience, expertise—be used to build safe, inclusive, and effective AI for public good?
Our Answer:
Yes.
We Have Seen It:
reCAPTCHA digitized millions of books by asking users to type two words
Wikipedia became the largest encyclopedia without hiring editors
OpenStreetMap created global navigation tools without corporate maps
Now We Ask:
Can we build the future of mental health AI the same way?

How the Network Works

The Social Innovation Network turns big, complex AI development into something anyone can contribute to.

Task
System

Every project is divided into public, claimable tasks:
  • Write prompts for mental health scenarios
  • Translate therapy content
  • Share lived experience as a parent or youth
  • Provide feedback as a professional

Roles
for Everyone

Whatever your background, you can contribute:
  • Psychologists
  • Prompt engineers
  • Parents
  • Therapists
  • Educators
  • Translators
  • AI researchers
  • Volunteers with a passion for mental health

Two-Pipeline
Learning

We combine two kinds of contributors:
  • Player contributors design prompts to help the AI sound more like a good therapist
  • Judge contributors (e.g. psychologists) evaluate conversations on empathy, goal alignment, and therapeutic value
Each informs the other. AI learns by co-evolution.

Transparency
& Recognition

All contributions are tracked.
  • Top-performing prompts appear on a public leaderboard.
  • You can improve existing prompts, test your own, and compare results—all in one open platform.

A Living Example: Qijia AI

Qijia AI is a family mental health coach being built entirely within the Social Innovation Network.
Instead of forming a company, hiring full-time developers, and offering stock options,
we chose to build it like Wikipedia—with:
Volunteer contributors
Open task boards
Expert evaluation
Public feedback loops
The result?
100% of the development is volunteer-driven
Real-world use cases from families guide training
Professional therapists score and improve AI performance
A shared model of public ownership and transparency

Launch Your Own Project

Qijia AI was just the beginning.
We invite nonprofits, research teams, social entrepreneurs,
 and global health innovators to become Project Owners on our platform.
You bring the mission.
 We provide:
Task collaboration tools
Contributor matching
Model evaluation systems
Community visibility
Whether you are building an AI tutor, support bot, screening tool, or care platform— we are here to support open, ethical, and volunteer-powered AI development.

Join the Movement

"The world isn’t running out of time or talent. It’s just not organizing it well."— Clay Shirky
If you believe in:
Open-source technology
Ethical and transparent AI
Real community ownership
Impact beyond profit
Then this platform is for you.