You are invited to attend:

ALIGNING AI WITH HUMAN FLOURISHING

An invitation to shape the future of AI

Sunday, January 25th, 2026

12:00 PM – 4:00 PM PT

Hosted by Cindy Mercer and Don McKinney

As AI scales at an unprecedented pace, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment: one that calls not just for speed and technical excellence, but deep human wisdom and collective intentionality. How do we ensure that AI truly serves humanity?

We invite you to an intimate gathering with AI innovators on Sunday, January 25th, 2026, to learn about Positive AI Labs, a non-profit shaping our future by building infrastructure that steers AI toward human flourishing. This gathering will bring together family offices, philanthropists, and an exceptional team of AI leaders committed to ensuring our future with AI includes wisdom, compassion, and human well-being.

Together, we'll explore:

What is the current AI landscape and the state of human values alignment?
How do we move beyond competitive pressures from markets and nation-states to build AI aligned with wisdom and human flourishing?
How can we scale the impact of AI globally while deepening human well-being and connection?
What does it mean to steward this technology with wisdom and care?
Where can investments make an outsized impact on shaping the future of AI?

The Setting

We’ll convene at a highland nature preserve in Sonoma County, one hour north of SF, away from the city noise and surrounded by pristine nature. We'll enjoy organic, locally sourced and intentionally prepared nourishment during our time together. This is an invitation to step back, connect deeply, and speak openly about the stewardship responsibility we hold with AI and the future we are creating together.

Positive AI Labs

Ensuring AI for Human Flourishing

Positive AI Labs is a non-profit initiative fiscally sponsored by Forward Global that is creating the open, community-owned tools needed to ensure the world’s most powerful frontier AI models are shaped by the best of human values. We are developing datasets and evaluations that train AI systems to act with wisdom, compassion, and ethical clarity.

Built with the support of key members of the world's leading AI companies, our solutions will inform and guide the next generation of frontier AI models that will touch the lives of over 5 billion humans. Our goal is to influence how every major AI model is trained, defining what "good" means for complex human situations, when often there is no single "right" answer.

Current experts and thought leaders project that we have only 3–8 years left before the models become self-training. During this relatively short window of time we have a unique opportunity to embed the deepest human values into the foundations of artificial intelligence, ensuring a future of human flourishing in the age of AI.

Presenting

Arun Rao

AI/ML Lead at Meta (Facebook), Professor of AI/ML at UCLA

Lake Dai

Professor of AI/ML at Carnegie Mellon University, Managing Partner at Sancus Ventures

Stacey Lawson

Co-Founder Benevolent AI Future, Co-Founder Sutdarja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET), UC Berkeley

Govind Shivkumar

Director of Investments, Omidayr Network

Elliott Donnelley

Chair Emeritus, Forward Global, and Co-Founder, KDX

About Sonoma Summit

Sonoma Summit is a private, 1,100-acre, mountaintop sanctuary. An exclusive destination for invitation-only gatherings where investors, technologists, and thought leaders explore long-horizon ideas.

RSVP

Please RSVP by Friday, January 7th

This is an invitation-only gathering, but if you know someone who would bring a valuable perspective, please let us know. There is no cost to attend as we are being hosted by Forward Global member Cindy Mercer and entrepreneur Don McKinney.

Questions? Contact Donna Lee: donna@forward-global.org