We're excited to be supporting Mozilla Foundation’s Democracy x AI Cohort as coaching partners. The cohort brings together 10 projects from around the world that explore how AI can strengthen democratic participation, transparency, and public accountability. From supporting collective decision-making to increasing government transparency, these initiatives demonstrate what's possible when AI is developed in service of the public interest. Over the coming months, we'll be working with the cohort to help teams strengthen how they communicate their work, refine their product thinking and prepare for conversations with funders and partners. Congratulations to all of the selected teams! We're looking forward to working with you and seeing your ideas develop. Read more about Mozilla Foundation’s latest cohort below. 👇 https://lnkd.in/eGRzYHdA Interested in coaching for your public-interest technology project? Get in touch at coaching@superbloom.design #PublicInterestTech #AI #Democracy #AIGovernance #Mozilla #MozillaFoundation #ResponsibleAI
About us
Superbloom (formerly Simply Secure) operates at the intersection of digital design and human rights. Since our founding in 2014, we’ve expanded our original focus on usable design practice for secure technologies to include programmatic interventions and research on socio-technical issues like surveillance capitalism, disinformation, and digital consent. Today we work to overcome the alarming lack of available resources in the public interest technology space by openly sharing our knowledge and partnering with organizations to identify unmet needs, design for access, and extend the impact of newly built tools and interventions.
- Website
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https://superbloom.design
External link for Superbloom
- Industry
- Design
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- New York, New York
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2014
Locations
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Primary
Get directions
New York, New York 10027, US
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Get directions
Berlin, Berlin 10115, DE
Employees at Superbloom
Updates
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Independent journalism plays a critical role in helping us understand how harmful narratives emerge, spread and shape our societies. International Women's Media Foundation's new Fault Lines Reporting Fund will support investigative reporting on the forces driving racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, misogyny and other forms of intolerance in the United States. The fund will provide grants to staff and freelance journalists, as well as reporting teams, investigating how these narratives take hold, the impacts they have on communities, and the efforts underway to counter them. Applications are open on a rolling basis. Learn more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e4E2EcTs #IndependentJournalism #Media #InvestigativeJournalism #Democracy
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What does it take to make AI accountable to the public? That was the question posed at MakeShift 2026, where we invited researchers and practitioners to explore how AI can move beyond being a collection of tools to becoming civic infrastructure, designed with public accountability, transparency and community participation at its core. This conversation brought together: • Meg Young, PhD, Data & Society Research Institute • Jake Hirsch-Allen, Public AI Network • Jacqueline Lu, Helpful Places Moderated by Pamela Robinson, the panel explores what meaningful public participation in AI governance looks like in practice, from community-led algorithmic impact assessments and urban AI transparency standards to new approaches for making AI systems more legible, accountable and responsive to the communities they affect. The big takeaway from this discussion? If we're serious about AI serving the public interest, we need to invest not only in better technologies, but in the institutions, standards and civic infrastructure that enable people to shape them. 🎥 Watch the full panel here 👉 https://lnkd.in/egTRJRja MakeShift 2026 was co-hosted by Superbloom, Helpful Places and the School of Visual Arts, with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). #AI #AIGovernance #PublicInterestTech #CivicTech #ResponsibleAI #DigitalInfrastructure #CommunityEngagement #MakeShift2026
MakeShift: From Tools to Civic Infrastructure: Centering Community Expertise for More Accountable AI
https://www.youtube.com/
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From AI-powered surveillance and facial recognition to expansive monitoring systems, infrastructure introduced for major events often outlasts the events themselves. The 2026 World Cup is no different. In this compelling piece for Tech Policy Press, Ranking Digital Rights explores the hidden legacy of the World Cup and asks an important question: what happens when "temporary" surveillance becomes part of everyday life? This is a timely reminder that the future of digital infrastructure is about governance, accountability and protecting fundamental rights. Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/eCiw9s79 #DigitalRights #DigitalInfrastructure #AI #Surveillance #Privacy #PublicInterestTech #FIFAWorldCup #WorldCup2026 #HumanRights
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How can open Internet measurement data help improve connectivity in the places that need it most? Join us on 23 July for the next Measurement Lab (M-Lab) Connectivity Community of Practice (CoP), hosted in partnership with Giga, to hear how the Vermont Department of Public Service is using real-world connectivity measurements to identify gaps in mobile coverage across the state. Rather than relying solely on carrier coverage maps, Vermont's Mobile Wireless Drive Test Program collects ground-truth data to build a more accurate picture of mobile connectivity. These insights help inform infrastructure planning, strengthen evidence-based advocacy, and support better decisions about where investment is needed most. Whether you're a researcher, data scientist, digital equity advocate, policymaker, Internet service provider, network operator, or simply interested in solving connectivity challenges, this session offers a practical example of how open measurement data can drive real-world impact. Alongside the featured presentation, there'll also be opportunities to hear community updates and join an open discussion with others working across the connectivity ecosystem. 📅 23 July 🕗 08:00 ET | 14:00 CEST 🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/ekx8sAJH We hope to see you there! #MLab #Giga #Connectivity #DigitalEquity #InternetMeasurement #OpenData #CommunityOfPractice
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Helpful Places and The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University are inviting practitioners, researchers and public sector professionals to contribute to an open process exploring what meaningful AI legibility could look like for urban and civic AI. If you're at FWD50 in Montreal next week, you can join the workshop on Tuesday, 7 July led by Jacqueline Lu and Jake Hirsch-Allen. More details about the workshop here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eMNnyK6i #ResponsibleAI #AIGovernance #PublicInterestTechnology #DigitalGovernment #CivicTech #FWD50
⭐ Canada's National AI Strategy names trust as its north star and transparency as a strategic objective. That's the right instinct, but the key question is: trust and transparency for whom? 💡 We believe that AI transparency has two audiences, leading to two very different design problems. Those buying and using AI - agencies, businesses, procurement teams - need trust signals. Certifications, labels, watermarks. Quick, comparable marks to help choose between options. Those AI affects - the resident walking past a sensor, the patient whose triage was assisted, the worker whose performance was scored - need legibility. What is this system, why is it here, what does it do with their data, who's accountable, and what can they do if something is wrong. Canada's strategy leans hard on the first audience. On the second - the "for all" part - this is where more work needs to be done. Our view at Helpful Places: public-sector procurement is a critical leverage point. It's one of the only moments where legibility can be built into an AI deployment from day one, as a design requirement enforceable on behalf of the people these systems affect. The strategy gestures that way but stops short. The question we want to explore with practitioners: how can transparency be built into design, procurement and implementation processes, so that those affected by AI have a say in how it gets used? Working through that together is how "for all" gets made real. We've spent 5+ years building something that could help. Digital Trust for Places and Routines - the open standard we steward and have deployed around the world - is a working answer to what AI legibility looks like. We've seen that non-experts and residents get plain-language, point-of-collection information, skepticism can turn towards an interest in helping shape how the technology gets used for collective benefit. We’re excited to announce two ways that you can build this with us: 🇨🇦 "Making AI Legible" workshop at FWD50 We're convening an in-person workshop with public-sector practitioners working on this Tuesday, July 7 at FWD50 in Montreal. If that's you, we'd love to meet. We'll be curious where AI transparency is hardest in your work. We'll share what we've learned working on technology disclosures around the world, and walk through what a legibility layer that drives accountability could look like in the context of AI. If that's the work you're doing, come find us there. 🤝 Building a Canadian standard for AI legibility Beyond FWD50, we're embarking on an open standards process - with experts and non-experts, including residents - to develop a Workshop Agreement that defines what meaningful transparency looks like for urban and civic AI. Rooted in Canada, designed for any organization anywhere to adopt, in partnership with The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University. #AIforAll #DigitalGovernment #FWD50 #ResponsibleAI #DTPR
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As digital systems become more interconnected, the work of design extends far beyond interfaces and products. This conversation from MakeShift 2026 explores soft infrastructures: the values, narratives, governance structures and relationships that shape how technology is built and experienced. It's a thoughtful discussion on how design practice must evolve to address increasingly complex systems, and what it means to move from designing products to stewarding socio-technical systems. A big thanks to Marco Zamarato, Pinar Guvenc, Adriana Valdez Young, and moderator Georgia Bullen for taking part in the event. 👉 Watch the full panel here: https://lnkd.in/eDnQxK6B #Design #DigitalRights #PublicInterestTechnology #ResponsibleTech #SystemsThinking #MakeShift2026
MakeShift: Soft Infrastructures & Undesigning Design
https://www.youtube.com/
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It’s been a few weeks since MakeShift 2026, and we wanted to take a moment to reflect and say thank you! We sounded a call for more accountable tech by design, and what emerged was an inspiring intersection of tech, design, art, urbanism, and activism. We covered the big questions and practical applications on digital trust and transparency through inspiring talks, workshops, demos, and conversations. We shared the evolution of DTPR (Digital Places for Trust and Routines) and heard your support for an open source communication framework to enhance tech legibility. We also heard from you that it is the people in the room who made the biggest impact. We agree. As an expression of our thanks, we grabbed some MakeShift highlights and thought you’d love to see a reminder of what you helped to create: https://lnkd.in/d7p5HH7S Again, thank you for being part of the Makeshift community and stay tuned for what’s next. #MakeShift2026 #DTPR #AccountableTech #Design #AI #HelpfulPlaces #SuperbloomDesign #SVA
MakeShift 2026 Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/
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Strong organizations need strong governance and diverse perspectives. We're pleased to see Digital Action welcoming new Advisory Board members as it enters its next phase of growth. 👇
📢 We are expanding our Advisory Board! 🌱 As part of our next phase of growth, we are seeking two passionate, strategic, and committed members to join our Advisory Board. Your expertise will help support our mission and our Co-Executive Directors as we navigate new challenges and opportunities in the digital justice space. 🗓️ Deadline to apply: July 24th If you are interested in contributing your skills and insights to our work, we’d love to hear from you. 🔗 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/efjJTfZm
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Visibility shouldn’t harm your team. And safety shouldn’t mean disappearing. But the reality is civil society organizations are increasingly caught between the need to be visible and the need to protect staff and communities from harassment, doxxing, and escalating online threats. Today, many organizations have few options when risks emerge. They must manually remove information page by page or delete content entirely. But as we’ve witnessed, threats move faster than that. Responsive Privacy is a framework and emerging set of tools developed by Draftlab and Superbloom exploring how organizations can quickly adjust visibility during moments of acute risk without permanently erasing people and their work from the public internet. Informed by research with civil society organizations, the project focuses on: • flexible visibility controls • rapid response during incidents • reversible changes • collaborative decision-making around safety While we believe this isn’t a complete solution to online harm, threat modeling, or digital security, we see it as a practical layer within a broader digital security toolkit, especially for organizations operating with limited resources or complex web infrastructure. We're now beginning to share an early version of the work and are looking for feedback from civil society organizations, digital security practitioners, researchers, maintainers, and funders interested in helping shape where this goes next. If your organization has grappled with questions of visibility, attribution, online harassment, staff safety, or digital risk, we'd love to hear from you. We're particularly interested in speaking with those who have faced difficult trade-offs between public visibility and protection. Longer term, we hope Responsive Privacy could evolve into an open standard with community-led governance and stewardship. 👉 Explore the research: https://lnkd.in/ez7T34Sq 💬 Interested in contributing, collaborating, testing ideas, or simply sharing feedback? Get in touch with us here: https://lnkd.in/edRKHKWJ #DigitalSecurity #DigitalRights #CivilSociety #PublicInterestTech #TrustAndSafety #OpenSource #ResponsivePrivacy
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