BC + AI
Vancouver AI Meetup 32 poster styled as a handheld virtual pet device with the words Data for Good.
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Vancouver · gathering no. 32 · archived

Vancouver AI Meetup #32

Vancouver AI Meetup #32 filled the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre on August 26, 2026, and quietly marked one year of the BC + AI Ecosystem Association. A Squamish welcome from chiyakselut (Venessa Gonzales), a working session with Data for Good Vancouver, and close to an hour in the hot seat with Taleeb Noormohamed.

The night kept circling one question: can we build powerful things without forgetting who they're supposed to serve? See the full recap, photos, and recording below, and find the next gathering on the events page.

Date
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Time
6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PDT
Place
H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9, Canada
Open the photo archive ↓Watch the recording ↓

The night in four frames

Who is this technology actually for?

The question moved through every part of the night: from welcome, to working session, to policy conversation, to community.

  1. A Squamish welcome

    chiyakselut (Venessa Gonzales) opened the gathering with the Unity Song and a family song.

  2. Data for Good, in the open

    Data for Good Vancouver shared how its 60 active volunteers are working with nonprofits across housing, health, safety, food security, and more.

  3. Nearly an hour in the hot seat

    Taleeb Noormohamed arrived without slides or notes for a direct conversation about federal AI direction and the people building here.

  4. One year of BC + AI

    Meetup #32 quietly marked the association’s first anniversary with more than 300 members in the wider community.

Michelle Diamond’s contact sheet

Twenty frames from a room full of people paying attention.

20 selected304 delivered

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Photos from this meetup

Captured by Michelle Diamond. Click any photo to view full size. The lightbox lets you download and share.

An overhead view shows a large reception crowd filling the venue courtyard.
A person serves food while attendees gather around the buffet.
Five attendees gather for a cheerful group portrait around a patio table.
The event host welcomes a seated audience beneath a Vancouver AI Meetup speaker collage.
Two people lead the cultural welcome beneath a Squamish Nation slide.
A wide auditorium view captures the cultural welcome before the seated audience.
The Data for Good Vancouver team stands beneath a projected collage of team portraits.
A Data for Good representative smiles while speaking into a handheld microphone.
A Data for Good presenter explains an operations data analysis project.
A presenter explains a local food systems project to the auditorium audience.
Community presenters stand before a large QR code while the seated audience watches.
An audience member in a cap asks a question with a handheld microphone.
A community representative introduces the AI Builders Fellowship from the stage.
Fraser Valley AI representatives gather onstage beneath the FV+AI slide.
AI + Life Sciences representatives gather beneath a slide for their September event.
Taleeb Noormohamed addresses the full room beneath his BC + AI event slide.
Taleeb Noormohamed raises one arm high while addressing the audience.
A full-room view frames Taleeb Noormohamed, the audience, and the projected event slide.
Taleeb Noormohamed smiles as the host continues the closing exchange.
Taleeb Noormohamed and the host stand together for the closing onstage conversation.

See all 304 photos →

Voices from the room

People who moved the conversation.

The restored campaign artwork now sits alongside what the archive and recording confirm happened that night.

The Squamish welcome
Michelle Diamond photograph of two people leading the cultural welcome beneath a Squamish Nation slide.

The Squamish welcome

Opened by chiyakselut (Venessa Gonzales)

Opened the evening with the Unity Song and a family song on the territory where the gathering took place.

Taleeb Noormohamed
Taleeb Noormohamed on the campaign artwork for Vancouver AI Meetup 32.

Taleeb Noormohamed

MP for Vancouver Granville · Parliamentary Secretary for AI and Digital Innovation

Joined the room for a candid conversation about innovation, policy, and keeping people at the centre of the work.

Gordon Hamilton
Gordon Hamilton on the campaign artwork for Vancouver AI Meetup 32.

Gordon Hamilton

Chapter Lead · Data for Good Vancouver

Made the case that trust, not technology, is the real currency when nonprofits put their data to work.

Amanda Calvo
Amanda Calvo on the campaign artwork for Vancouver AI Meetup 32.

Amanda Calvo

Project Lead · Data for Good Vancouver

Brought the conversation back to foundations: readiness, relationships, and the problem before the model.

Kris Krüg
Kris Krüg on the campaign artwork for Vancouver AI Meetup 32.

Kris Krüg

Host · BC + AI Ecosystem Association

Named the community for what it has become: a local resilience network learning and building in public.

recording.mov

The official recording

Canada's AI Future + Data for Good with Taleeb Noormohamed | Vancouver AI Meetup #32

chiyakselut (Venessa Gonzales), Gordon Hamilton, Amanda Calvo, Taleeb Noormohamed, and Kris Krüg

The recorded August 26, 2026 programme from Vancouver AI Meetup #32 at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre: a Squamish welcome, Data for Good Vancouver on what 60 volunteers are shipping with nonprofits, and nearly an hour with Taleeb Noormohamed on who AI is supposed to serve. The final 42 minutes repeat earlier source footage.

Watch on YouTube ↗
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A full theatre of Vancouver AI community members gathered for a meetup.

Why this archive exists

A night is temporary. A community record should not be.

These photographs, the full conversation, and the notes below keep the useful parts of the gathering available after everyone has left the dome.

  • Photography by Michelle Diamond
  • The official Vancouver AI Meetup #32 recording
  • Grounded notes and quotes from the programme
  • A public record of local AI community work
field-notes.txt

More from this event

Notes from the night.

Vancouver AI Meetup #32 took over the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre on August 26, 2026. It was also, quietly, the one-year anniversary of the BC + AI Ecosystem Association, which started as an idea and a room full of people willing to take a chance on it. We're past 300 members now.

chiyakselut (Venessa Gonzales) opened the gathering with the Unity Song and a family song. Then Data for Good Vancouver showed what 60 active volunteers are doing alongside nonprofits working on overdose prevention, housing, disability, healthcare, violence prevention, food security, and mental health. Fifteen active projects, and another 1,700 volunteers waiting for something to work on. What they need is introductions to nonprofits, privacy-first AI builders, Canadian compute and credits, and people who can connect the right humans to the right problems.

Taleeb Noormohamed, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, showed up with no slides and no notes, and stayed in the hot seat for nearly an hour. It wasn't a sponsor slot and it wasn't an endorsement in either direction. It was a conversation about where federal AI direction meets the people building here.

The whole night kept circling one question: can we build powerful things without forgetting who they're supposed to serve?

Lines worth keeping

For nonprofits, trust is the currency.

Gordon Hamilton, Chapter Lead, Data for Good Vancouver

The foundation came first. Our first question probably shouldn't be, “Which model?” It should be, “Are you ready?”

Amanda Calvo, Project Lead, Data for Good Vancouver

Let’s innovate, let’s build big things, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is actually supposed to serve people and not vice versa.

Taleeb Noormohamed, MP for Vancouver Granville

This is a resilience network. We're uncertain and a little bit afraid about the future, but we're being proactive and positive and trying to put our stamp onto it.

Kris Krüg, Executive Director, BC + AI Ecosystem Association
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The practical bits

Wednesday night under the dome.

When
Wednesday, August 26, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PDT
Where
H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9, Canada
Status
Completed · photos, recording, and recap published
Photography
Michelle Diamond
View the original Luma page ↗

Filed from August 26, 2026

The programme is now archived.

BC + AI turns local gatherings into practical, public-interest infrastructure for British Columbia: multi-modal, multi-cultural, radically local, and future-facing.

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What this is

Vancouver AI Meetup #32 is a BC + AI community event recap with photos, recordings, and details from the Vancouver AI ecosystem.

Who it is for

AI builders, researchers, policy people, creatives, educators, students, and citizens looking for practical local AI community.

When and where

Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PDT at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9, Canada.

How to join

Browse upcoming Vancouver AI events, RSVP on Luma, or become a BC + AI member to support the association behind the gatherings.

See upcoming events