Partners
Becoming a BC+AI Partner
Our Partners
We build alongside people and organizations who share our values: ethical AI, community ownership, and real work over hype. Our partners show up—at events, in conversations, and in the work itself—month after month.
Community
Cloud Commons Canada
Building LEON—public-interest privacy mapping for Canadians.
Cloud Commons Canada is building LEON—the Local Environment Observability Node—a public-interest privacy tool that gives Canadians a plain-language picture of where their data lives, who owns the apps they use, and what their portability rights are. Anonymized contributions feed an open dataset on Canadian app data practices, available to researchers, journalists, and policymakers with no paywall. Gregory Czaplak leads the effort; the partnership has been active since March 2026 as a non-monetary alignment around digital sovereignty and data dignity.
Community
Creative Mornings Vancouver
Fourteen years gathering the city’s creative community.
Fourteen years and counting. CreativeMornings Vancouver has been gathering the city’s creative community every month—and when AI became the conversation, they were already in the room. A natural home for the intersection of creativity, technology, and community.
Community
Data for Good Vancouver
Volunteer data professionals × non-profits. Datathons that ship.
Data for Good Vancouver pairs volunteer data professionals with non-profits who want to put their data to work—through weekend datathons, pro-bono projects, and a national volunteer network that actually ships. Their model maps directly onto our Responsible AI framing: data and AI in service of community impact, not the other way around. Gordon Hamilton leads the Vancouver chapter, and we’re already co-designing programming together—starting with a joint showcase in August and Data Day at the BC Future Proof Festival in October.
Community
Ethos Lab
Black & Indigenous youth-led creative studio. AI built with, not about.
A Black and Indigenous youth-led creative studio building at the intersection of art, technology, and identity. Ethos Lab runs AI Studios and Friday Night AI Experimentation Labs—spaces where young people from communities that AI is too often built about (not with) get to build it themselves.
Community
FriendsQuarters
Our second home in Gastown. AI Happy Hour starts June 19.
FriendsQuarters is a 1,500 square-foot event and co-working space on the edge of Gastown—exposed brick, hardwood floors, a bar, a back patio, and a podcast studio—run by Dean and Krista on the principle that “Friends Make Work.” It’s BC + AI’s second home in downtown Vancouver, hosting the kind of intimate, off-program gatherings that round out our larger monthly meetups at the Space Centre. Confirmed programming includes Calm Before the Storm (May 10) and the inaugural AI Happy Hour (June 19, 5–8pm)—recurring monthly from there.
Community
Global AI Summit Vancouver
International AI gathering. Kris moderating Panel 1.
Global AI Summit lands in Vancouver in 2026 as a major international gathering pulling together markets, policy, and culture under one roof. Kris is moderating Panel 1—Who Shapes the AI Future—with panelists from the City of Vancouver, SAP, Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada, and PurpleOwl AI. Our partnership with Christine Ni’s team includes community ticket access, programming exchange, and joint visibility for BC’s AI ecosystem on a global stage.
Institutional
HR MacMillan Space Centre
Our home base since the very first Vancouver AI meetup.
The Space Centre has welcomed Vancouver AI meetups since the beginning—providing not just a venue, but an institutional anchor that signals what we’re about: exploration, education, and wonder. Lorraine Lowe, the Space Centre’s Director, serves on our Board.
Academic
SFU Metacreation Lab
Computational creativity research grounding our creative-AI track.
Philippe Pasquier and the Metacreation Lab have been collaborating with Vancouver AI since before it was fashionable. Their work on computational creativity, generative systems, and AI in the arts directly shapes our programming around creative AI.
Community
TruNorth AI Expo
Boutique AI conference at UBC. Sept 9–10, 2026.
TruNorth AI Expo is the boutique counterpoint to oversized industry conferences—a curated, high-trust gathering at UBC’s Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre on September 9–10, 2026, with a VIP night at the Vancouver Aquarium. Programming centres on Responsible AI: ethical, sustainable, human-centered standards bridging government, academia, and industry. Jimmy Stewart’s outreach in April 2026 opened a partnership track around speaker exchange, community ticket access, and joint pre-and-post-expo programming during expo week.
BC AI Ecosystem Association is a registered British Columbia nonprofit. Our partnerships are built on shared values, not transactions. We exist to serve our community—and we partner with organizations who feel the same way. Looking to sponsor BC AI? Visit our Sponsors page.
