Co-Chairs: Shalom Kansiime (they/them) & Kathryn Born (ze/zer)
Chief Technology Officer: Adam Finlayson (he/him)
Co-Chairs
Shalom Kansiime — Co-Chair
A non-gender conforming queer refugee from East Africa, Shalom is a documentary maker, fashion entrepreneur and influencer who supports rescue missions for queer refugees living in some of the worst conditions on earth. In addition to the Taza Impact fashion house and film studio, Shalom brings professional experience in case management and a continent-wide network, enabling Dusoma to prototype a Marla.AI system that could scale a single case manager’s capabilities tenfold.
Focus: Fashion, Film and Technology
See Speakers Bureau Page. Taza Impact website coming soon.
Kathryn Born — Co-Chair
A “young elder,” Kathryn created—and continues to build—Marla.AI, an app and future standalone AI model aimed at reducing poverty in East Africa and the United States through a blend of human wisdom and technology. Kathryn coordinates the design and deployment for over 10 active AI projects, and explores over 100 use cases for Marla AI. Ze brings thirty years of corporate experience with wide ranging expertise that includes GenAI, software architecture, healthcare, humanitarian tech, art and education. Kathryn has published two books and is generating a memoir called Fight Club 3; Marla for AI.
Focus: Product & AI ethics • Strategy & fundraising • Organizational design
See Bio page: “Death is Only the End if You Think the Story is About You.”
Adam Finlayson — Chief Technology Officer
Since 2023, three startup founders have entrusted Adam with the full software and AI stack for their fintech companies. With 20+ years in IT and hands-on experience with the ChatGPT API since its launch, Adam leads an innovative team at Finlayson Studios and supports Kathryn’s AI design ideas and supports the launch of open source prototypes and free products. Adam is also enthusiastic about the humanitarian tech space and the possibility of solving massive problems using a combination of professional and lived experience, transparency, honor and advanced technology.
Focus: Fintech and AI full-stack-development expertise
How the Board Works Together
- Shared Co-Chair Leadership. Shalom and Kathryn co-set priorities and adapt quickly as the refugee crisis worsens and issues in the US escalate.
- Adam serves as senior advisor on humanitarian AI and fintech. He evaluates the technological viability of the mission, supports delivery of individual prototypes and manages the development team.