Addie Achan - Founder

​You're trying to figure out if AI can actually help your mission. Whether the costs make sense. If it'll work for the communities you serve, or just create new problems. Whether you can trust it when the stakes are real.

I get it because I've sat in those rooms as a practitioner, not just a consultant.
 

I started at Google as a software engineer, learning how AI actually works. Then I became a Google.org AI for Social Good Fellow working with The Trevor Project to build AI for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis. That's where I learned the hard truth: brilliant technology means nothing if your implementation planning is weak, your costs aren't sustainable, or your community doesn't trust it.
 

As Director of AI Programs at Fast Forward, I evaluated and supported 50+ AI-powered nonprofits across sectors and geographies. I kept seeing the same patterns - well-meaning tools creating barriers for the people they're meant to serve, organizations burning budget on the wrong things, communities shut out of design decisions.
 

So I built an AI policy builder that's now used by 100+ nonprofits globally - work that OpenAI recognized when they named me a Nonprofit Hero. 
 

I don't just research methods and advise - I've led 0->1 AI integrations in high-stakes social impact use cases. I navigate the same questions my clients face every day. My Stanford MBA gave me the business frameworks to connect AI decisions to real outcomes, but my lived experience is what drives this work—I know what it means to be treated as an edge case, to have your needs overlooked by systems not built for you.

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Why PRACTICAL Exists​

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I created the PRACTICAL Framework because checklists designed for tech companies don't work when you're serving communities at risk of harm. You need something purpose-built for contexts where trust is hard-won and easily lost.
 

If you're wrestling with AI decisions and need someone who's actually done this work, let's talk.