As we step into 2025, I find myself reflecting on our AI journey at Furniture Bank, which began in earnest back in 2022. It started with a simple question: how could we tell the story of furniture poverty without exploiting those experiencing it? This question sparked a fire of curiosity, leading us down a path that would prove nothing short of transformative to how we see 2025 and beyond.
As Executive Director of Furniture Bank, I’ve always believed in innovation’s power to drive social change. Our mission to end furniture poverty across Canada has led us through social enterprise, technology, impact measurement, and social finance. Yet none of these paths has reshaped our operations and amplified our impact quite like our exploration of artificial intelligence. This remarkable adventure has taught us the true value of what I’ve come to call “the privilege of curiosity.”
The Picture Isn't Real, But The Reality Is
Our breakthrough came with “The Picture Isn’t Real, But The Reality Is” campaign. For years, we had grappled with the challenge of portraying furniture poverty respectfully, without resorting to what some might call “poverty porn.” Traditional photo shoots were costly and ethically fraught. But what if we could use AI to create images based on text descriptions?
This idea emerged from what John Cleese would call the “open mode” of thinking – a state of relaxed playfulness where creativity thrives. In the summer of 2022, we embraced uncertainty and explored this unconventional approach without the pressure of immediate success. The result was transformative: a series of AI-generated images that powerfully conveyed the reality of furniture poverty while safeguarding our clients’ dignity.
These images became the centerpiece of a postcard campaign sent to donors, showcasing the impact of their furniture donations. The campaign’s resounding success went beyond donor engagement – it stood as a powerful proof of concept, demonstrating AI’s potential to address long-standing challenges in the social impact sector. More importantly, it reinforced what I call “the privilege of curiosity” – showing how a mindset of continuous exploration and experimentation could lead to breakthrough solutions.
Embracing the Anomalies
 As Cleese often points out, great innovations often come from recognizing and embracing anomalies . Our AI journey has been full of such moments. I recall an instance where our AI language model produced some hilariously off-base responses about furniture, housing and homelessness. Instead of dismissing these as errors, we used them as springboards for deeper discussions about the nuances of our work – providing Homing Services (turning empty housing into furnished homes).
This openness to the unexpected has been a cornerstone of our approach. We’ve learned to value the “failures” as much as the successes, recognizing that each unexpected outcome is an opportunity for learning and growth.
From Skeptic to Explorer
Like many leaders in the social impact sector, I initially approached AI with caution. But my background in technology startups taught me that innovation often comes from asking “what if?” rather than “why not?” We started small – experimenting with AI-generated images to respectfully illustrate furniture poverty while preserving client dignity.
That first experiment, our “The Picture Isn’t Real, But The Reality Is” campaign, taught us something crucial: AI wasn’t just a tool for creating images; it was a gateway to reimagining how a charity could operate.
Key Milestones in Our AI Journey:
- 2022: First AI-generated image campaign “The Picture Isn’t Real, The Reality Is!“
- 2023: Established our AI Manifesto and started experimenting what AI knew about Furniture Poverty
- 2024: Implemented AI augmented contact center for social enterprise customers, clients and donors
- 2025: Exploring AI Workflows, Agents, and Automations across different departments to create new capabilities historically seen impossible for us!
Creating a Culture of Curiosity
“Start small, learn continuously, share openly.” This mantra has guided our approach to AI adoption. We’ve tried to create what I call a “homeschooling” environment for AI experimentation – a space where our team can learn, play, and occasionally fail without fear – all at the speed, learning styles and interests of the individuals wanting to be involved in this journey.
The “Dollar-a-Day” Difference: Innovation on a Budget
Our journey has also demonstrated that successful AI adoption isn’t about hefty budgets or extensive technical expertise. It’s about fostering a culture of creative problem-solving. Most individual tools we’ve been experimenting with for staff translate into “a dollar a day” cost. While many vendors want to sell you huge AI based solutions – the simple fact is there is a cost-effective approach to allow all of us to experiment and get started with various AI tools and identify those that offer the greatest potential for the charity and our staff goals.
The Hardest Part – Fostering a Culture of Curiosity
Throughout this journey, I’ve worked hard to foster what I call a “culture of curiosity” within Furniture Bank. This goes beyond just experimenting with AI – it’s about cultivating an environment where everyone feels empowered to explore, question, and innovate .
We’ve created an internal AI Innovation budget, encouraging team members to propose and test new ideas. While securing external funding for this initiative has been challenging, we’ve remained committed to investing in innovation, recognizing its crucial role in amplifying our impact.
Trust as Our North Star
“Will this build trust?” That’s our litmus test for every AI initiative. We’re not interested in technology for technology’s sake. Each AI application must:
- Respect client dignity
- Enhance human connections
- Support our mission
- Augment our capabilities in responsible and beneficial ways to support national impactÂ
- Demonstrate clear value to the organization
The AI Manifesto we developed in 2023 formalized these principles for our staff and interested donors, ensuring our innovation remains grounded in our values. We created the document with the team at Furniture Bank in mind to provide them guidelines to work with.
Lessons from the Journey
Three years in, here’s what I wish I’d known when we started:
- Start Before You’re Ready: Don’t wait for perfect understanding or complete clarity. Begin with small experiments that address specific challenges.
- Create Safe Spaces for Learning: Our “AI Council” is a fancy word for a forum for open discussion, sharing concerns, cross learning and celebrating wins for all staff interested in joining in this curiosity.
- Embrace the Unexpected: Some of our most valuable innovations came from “failures” or unexpected outcomes. Curiosity means staying open to surprise.
- Focus on Augmentation, Not Replacement: “AI won’t replace people—the heart of what all charities do is people.” This belief has guided every decision we’ve made. We see AI tools able to augment the impact of our existing staff when applied in responsible and beneficial ways.
Key Takeaways:
- Curiosity is key: Embrace a mindset of continuous exploration and experimentation.
- Start small, think big: Begin with pilot projects and scale based on impact.
- Prioritize trust: Ensure AI initiatives build trust with your stakeholders.
- People first: Remember that AI augments, not replaces, human capabilities.
Looking Forward
As we move into 2025, our relationship with AI has evolved from experimental to operational, transforming everything from impact measurement to donor engagement. Yet as these tools become more sophisticated and integral to our work, we’ve learned that maintaining our initial sense of curiosity and playfulness is crucial. As John Cleese reminds us, this playful spirit is key to unlocking creativity and innovation.
The privilege of curiosity has led us down unexpected paths, revealing new possibilities for addressing furniture poverty. We remain committed to using AI not as a replacement for human compassion, but as a tool to amplify our impact and reach more people in need across Canada. While we’ve moved beyond our early experiments, in many ways it feels like we’re just getting started. With curiosity as our guide and innovation as our goal, I’m confident we’ll continue to find new ways to leverage AI in our mission to end furniture poverty.
