Picture yourself working for an organisation that exists to make the world more just, more peaceful, more sustainable. You believe in the mission, but your day-to-day reality is full of difficult choices about the technology you rely on. Should you spend scarce money on a new cybersecurity upgrade or keep it for grassroots campaigning? Is it acceptable to use a free tool if it means handing over your supporters’ personal data to a giant tech company? What about the environmental cost of the artificial intelligence services everyone keeps telling you to adopt? These are not hypothetical questions. They are the everyday dilemmas faced by values-based non-profits across the Greenpeace network and beyond. Some teams have sophisticated digital departments; others are one person trying to keep the website running while also doing outreach, fundraising and policy work. Meanwhile, the world around us feels increasingly unstable. AI is transforming how information is made and spread, data centres are expanding at a furious pace, and the same corporations that control much of our digital public square are growing ever more powerful. At the same time, our societies are under strain from financial pressures, misinformation, right-wing populism, fascism and new restrictions on speaking out and organising. The challenge is no longer simply about adopting more technology. It is about choosing tools that truly serve people and the planet, protect our rights and reduce our dependence on the very companies whose business models often run against our values.
That is why Greenpeace has chosen “Leveraging our collective power in times of democratic crisis, AI and misinformation” as the theme for its third digital transformation conference for non-profits, taking place online on Thursday 15 October 2026. Organised in collaboration with Tactical Tech, the conference will bring together people from civil society, academia and international development to ask a bold set of questions. How can non-profits use technology to support their missions without being exploited by Big Tech? What do campaigners, engagement specialists and fundraisers actually need from digital tools? How do we shape a technology strategy in a world where everything changes by the month, if not by the week? And, perhaps most urgently, how can civil society organise together to respond to the twin threats of AI-driven misinformation and democratic backsliding? The event is built on the belief that we are stronger together than alone. By sharing hard-won lessons, exposing common failures and celebrating small victories, participants will explore how to reduce their reliance on commercial providers and build alternatives rooted in solidarity, human rights and environmental responsibility. It is a conversation designed not for technology executives, but for the people on the ground who are trying to make technology work for justice and dignity, often with limited resources and under immense pressure.
A core part of the conference’s mission is to create a safe space for non-profit technology workers to speak honestly. Too often, digital conversations are dominated by corporate buzzwords and polished pitches from vendors who do not understand the realities of civil society work. This event is different. Building on the energy and trust developed in the previous conferences in 2024 and 2025, the 2026 gathering will encourage participants to talk openly about shared challenges: cybersecurity threats, budget constraints, burnout, ethical dilemmas and the feeling of being forced to choose between staying safe and staying principled. It will ask what civil society organisations can build together, and how we can move from being passive consumers of technology to active shapers of a digital world that respects people and planet. To make this a genuinely trustworthy environment, participants will be asked to provide an organisational email address or other evidence of their affiliation when they register. This is not about exclusion; it is about ensuring that everyone in the room is working from a similar set of values and can speak candidly without fear that their words will be twisted by hostile actors or commercial interests. The organisers understand that non-profit technology staff often feel isolated in their organisations, caught between mission-focused colleagues who want everything to work instantly and leadership who may not fully grasp the complexity of digital systems. This conference wants to be the place where those voices are heard, validated and empowered.
The programme is being carefully shaped to address both the big picture and the practical daily realities of non-profit work. Sessions will cover current developments in technology for non-profits, from the latest trends in cloud computing and data management to the emerging possibilities and pitfalls of generative AI. More importantly, the agenda will ask how technology can support civil society in responding to threats to democracy, including AI-driven misinformation. We are no longer living in an era where false narratives are simply spread by viral posts; AI can now generate realistic fake images, videos and articles at scale, making it harder than ever for people to know what to trust. For organisations working on climate change, human rights and social justice, this is an existential threat. If public debate is flooded with manipulated content, how do we protect truthful information and maintain trust in our own campaigns? The conference will explore these challenges from a practical perspective, with input from academics, researchers and campaigners who have faced them directly. In parallel, there will be frank conversations about what campaigning, engagement and fundraising teams need from technology. Too many non-profits adopt tools because they feel they have to, not because the tools solve a real problem. This event will ask participants to step back and think strategically: What are our actual needs? What would make our work easier, more effective and more humane? How can we say no to the hype and yes to what works?
The interactive nature of the conference is one of its strongest features. Rather than just listening to speakers, participants will have the chance to take part in a workshop designed to feed directly into a new report on the use of technology in non-profit organisations. That report will be sent to all participants after the event, turning the conversation into a shared resource that can guide decisions across the sector. This is a deliberate attempt to move beyond one-off webinars and instead build a durable community of practice. The organisers have also assembled an impressive group of speakers and moderators from across the civil society and research worlds. Confirmed colleagues include representatives from Aldeias SOS Portugal, Amnesty International, Loughborough University, Data Tank, Bertelsmann Foundation, Nethope, Tactical Tech, 350.org, the Norwegian Refugee Council and various Greenpeace organisations. These are people who have been in the trenches, wrestling with real problems in digital security, campaign strategy, nonprofit governance and ethical technology design. Behind the event, a dedicated team at Greenpeace International is leading the way: Luca Tiralongo, Head of Digital Transformation; Maria Julia van Boekel Cheola Torres, Digital Transformation Analyst; and Priscilla Chanda Chomba, Chief Technology Officer. Their experience reflects the conference’s core message: digital transformation is not a one-time project or a technical fix, but an ongoing, human-centred process that touches every part of an organisation’s culture, values and mission.
As the world grows more polarised and democratic norms come under attack, it can be tempting to retreat into narrow, individual solutions. Non-profits might try to protect themselves by buying the most expensive cybersecurity software, hoarding data or outsourcing everything to Silicon Valley. But the Greenpeace digital transformation conference offers a different vision: collective power. If civil society organisations share their knowledge, pool their resources and demand technology that serves the common good, they can create a counterweight to the forces of misinformation, corporate surveillance and political repression. This is not naive optimism. It is practical solidarity. It is the recognition that no single organisation can fix the digital ecosystem alone, but together we can shape it. The conference on 15 October 2026 is an invitation to be part of that effort. Whether you are a technologist, a campaigner, a fundraiser or a leader in a non-profit, whether you work for a large international organisation or a small community group, there is space for you in this conversation. You do not need to have all the answers. You just need to be willing to show up, listen, share and learn. In doing so, you will help build the kind of technology culture that puts people and planet first, and that stands firm in the face of AI-driven manipulation and attacks on democracy. The digital future is not something that happens to us. It is something we create, together, with intention, courage and care.