Shannon

Shannon Farley co-founded Fast Forward to see the world’s best tech solve humanity’s biggest challenges. Given many of the best technologies are AI-powered, Shannon focuses on AI-powered nonprofits — 501(c)(3) organizations deploying AI to advance core impact objectives. By championing this work, Shannon helps ensure that AI makes a difference for historically marginalized communities. As the Executive Director of Fast Forward, Shannon has helped improve the lives of over 262M people globally and raised $1B in follow-on funding for tech and AI-powered nonprofits. Before Fast Forward, Shannon was the founding Executive Director of Spark, the world's largest network of millennial philanthropists. Prior to Spark, Shannon helped start The W. Haywood Burns Institute, a MacArthur Award-winning juvenile justice reform organization. Shannon holds a B.A. in American studies from Georgetown University and an M.S. in gender and social policy from the London School of Economics.