CSR’s Quiet Adaptation in an Age of Backlash and AI: Insights from the Social Innovation Summit
Originally published on July 23, 2025 by Impact Entrepreneur here. By Elizabeth Gilbert Kaetzel
As corporations navigate an era marked by political backlash and technological acceleration, the future of corporate social responsibility (CSR) may hinge not on bold new commitments — but on the quiet, strategic defense of hard-won gains. At this year’s Social Innovation Summit, held in San Francisco under the theme “Navigate the New Era,” practitioners from across sectors gathered to confront the pressing questions: How do we protect social progress amid tightening political constraints? And how do we engage emerging technologies like AI with intention, equity, and foresight?
“Start by seeking common ground, and then know where to stand your ground,” opened Zeev Klein, Founder of the Summit, setting the tone for a conversation shaped by complexity, pragmatism, and long-term commitment. Speakers pointed to two defining features of this ‘New Era’: a shifting federal environment, particularly around diversity, equity, inclusion, and climate, and the breakneck rise of artificial intelligence.
Risk, language, and the quiet retrenchment
Several leaders expressed concern that, under political pressure, companies may retreat from public-facing commitments to equity and inclusion — even as they continue the work behind the scenes. “Many leaders I know may be changing their words, but are not changing their actions… I’m starting to call this ‘underground impact,’” shared Caroline Barlerin, CEO & Founder of Platypus Advisors, during a session on risk and responsibility in uncertain times.
This coded approach is increasingly common, noted Karen Little, Global Lead of Rapid Response & Strategic Partnerships at PayPal. “I don’t think where we are today from a language standpoint is actually new,” she said, referencing the long-standing need to adapt messaging to build broad-based support. Speakers like Katie Mooney, Managing Director at Seramount, highlighted how language in CSR and social impact fields is constantly evolving in response to political and cultural tides. Little acknowledged that while it can feel “frustrating” to adjust rhetoric to protect the work, finding common ground and building bipartisan consensus remains essential for progress.
Across sessions, speakers pointed to education access, disaster response, and entrepreneurship as opportunities for companies to demonstrate impact that resonates across political divides. These align closely with several UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Communities).
AI, CSR, and the ethics of acceleration
If political headwinds are one challenge, the other is technological velocity. Artificial intelligence, though rich with promise, also introduces risk — particularly for companies aiming to uphold their social impact missions.
“We spend a lot of time talking about AI as this powerful force for good,” noted Allison Scott, CEO of the Kapor Foundation, “but we spend less time being super intentional about articulating in what areas we want to see that force for good, how we are going to achieve that — and why AI is the right tool to accomplish those goals.” As CSR leaders adopt AI to avoid falling behind, they face growing pressure to ensure the technology advances equity rather than undermining it.
Some companies are meeting this moment with deliberateness. NVIDIA, for example, has prioritized trust and transparency in its AI development process. Michael Boone, Manager of Trustworthy AI Product at NVIDIA, shared that the company identified gaps in its training data, particularly a lack of input from racially diverse testers. To address this, NVIDIA brought in employees from across the company — bringing a variety of backgrounds and expertise — to contribute. “It’s yielded some really interesting results because we’ve gotten ideas that we would not have gotten otherwise,” said Boone.
Voto Latino shared a parallel approach — demonstrating how technology, when built on a foundation of trust, can strengthen systems rather than displace them. Having cultivated deep relationships across Latino communities, the organization was able to integrate AI into its civic engagement strategy. By 2020, they had registered 450,000 more voters than in 2016, using AI not to replace relational infrastructure, but to amplify it.
Trust as strategy, and the case for partnership
Trust was a recurring theme throughout the Summit — not only as a social value, but as a strategic investment. “If there’s ever been a moment that’s ripe for government, philanthropy, and the private sector to work together, this is the moment,” urged Julián Castro, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation and former U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development. “It’s clear that we’re living in unprecedented, unique — and for a lot of people — stressful and scary times. Philanthropy has a role to play in creating more stability and prosperity, especially for the most vulnerable.”
Castro emphasized that the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy centers around trust. “We put money into organizations that have the trust of their communities,” he said, noting that such organizations were able to respond quickly to the LA fires precisely because they were already embedded in place. This kind of relationship-driven philanthropy is essential in a systems-change context, especially when public policy is uncertain or contested.
The conversation turned toward capital itself. Alison Mathias, Vice President of the MassMutual Foundation, explored the distinction between transactional, catalytic, and transformative capital. She highlighted the Foundation’s recent partnership with Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) as a model of trust-based, long-term investment in community agency. “When we invest in people, we trust in people,” added OFN CEO Harold Pettigrew.
This blended capital approach — combining grant funding to meet urgent needs with longer-term impact investing strategies — was echoed by Henry Hipps, CEO & Co-Founder of Diffusion Venture Studio. “The intersection between transformational grantmaking and impact investing is really critical to actually drive systemic and lasting change,” he said.
Conclusion: Preparing for what comes next
The New Era of CSR will not be defined by grand pronouncements, but by subtle, strategic actions taken beneath the surface: shifting language to navigate political tides, adopting AI with intention and humility, and investing in partnerships rooted in trust. As the political and technological environment continues to evolve, those who have already laid the groundwork for collaborative, community-led, and values-aligned systems will be best positioned to respond — not only to protect social progress, but to reimagine it.
You can find more from Elizabeth Gilbert Kaetzel on Impact Entrepreneur here.
