Innovation for Good Cannot Be Institution-Bound
Innovation Circles are permanent, cause-driven communities where changemakers — regardless of sector, title, or institution — come together to learn, build, and advance technology for community good. They're not cohorts. They don't end. They grow.
Apply to Join a Circle How It WorksWhat to Expect
A Real Commitment. Real Results.
Here's what being in an Innovation Circle actually looks like — from your first session to your first prototype.
Twice a Month
90-minute structured sessions — workshops, peer critique, and shared working time, every other week.
10–20 People
Small enough to know each other. Cross-sector peers — founders, technologists, practitioners — all working in your cause area.
Primarily Virtual
Sessions online so members can join from anywhere. In-person gatherings at the annual DreamForge Summit.
No Fixed End Date
Circles don't graduate you out. You stay as long as you're building. The community compounds over time.
What You Walk Away With
Permanent Communities. Persistent Progress.
Most innovation programs have an expiration date — a cohort ends, a fellowship wraps, and the community dissolves. Innovation Circles are different. They are organized around cause areas, not timelines. Members stay engaged long-term, building relationships, sharing tools, and creating real impact together.
Each Circle focuses on a specific intersection of technology and social impact. Members come from nonprofits, government, philanthropy, tech, academia, and civic life — united by a shared cause and a commitment to doing something about it.
Community-Led
Circles are shaped by their members. DreamForge provides structure, facilitation, and resources — members bring the energy, expertise, and commitment.
Cross-Sector by Design
The most effective solutions emerge when technologists, practitioners, funders, and policymakers work side by side. Circles are built to bring those worlds together.
Always On
No application cycles. No graduation dates. Members stay as long as they're contributing — and Circles keep building on what came before.
Tied to the Accelerator
Innovation Circles serve as the pipeline for the Tech for Good Accelerator. The strongest ideas that emerge from Circles become candidates for deeper support.
10+ Active Cause Areas
DreamForge currently supports Innovation Circles across more than 10 cause areas. Each Circle tackles a distinct challenge at the intersection of technology and community impact.
From Community to Impact
Joining an Innovation Circle is a commitment — not just a sign-up. Here's what the journey looks like:
Apply
Tell us about your background, your cause area, and what you're hoping to build. We match you with the right Circle.
Connect
Meet your Circle — a cohort of 10–20 changemakers across sectors, united around a shared cause and commitment to action.
Build
Through regular convenings, peer learning, and shared projects, your Circle moves from conversation to prototype to deployment.
Accelerate
The most promising ideas from Circles advance to the Tech for Good Accelerator for deeper support, mentorship, and resources.
Giving Compass: Community-Driven Tech for Philanthropy
Giving Compass — an AI-powered philanthropic discovery platform — is one of DreamForge's most concrete demonstrations of what happens when a diverse community of practitioners, technologists, and funders collaborates around a shared cause: improving how philanthropy flows to communities that need it most.
The development of Giving Compass drew from exactly the kind of cross-sector collaboration that Innovation Circles are designed to catalyze. Technologists, foundation professionals, nonprofit leaders, and equity practitioners came together to define what a platform serving donors and foundations should actually do — and what it should never do.
This is the model: bring together the people who live the problem, the people who understand the technology, and the people who hold the resources — and let them build together. That's what Innovation Circles make possible at scale.
Part of a Larger Ecosystem
Innovation Circles don't operate in isolation. They connect to DreamForge's full ecosystem: the Tech for Good Bootcamp equips members with skills, the Accelerator provides runway for the strongest ideas, and Brandolon's Advising helps organizations navigate what comes next.
Explore the Accelerator →Ready to Build with Others?
Whether you're a practitioner, a technologist, a funder, or a policymaker — if you're committed to tech in service of community, there's a Circle for you.
Apply to Join a Circle Get in TouchWhat Is An Innovation Circle?
Like a Giving Circle.
But for Building.
A Giving Circle pools resources so communities can fund causes they care about. An Innovation Circle pools expertise, technology, and purpose — so communities can build the solutions they need.
Each Circle is a small, permanent cohort of changemakers — social entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, community technologists — united around a shared cause area. Together, they learn cutting-edge AI skills, explore tech-for-good methods, and build real tools for real impact.
Innovation Circles are not cohorts that graduate and disperse. They are lasting communities of practice — places where your network, your skills, and your mission grow together over time.
How It Works
Three Pillars of Every Innovation Circle
Each circle is built around three integrated learning tracks — designed to work together so members grow in capability, community, and impact.
AI Training
Circle members develop practical AI skills through guided workshops and peer learning — so you can apply today's most powerful tools to your cause, not just read about them.
Tech for Good Methods
Grounded in impact-centered design, circles learn and apply methods from civic tech and social innovation. Developed in partnership with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
Supported Building
Every circle member has access to resources, mentorship, and real support to build something meaningful — from proof-of-concept to community launch.
Who It's For
Built for Changemakers
Who Build
Innovation Circles are for people who see a problem in the world and want to do something about it — with technology, with community, and with purpose.
Social Entrepreneurs
Building mission-driven ventures that need tech and community to scale their impact.
Nonprofit Innovators
Nonprofit leaders ready to bring modern technology skills inside their organizations.
Community Technologists
Developers and designers who want to apply their skills to causes that matter.
Emerging Changemakers
Early-career doers who want to grow alongside a community of builders from day one.
You don't need a technical background. You need a cause you care about.
Get Started
Ready to Find
Your Circle?
Join a permanent community of changemakers building tech for good. Applications are open now for our founding cohort.