A Fordcastle conversation series, hosted with Sanders Place
An ongoing series of informal fireside chats for people working in impact who want to better understand AI. Each session sits down with someone building at the frontier, then opens the floor to the room for an honest Q&A. Hosted at Sanders Place in Richmond, Melbourne.
Get notified about the next session → See the full series on Luma →Sign up for occasional Fordcastle updates and register your interest in the Impact Vibes process.
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The series
Session 03 · Date to be announced Up next
We're planning the next Impact Vibes now. Sign up and we'll let you know the date and guest first.
Same format as the series so far: an informal fireside at Sanders Place, then the floor opens to the room. Once it's set, it will be listed on Luma.
Get notified
Join the Fordcastle list and we'll email you when the date and guest are confirmed.
You're on the list. We'll let you know as soon as the next session is confirmed.
Session 02 · 30 September 2026
A fireside conversation with Ellen Jackson, organisational psychologist and Chair of The Ballarat Foundation, followed by an open brainstorm with the room. Ellen wasn't there to answer AI. She brought the questions many of us are carrying, for the room to think through together:
Session 01 · 28 July 2026
We kicked off the series with an informal fireside with Rye, in three parts:
About Impact Vibes
AI is increasingly shaping decisions the impact sector cares about: who gets a service, who gets capital, what counts as evidence. Most of the people building the systems are not the people living with the consequences. Australia has real AI capability and real impact infrastructure, and the two communities don't talk enough.
Impact Vibes is an ongoing series for people working in impact who want to better understand AI. Each session is an informal fireside chat with someone building at the frontier, ending in an open Q&A on the topics the impact community most wants to put to AI. Fordcastle captures the priorities and shares a short recap back.
It runs out of Sanders Place in Richmond, Melbourne's hub for impact and the circular economy.
Why attend
The room
Sanders Place, Richmond. Melbourne's hub for impact and the circular economy.
Your hosts
Curator
Founder, Fordcastle
Melbourne practice at the intersection of impact, technology, and systems change. Convenes practitioners and operators around the questions the rest of the room is not yet asking.
Co-host
Founder, Cocreate Catalyst
Facilitator, systems thinker and strategist with a passion for enabling humans to create positive change and impact. Works with teams, organisations and collectives to build coherence between purpose, systems, strategy and execution.
FAQ
Each session opens with a fireside guest, from people building at the frontier of AI in Australia to leaders working with communities. So far: Rye Smith, Claude Community Ambassador at Anthropic Australia, and Ellen Jackson, organisational psychologist and Chair of The Ballarat Foundation. The guest changes session to session. The next guest is still to be announced: sign up on this page to hear first, and see the full series on Luma.
Sanders Place members, Fordcastle's wider impact-sector network, and a few people from the AI side who have something to add.
If you are curious about AI and care about impact, yes. Come along.
Each session is listed on Luma once its date is set, and you register there. Sign up on this page to be told when the next one opens, or drop Stephen a note. The room is small but warm, and we are happy to make space.
A useful network, a working hour spent shaping what AI could do for impact, and a recap of the ideas the room surfaced. The guest carries the strongest ones back to the frontier.
About an hour to ninety minutes. An informal fireside chat with the guest, ending in an open Q&A or brainstorm with the room. Fordcastle shares a short recap afterwards.
Something light to drink. These are short sessions, not meals.
Free for confirmed attendees. Hosted by Fordcastle and Sanders Place.
Come with one idea for what you wish AI could do for your work. That is enough.
Sessions run at Sanders Place in Richmond, Melbourne. Each one is listed on Luma with its date and time once announced. Sign up on this page to hear about the next session first.
Attend
Impact Vibes runs at Sanders Place in Richmond. The next session is being planned now. Sign up for the date and guest, and find past sessions on Luma.
Get notified →