On February 26, the newest fellows at the Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good (ECG) concluded the first chapter of their engagement with the University.
The Social Innovator Fellowship, a key component of the Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Center for Virtue Ethics, offers non-profit leaders the opportunity to spend four weeks in residence on Notre Dame’s campus advancing a project related to applied ethics in their field of work.
During the month of February, Scott Hurd of Catholic Charities USA and Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy of Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN), the program’s first two fellows, engaged in this work and presented the results of their efforts to the campus community at a closing reception in McKenna Hall.
Scott Hurd serves as Vice President for Leadership Development and Catholic Identity at Catholic Charities USA where he oversees programming related to mission alignment, ethics, and diocesan and parish engagement. From this vantage point in his organization, Hurd noticed that few employees had formal tech training before joining Catholic Charities.
When ChatGPT was released in November of 2022, Hurd recalled he was “filled with alarm.” “I began to study it,” said Hurd, “and read voraciously.”
He saw a need for guidance around AI in his organization. To meet this need, Hurd spent his residency on campus at Notre Dame developing a discernment guide entitled: “An Exciting and Fearsome Tool.” The guide is designed to assist Catholic Charities employees and partners in thinking through appropriate uses of AI in their work, and is broken out into 17 practical sections, each devoted to a specific topic area. Topics include guidance on assessing AI applications before use, placing thoughtful limits around AI-assisted decision-making, and the dangers of personifying AI tools.
“I want this to be accessible and digestible,” said Hurd, who limited each section to just one page. “I want people to read it and to use it.”
Hurd also expressed excitement about the potential of sharing the guide beyond his own organization.
“I’m hoping that this becomes kind of an open source resource that can benefit organizations far beyond Catholic Charities.”
Hurd was followed by Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy. As executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, Vaillancourt Murphy oversees the strategic direction behind CMN’s mission to end the death penalty and advance justice solutions that align with Catholic values through restorative practices.
Vaillancourt Murphy's project focused on the need for effective, pro-life evangelization and storytelling in today's increasingly revenge-oriented society.
“I believe we have a scarcity of stories that show what honoring human dignity looks like or how to practice mercy,” said Vaillancourt Murphy. “These golden tenets of our faith need fresh, healthy, contemporary stories, fleshy and relatable, that feature people with lived-experiences. Parables for our time that can touch hearts.”
During her time at Notre Dame, Vaillancourt Murphy explored ways in which CMN can amplify the Church’s pro-life teaching about capital punishment and create pathways toward forgiveness and restoration in its work to end the death penalty.
Vaillancourt Murphy spoke to the ways her time in residence as a Social Innovator Fellow would impact her efforts as she returns to her work at CMN: “This time has afforded me a chance to step back from that daily work and to drink from a deep cross-disciplinary well of Notre Dame wisdom in the areas of theology, philosophy, communications, law, political science and peacebuilding. Surely, this wisdom will shape and improve CMN’s efforts, and our collective impact going forward.”
The application window for the next cohort of social innovators has closed. Questions about the program may be directed to Adam Gustine at agustine@nd.edu.