Carlos Centeno

Carlos co-founded SOMOS Civic Lab, after attending Stanford’s Ethics, Technology, and Public Policy for Practitioners course (2024). At the lab, the team is researching and designing tools to democratize generative AI in Global Majority countries. Somos is part of the UNDP AI Trust & Safety Programme, and it’s supported by the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability program. At MITdesignX Carlos helps turn students’ tech research and international entrepreneurs tech ideas into ventures. As MIT Emerging Talent Director, he equipped learners from migrant and refugee communities with computer science skills. He co-founded and directed MIT’s Governance Innovation Initiative, launched MIT’s Governance Innovation Research Fellowship, and hosted MIT’s “Power to the Who” podcast. He was previously at the UN World Food Programme for 10 years, where he worked in community and government preparedness to natural disasters in Latin America, Asia and Africa. His AI (NLP) prototype ALIA, automated data analytics for food security and livelihoods impact from natural disasters. ALIA was a Google launchpad finalist (2018). He has supported award-winning investigative journalism projects at Pro Publica on disappearances and detentions by the US federal government. He is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.