Build AI-native tools that multiply the incubator's impact
- commitment
- 10 hrs/week
- flexibility
- Open to proposals
The project
I build internal and external systems to accelerate our incubation programmes (including animal-welfare orgs), the organisations that have been through our programme, and other non-profits. A mentee would take ownership of one concrete module end-to-end and ship it during the 10 weeks.
Because we move fast, the exact projects available at the end of August will likely differ from today's list, but they'll be the same kind of work. Current examples:
- Modules for our event app
- A mentor/co-founder matching system
- MEL follow-up tooling to monitor the monitoring-evaluation-learning process with incubated organisations
- An alumni support system
- Grant-making / regranting follow-up tooling
- A job application and candidate selection system
Each is a real tool with a real internal user, not a throwaway exercise. The work is AI-native by default: LLMs and MCP integrations are part of the architecture, not bolted on afterwards.
The mentee's role
Each mentee owns one module end-to-end:
- Scoping it with me and the internal user,
- Designing the architecture,
- Building it,
- Shipping something people actually use by the end of the 10 weeks.
This is a build role, not a support or research role. You write the code and make the product decisions, with me as technical sparring partner, reviewer, and unblocker rather than someone handing you tickets.
You'll work AI-native throughout (LLM integration, agentic tooling, MCP), and you'll deal directly with the ambiguity and shifting scope that come with building for a live organisation.
Who I'm looking for
Must-haves:
- Can build and ship working software independently: you'll own a module end-to-end, not just prototype it
- Genuinely comfortable working AI-native: using LLMs and tools like Claude Code / MCP as a core part of how you build, not an afterthought
- Self-directed; able to make progress between weekly calls with limited hand-holding
- Motivated by impact on animals / future sentient beings, not just the technical challenge
Nice-to-haves:
- Full-stack or product-engineering experience
- Comfort with ambiguity and shifting requirements (we move fast; scope will evolve)
Support offered
- Shaping direction and scoping
- Hands-on technical guidance and architecture review
- Code and product feedback
- AI-native workflow coaching (Claude Code, MCP, LLM integration patterns)
- Accountability through weekly check-in
- Connections into the K4G network and the wider animal-advocacy / EA ecosystem.
- format
- Product & entrepreneurship · Field-building & outreach
- topic
- Tools for advocates · Other · Macrostrategy · Post-AGI transition
Niels Wijnen
Kickstarting For Good — Head of Systems (CTO/COO)
I'm Head of Systems at Kickstarting For Good (K4G), an impact-focused nonprofit incubator and accelerator. Before this I founded, built, and led a food e-commerce company as CEO/CTO before exiting.
My current work is making K4G an AI-native organisation by the end of 2026. I've rewritten our incubation process from the ground up to be fully integrated with LLMs rather than retrofitting AI onto existing tools, and I build and operate our internal platform as the sole developer. That means I spend my days doing the exact thing a mentee on this track would be learning: turning a real organisational need into a working, AI-native tool that people depend on.
I have an educational background and prior mentoring experience, mentor for the High Impact Professionals (HIP) programme, and am active in the effective altruism and animal advocacy community.