Research Summary: AMINA: The Inclusive and Accountable AI for Marginalized Immigrant Nonprofit Assistance

Research conducted with Iranian immigrant nonprofit practitioners identified significant challenges, including exclusion from formal registries, digital platforms, legitimacy barriers, capacity gaps, and politically charged misinformation. These issues constrain their operational capabilities. In response, a prototyped AI assistant, AMINA, was co-designed to address these needs by supporting daily operations, recognizing informal efforts, proactively countering misinformation, and providing multilingual assistance. The study underscores the potential of inclusive AI to empower marginalized groups.

Why it matters

This research highlights the critical operational challenges faced by marginalized nonprofit organizations, particularly those serving immigrant communities in sensitive environments. Addressing these issues through inclusive technological solutions can enhance the effectiveness and reach of vital community services, fostering greater social equity and stability.

Key insights

• Immigrant-led nonprofit groups, particularly in sensitive contexts, experience exclusion from formal registries and digital platforms.
• Legitimacy barriers, capacity gaps, and politically charged misinformation significantly constrain nonprofit operations.
• A three-phase mixed-methods study involved 27 semi-structured interviews, a co-design session, and 7 evaluation interviews with Iranian immigrant nonprofit practitioners.
• The prototyped AI assistant, AMINA, was designed to support everyday group operations.
• AMINA aims to recognize informal nonprofit efforts, which are often overlooked by traditional systems.
• A core design goal for AMINA is proactive countering of misinformation affecting these groups.
• The AI assistant is intended to be multilingual and accessible across various languages and cultural contexts.

Source

arXiv — Computers and Society — https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.30084