About Amber Ivey

Amber M. Ivey, known as "AI," is Vice President, Impact Advisory at Social Finance, a national nonprofit and Registered Investment Advisor, where she co-leads the AI Learning and Innovation Hub (AI Hub), a national sandbox that helps public agencies test AI tools responsibly before procurement or scale. She has spent more than a decade helping governments and mission-driven organizations turn data and artificial intelligence into measurable outcomes. She is the founder of the Ivey Collective and creator of AiDigiTales, the AI for Kids podcast, and a weekly newsletter on AI literacy for children, parents, and teachers.
Amber M. Ivey, VP at Social Finance and founder of the Ivey Collective

What I work on today

At Social Finance, I co-lead the AI Hub, where public agencies pilot AI use cases inside a structured environment with technical, legal, and procurement guardrails. The premise is simple: government should test before it buys, and learn before it scales.

In parallel, through the Ivey Collective, I work directly with leaders in three areas:
  • Responsible data and AI strategy, governance, and readiness for public sector and mission-driven organizations
  • Data-driven decision-making and outcomes-based funding
  • AI literacy that meets people where they are, from cabinet secretaries to fifth-graders

Before this

Before joining Social Finance, I led the rebrand and rebuild of the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, where I managed more than $25M in grants from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ballmer Group, and Blue Meridian, and helped design and launch the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance, a program that trained 100 mayors and their senior leaders across the Americas to use data for better outcomes.

Before Johns Hopkins, I led civil legal modernization at The Pew Charitable Trusts, providing technical and strategic assistance to states and counties working to streamline business processes and launch technology like legal-help websites and online courts. While at Pew, I co-authored the first 50-state review of how government uses administrative data, a framework still referenced by state CIOs and budget offices.

Earlier in my career, I served as a policy analyst focused on government improvement across two Maryland gubernatorial administrations, one Democratic (Governor Martin O'Malley, where I served at Maryland StateStat), one Republican (Governor Larry Hogan, where I helped establish the Governor's Office of Performance Improvement). I started in the private sector as a logistics manager at a Fortune 50 company, where I learned to use data to drive efficiency, productivity, and profit before bringing those skills into public service.

Also

I'm the founder of the Ivey Collective, an AI and data consultancy serving government and mission-driven organizations, and the creator of AiDigiTales, including the AI for Kids podcast and a weekly newsletter helping children, parents, and teachers think critically about the AI systems shaping their lives. I work on data and AI for adults by day and AI literacy for kids by night, because the people most affected by these tools should not be the last to understand them. AI literacy should start at the kitchen table, not on a tablet.

Credentials

  • Juris Doctorate (J.D.)
  • Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.)
  • 12+ years in data and performance management and 8+ years in AI for the public good
  • Researcher and co-author, first 50-state review of government use of administrative data

Featured in:

  • Afro Tech

  • Baltimore Fishbowl

  • Black Enterprise

  • Government Technology Magazine

  • Kidliomag

  • Policy & Practice

  • SXSW

  • Technically

  • WYPR - Local NPR Station

Let's connect

Book a call | booking@ambermivey.com | LinkedIn