Rose Afriyie

Rose Afriyie has served as a public interest technologist for more than a decade, including roles at Google and the White House. She is the co-founder of mRelief, the easy-to-use platform available online and by text messaging that helps people sign up for SNAP. Since 2017, mRelief has integrated AI into its tools, from using speech-to-text to reduce hold times for applicants to today’s tailored chatbot and streamlined document verification process. Through mRelief, 5.2 million people have accessed over $2.1 billion in government food benefits. Rose currently serves as board chair of mRelief, where she focuses on leveraging AI to drive operational excellence in ways that center ethics, privacy, and accessibility. She is committed to supporting the organization’s next milestone of enrolling more than 4 million people in social services.

Rose has leveraged her experience to support the social impact field. In 2024, Rose co-developed a Microsoft-backed curriculum and framework to help nonprofits draft AI policies and navigate ethical adoption of AI. Building on that work in 2025, she partnered with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to strengthen AI capacity across their grantee network.

Alongside her social impact work, Rose has served as a writer for two decades starting in print journalism in college. She has published non-fiction essays in Essence, Glamour and Wired. She also writes speculative fiction that explores the limitations and vast possibilities of AI for a more just world.