Imaan Khadir is a community builder with over five years of experience in impact-driven work and social entrepreneurship. She co-leads Effective Altruism South Africa and focuses on AI safety by contributing to projects that build local capacity to navigate AI risks and opportunities, with a particular interest in AI Governance in Africa. With a background in organising events, growing communities, and driving research in the Global South, Imaan is passionate about creating spaces for connection, reflection, and meaningful action. She has a Masters in Development Policy and Practice at the University of Cape Town's Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, served as an AI Governance Teaching Fellow for BlueDot Impact and was a Don Lavoie Fellow at the Mercatus Center.

An AI safety researcher based in Cape Town South Africa. My work revolves around researching ways to reduce catastrophic risks from transformative AI systems. Currently my work focuses on understanding conceptions of agency and trying to develop mathematical models of agency so that we can better steer AI systems towards behaviours which enhance human agency rather than deplete it. I am also excited about evals that aim to address this problem.

As a graduate of the Michaelis School of Fine Art, I think deeply about visual communication and interactive experiences. In 2025 I Completed a Cooperative AI course which stoked my curiosity about the intersection of interaction design and multi-agent systems. With prior experience in User Experience Design, Art Direction and Project Management, I'm keen to leverage these skills to build the community and brand at AISSA. My aim is to design for cooperative outcomes that support human agency within AI safety.

I am a technical professional transitioning into the field of AI Safety, building on a solid foundation in software development and a BSc in Computer Science & Applied Statistics from UCT. My interest in AI advancements predates this dedicated pivot, involving active participation in AI Safety Cape Town (AISCT) community discussions, paper reading groups, and talks.
‍
Currently, I am deepening my expertise through rigorous self-study by following the ARENA curriculum, and exploring agent evaluations and multi-agent simulations as potential project directions. I am keen to apply my growing AI Safety knowledge and development experience to contribute to robust and safe AI systems, and I welcome discussions and collaborations.

By day I am a BSc in AI student & content lead for AI Safety South Africa. By dawn I am a middle distance‑runner with my eyes set on the Olympics. My career hones in on one skill that I'm trying to develop: storytelling. I believe an idea only truly lands when it can be felt, not just understood. That’s why I work across different mediums to find the right approach to spread a message. Whether it's through writing, speaking, or scripting, the goal is always the same: to create stories that educate our minds & inspire our next steps.

Clifford is a governance scholar whose work has focused on the regulation of both existing and emerging harm landscapes (harmscapes).  His current work is focused on the use of process regulation through standards to promote AI safety as well as work on the management of risks that AI startups face. Clifford holds professorships at the University of Cape Town, the University of Toronto, and the Australian National University.