Canva and OpenAI set nonprofit AI hackathon for Australian teams

The June event will give 20 nonprofits hands-on support with AI tools, workflow automation, Canva products, and practical use cases

Canva and OpenAI are running a nonprofit AI hackathon in Australia, giving selected teams hands-on support with workflow automation, content creation, Codex, Canva AI tools, and practical AI use cases.

Canva and OpenAI are running a nonprofit hackathon in Australia to help selected organizations explore how AI can support workflows, tool-building, content creation, and team productivity.

The event will take place on 11 June at Canva’s headquarters in Surry Hills, New South Wales, with applications closing on 29 May. Places are limited to 20 nonprofits, with up to four attendees allowed from each organization.

The hackathon is designed for Australian nonprofit teams working across areas including youth, regional communities, disability, climate and environmental work, education, health, arts, and culture. Applicants are being asked to set out the problem or idea they want to work on, their technical skill level, current use of AI and Canva, and any datasets, workflows, privacy, or compliance considerations connected to their project.

Hands-on support with OpenAI and Canva tools

The registration page says participants will hear from experts on automation, AI-powered building, and productivity. Teams will also get hands-on access to OpenAI tools, including Codex, alongside Canva’s latest AI products.

The event is positioned around practical nonprofit use cases rather than general AI awareness. The application form asks whether organizations want support with strategy and ideation, workflow automation, custom GPTs or agents, API and developer support, data analysis and modeling, staff training, Canva design automation, or content workflows.

That gives the event a wider remit than a standard AI workshop. Nonprofits are being asked about how they currently handle design and content creation, including social media, fundraising campaigns, reports, presentations, and internal communications, as well as whether they want to automate any of those processes.

Will Snell, GTM APAC at OpenAI, shared the registration link on LinkedIn and wrote: “Non-profit hackathon with our good friends and partners at Canva! Please share and sign up.”

Focus on workflows, content, and nonprofit capacity

The event is framed around helping nonprofit teams “build smarter, move faster, and amplify their impact,” according to the registration material. It asks applicants whether they already have access to AI tools such as ChatGPT, APIs, or developer resources, and whether they currently use Canva.

The form also separates applicant teams by technical skill level, ranging from non-technical staff focused on strategy and problem definition to teams made up mainly of developers, data scientists, or engineers. That suggests the event is being structured for a mixed cohort, not only for technical teams.

The selection process will take eligibility, event fit, capacity, and cohort balance into account. Completion of the form does not guarantee a place.

Applications close in May

Applications for the Canva and OpenAI nonprofit hackathon close on 29 May, ahead of the in-person event on 11 June. Catering will be provided, and selected organizations can bring up to four staff members.

The application questions show where Canva and OpenAI expect demand from nonprofits: workflow automation, AI assistants, data use, content production, and staff adoption. For the nonprofit and education sectors, the event will offer a small but visible test of how AI tools are being applied beyond commercial productivity use cases.