René Velarde

I help nonprofits and mission-driven organizations make practical decisions about AI and software.

My starting point is the work itself: the recurring task, the scattered information, the process that asks too much of someone’s time. I want to understand what people need before deciding what to build.

At Luminosa, that work includes connecting existing tools, developing custom software, and deciding where AI can be useful—and where a person’s judgment needs to remain.

Alongside this practice, I’m a PhD candidate in Theological Ethics at Fuller Seminary, researching artificial intelligence, trauma, and human flourishing. Before this, I spent more than a decade as a pastor, worship leader, and educator.

That background shapes the questions I bring to technology: Who will use this? What will it ask of them? Who remains responsible?

Our first conversation starts with a process you know well. We’ll talk about what is difficult, what you have already tried, and what would make an improvement worthwhile.