PROGRAM 1 · GLOBAL WOMEN LEADING AI
Kids Leading AI
Confidence, Safety, and a Strong Sense of Self in an AI-Powered World
Helping young people grow up understanding that technology should serve people — not the other way around.
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PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Kids lead.
AI follows.
Kids Leading AI is GWLAI’s K–12 educational program designed to help kids grow up in an AI-powered world with confidence, safety, and a strong sense of self. The program is built on a simple but powerful conviction: technology should serve people, not the other way around. Kids Leading AI teaches young people — boys and girls alike — that AI is a tool they direct, question, and set boundaries around. It is not a force they need to keep up with or fear.
This is not a coding curriculum. Kids Leading AI does not aim to turn every participant into a software engineer. Instead, the program cultivates the distinctly human capacities that AI cannot replicate: empathy, critical thinking, ethical judgment, creativity, courage, and communication. These are framed not as soft skills, but as the defining competitive advantages of the AI era. The guiding belief, repeated throughout every program stage, is: Kids lead. AI follows.
Three Developmental Stages
FOUNDATIONS · K–5
AI is a Tool,
Not a Boss
Age-appropriate introduction to AI as something made by people to serve people. Storytelling, creative projects, and guided conversations build vocabulary, curiosity, and early critical thinking.
Focus: What is AI? Who makes it? How does it help — and when do we choose not to use it?
EXPLORERS · GRADES 6–8
Understanding, Questioning & Protecting Yourself
Deeper engagement with how AI systems work and how bias enters AI outputs. Students practice identifying AI in tools they already use, explore ethical dilemmas, and build digital safety and privacy skills.
Focus: How does AI learn? What can go wrong? How do I protect myself and others?
LEADERS · GRADES 9–12
Shaping AI’s
Future
Advanced curriculum on AI governance, policy, and real-world deployment. Students examine ethics case studies, engage with GWLAI network mentors, and develop capstone projects addressing a real community challenge using AI as a tool.
Focus: Who decides how AI is built? How do I lead responsibly?
Who It Serves
K–12 Students
Boys and girls, ages 5–18, in public, charter, and private school settings, as well as youth organizations, community programs, and after-school contexts.
Parents & Caregivers
Adults who want their children to use AI wisely, safely, and in ways that support their wellbeing, character, and long-term development.
Educators & Youth Leaders
Teachers, school administrators, after-school program leaders, and youth organization staff seeking frameworks for healthy AI culture without needing to be AI experts.
GWLAI Network Members
Senior women in the GWLAI network who serve as visible role models and mentors, demonstrating responsible AI use in real careers and leadership roles.
WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT
Human skills are the competitive advantage.
AI is positioned as a tool that amplifies human strengths — never as a replacement for them.
Kids are in charge, not the technology. AI is presented as a tool they direct — not a system that defines who they are or what they can become.
Human skills are the center of gravity. Empathy, communication, ethics, and judgment are not side notes; they are the curriculum’s core, with AI positioned as a tool to amplify those strengths.
Safety and responsibility are built in from Day 1. Online safety, digital footprints, privacy, emotional wellbeing, and the impact of AI-generated content are woven throughout all three stages in age-appropriate ways.
AI is normalized, not sensationalized. The program treats AI as a regular part of modern life — something hopeful, practical, and manageable — not something scary or exclusive to “tech kids.”
A true pipeline, not a one-time event. A student can enter in Kindergarten and graduate as a Leader in 12th grade — already AI-aware, AI-responsible, and ready for GWLAI’s adult programs.
Alignment With GWLAI’s Four Pillars
AI & Innovation
Makes AI feel usable, understandable, and human-led for all kids, regardless of background or prior exposure.
Education & Deployment
Focuses not just on tools but on the mindset and culture needed to use AI wisely — practical, age-appropriate, and lasting.
Community, Leadership & Mentorship
Connects kids with women and allied leaders in the GWLAI network who model responsible AI use in real careers and boardrooms.
Policy, Ethics & Governance
Nurtures a generation that has been thinking about responsibility, safety, and impact from their earliest interactions with technology.
THE HUMAN ADVANTAGE
“When I think about the next generation of kids growing up with artificial intelligence, I don’t want them running to catch up with technology — I want them out in front of it. We are teaching them that their empathy, their judgment, and their human connection are the real advantages in this new era.”
— Shelly Martinez Murphy, Founder, Global Women Leading AI
THE GWLAI PIPELINE
Start early. Lead for life.
Kids Leading AI is the first stage in GWLAI’s cradle-to-boardroom continuum.