The AI Education Project

The AI Education Project (aiEDU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to define, deliver, and catalyze "AI Readiness" in K-12 education so that students are prepared to live, work, and lead in a world shaped by AI. It works with education systems to advance AI literacy and AI readiness through free high-quality curriculum, professional development for educators, and strategic partnerships with states, school districts, and other systems. The organization defines AI literacy as the set of skills and knowledge a person needs to understand, use, and critically evaluate artificial intelligence, including making informed decisions about AI impacts and using AI tools to pursue goals without necessarily understanding the technical details of how AI systems are built.

aiEDU's programming targets teachers across subjects — computer science, math, English, social studies, science, and career and technical education (CTE) — as well as administrators and nonprofits, using research-based strategies and educational psychology frameworks to design training experiences and curriculum. Its flagship programs include the Community Catalyst Program, which funds school districts and community organizations to build AI Readiness in hard-to-reach places, and the Trailblazer Fellowship, which equips individual teachers to lead AI Readiness in their own classrooms; both started as pilots. The organization also runs asynchronous courses, train-the-trainer cohorts, and professional learning communities for administrators and instructional leaders, and it maintains an online community for educators delivered through a Mighty Networks-based app.

The organization's stated theory of change is that preparing all students requires supporting educators, school systems, and families to embed AI Readiness into core teaching and learning, by providing classroom materials demonstrating how to teach AI literacy skills, professional support for teachers, administrators, and systems leaders to develop vision and strategy, and community support. aiEDU frames the need as a national coalition aligned behind a shared vision for AI readiness in education.

Founding story

aiEDU began in 2019 following a meeting with a 20,000-student school district in a community described as among the most vulnerable to AI and automation, where the founders learned that students had no exposure to AI education. Alex Kotran is listed as the founding entrepreneur, with a founding date of May 8, 2019.

Business model

aiEDU operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, funded by philanthropic support such as grants from Google.org, and distributes curriculum free of charge while partnering with school districts, states, and education systems. It also runs grantmaking of its own through the Community Catalyst Program, which funds school districts and community organizations.

Nonprofit model supported by philanthropic funding and partnerships; curriculum is offered free to educators.

Traction

Since 2023, aiEDU reports reaching more than 48,000 educators across 42 states and impacting 1.9 million students nationwide. Within its Google.org-supported programs specifically, it reports reaching 5,455 educators and 185,938 students across 17 states since 2023.

Latest developments

In June 2026, aiEDU announced renewed multi-year support from Google.org covering March 2026 to February 2028, to be used to expand school district partnerships and co-develop AI Readiness strategies and grade 3-12 classroom resources, scale flexible educator learning pathways including the Trailblazer Fellowship, asynchronous courses and train-the-trainer cohorts, and launch professional learning communities for administrators and instructional leaders. It also announced the third cycle of its Community Catalyst Program in 2026 and named seven grantee organizations for that cycle.