Foundation/Mozilla Education
About Mozilla Education
Vision: The future of education is inclusive, creative, and lifelong, empowering learners everywhere to imagine a more ethical and human-centered AI world.
Mission: Mozilla Education builds the knowledge, skills, and community needed for the next generation of technologists to design more ethical, human-centered technology. Through the Responsible Computing Challenge, Education Assemblies, and Compute program, Mozilla Education trains learners and faculty at the intersection of computing and the humanities, embedding responsible computing as foundational to the practice of building technology rather than optional.
Mozilla Education is positioned to fill a gap no other organization does: a globally connected, field-building, responsible computing program operating simultaneously in the US, South Africa, Kenya, and India, with local faculty leadership. Mozilla uniquely contributes:
Global brand trust and a clear values framework, giving faculty confidence that their work will be recognized professionally and their institutions credit for the association Convening power that brings together universities, governments, funders, and practitioners in the same room, a combination that no single institution or sector actor can replicate.
This is separate from [Education], the community WiKi portal for education-related activities across the Mozilla project.
Open opportunities
<watch this space for open opportunities with Mozilla Education>
Team
We currently sit within the Grants Team, led by Lindsey Dodson (Director of Global Grants), in the Operations vertical and aligned with the “Imagine” component of the flywheel.
The education team is led by Steven Azeka (Senior Program Officer), with program support from Jaselle Edward-Gill (Program Manager).
The team also draws on the expertise of Chao Mbogho (Senior Fellow, leading our Kenya portfolio and overall MEL), Jibu Elias (Fellow, supporting our Kenya work), and Kofi Yeboah (Program Officer, leading our Compute portfolio).
Current Programs/Activities
Education Assemblies (2026)
As Mozilla Education enters its next chapter, we are grappling with the profound impact of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies on education systems. In response, we are launching a global listening tour, “Education Assemblies,” in partnership with organizations working closely with students, faculty, administrators, community members, and industry leaders. Insights from these convenings will inform the prototypes we choose to invest in and ultimately shape our future grantmaking strategy.
- Case Study: In March 2026, we co-hosted a hackathon with partners to align universities and industry around the future of personal AI in education. Builder teams created prototypes that were interoperable, person-centric tools—such as portable memory systems and privacy-preserving frameworks—that prioritize user agency, trust, and consent.
2026 Activity
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech: A Workshop | 30-31 March 2026 We helped plan a two-day workshop on The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech at the National Academies of Sciences, which brought together over 1,200 participants from academia and industry for a national conversation centered on how we can better prepare students to succeed in an AI-driven tech workforce. Through our involvement, we ensured that ethics and responsible AI remained central to the discussion, including placing several of our awardees on panels — and our early investment in Harvard's Embedded EthiCS program generated significant attention. One of the key takeaways was the importance of ensuring students gain hands-on experience building AI systems responsibly.
Africa Compute Initiative (2025 - Current)
In 2025, Mozilla Foundation received a grant from IDRC and FCDO, and working alongside GIZ, and the Gates Foundation, to collectively work on advancing the design and implementation of the EQUAL Compute Network, aimed at bridging the AI compute divide between the Global South and North.
Starting with Africa, over the next three years, Mozilla Education will be collaborating with University of Cape Town to design, test, and scale an equitable, sustainable, and interoperable compute-infrastructure model. This model will enable African researchers and innovators to access, share, and utilize advanced computing resources for responsible AI research and development.
Funders: The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
2026 Activity
Inception Workshop | 6-8 May 2026 This inception workshop provides an opportunity to refine the model, avoid insular decision-making, and ensure that the ACI design is robust, future-oriented, and responsive to the continent’s diverse needs.
2025 Activity
- Convened Ecosystem: Co-hosted two hybrid convenings with key compute demand and supply actors alongside two major global and pan-African AI convenings - AI Action Summit and Global AI Summit on Africa. This brought together together about 90 individuals from across Africa, North America and Europe within key industries and sectors
- Designed the network model: Designed the compute network model, indicating how the demand and supply actors can collaborate to ensure equitable distribution.
- Demonstrated Viability: Showed that multi-sector collaboration on compute redistribution can work when convened around shared principles rather than market dynamics alone; work recognized at Global AI Summit on Africa panel.
Curricula
Check out our responsible computing materials at OER Commons.
Student and Community Projects
India
Marian College Kuttikkanam Autonomous
- WebEase 1.0 (Open-Source Accessibility Widget) Is an open-source tool that provides features like screen readers and AI-based summarization to bridge the digital divide. Creators: Jerit Baiju; See: Github
Kenya
Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT)
- Online Voting System: DEKUTSOE-VOTE an online voting platform designed to promote democratic participation by enabling users to securely cast votes remotely while ensuring transparency through real-time results dashboards. The system incorporates key principles of privacy, security, and accountability—such as encrypted credentials and controlled access—to help maintain election integrity and trust. Creators: Njuguna Samwel Mugo, Clint Simiyu, Brian Chege, Mbaruk Ali, Walter Onyango; See: Github
- Online Quiz Application: Cyber Security Awareness an online quiz application designed to improve cybersecurity awareness by educating users on safe digital practices through interactive assessments. It emphasizes responsible data use by incorporating privacy protections, secure handling of user responses, and consideration of bias in how questions and feedback are delivered. Creators: Bravin Kipchumba, Anthony Wangai, Brenda Kanani, Fidelis Wangari, Robinson Ndiritu, Loyce Mapenzi; See: Github
- Secure E-Voting System (E-Voting Application) a robust, secure, and transparent e-voting system. Implemented strong data encryption for privacy; used bias detection algorithms to monitor and mitigate unfair treatment, promoting inclusivity and fairness. Creators: Alice Mwangi, John Kamau, Mary Njoroge
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT)
- Tourist Assistant Robot was designed to promote cultural and wildlife awareness. Mitigated cultural bias and accommodated local accents (inclusivity/accessibility). Positioned as a supportive tool to enhance human experience rather than replace workers. Creators: Ian Peter, Sam kelvin munyithya, Owino Philemon, Mark Muga, Brian Mwangi
- Robotic Assistant Secretary for Institutions enhances campus engagement through accessible features—such as adjusted speech recognition for non-native English speakers and volume controls for users with hearing impairments—while ensuring privacy via anonymized, voice-based feedback. Creators: Stephanie Mukami, George Thuo, Ian Sawala, Rose Kimu, Felix Masese
- Robot Companion for Children assists caregivers by detecting and responding to a child’s emotions using an inclusive, bias-mitigated model trained on diverse datasets, while protecting privacy through anonymized data collection. Creators: Elvis Karanja Muiru, Moses Ndungu, Stephen Kanyanjua Ndirangu, Maurice Njoroge Muiruri, Alfred Muinde Tuva
Kirinyaga University
- Data bias in skincare diagnostics (Animation) highlighted racial disparity in AI diagnostics (failed to diagnose skins of color). Focused on designing an inclusive AI system to solve this disparity through innovation and collaboration. Creators: Patrick Wambugu Nderitu, Consty Lunga, Mary Njambi Maina; See: Video
Kisii University
- Mental Health Chatbot provides LLM-based support for campus mental health while prioritizing user privacy through de-identification, ensuring transparency about its AI nature, incorporating informed consent, and continuously addressing bias. Creators: Martin Masitsa, Purity Adhiambo
- Al-based Disease Prediction System aims to enable timely detection and reduce healthcare costs while prioritizing privacy, data security, and informed consent, and addressing bias to ensure fair treatment across ethnicity and gender. Creators: Evalyne Ombese, Catherine Juma, Kimberly Mwachilungo, Kennedy Okonda, Martin Mwai
- Smart Waste Collection and Monitoring System uses IoT to optimize waste management while prioritizing data privacy through minimal data collection, ensuring transparent and ethical data use, and considering social and environmental impacts. Creators: Gachoki Mutuota, Brian Oirere, Steve Patrobers, Felix Okello, Calvin Mokaya
Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST)
- Signature Verification System provides secure authentication by leveraging robust encryption and access controls, while upholding responsible computing principles through a focus on accuracy and reliability. Creators: Job Njenga, Scott Kaluku, Samuel Muriuki, Job Chege, Dickens Silany, Steve Otieno; See: Github
- Image Steganography securely embeds digital certificate information within images, prioritizing privacy, data protection, and system security while maintaining transparency in its design and use. Creators: Ronny Joseck, Robert Kinyua, Kevin Bwalei, Rashid Mwasharuti, Enock Kipngetich, Bethwel Kemboi; See: Github
Riara University (RU)
- Land Registry Application proposes a digital solution to reduce corruption and land disputes through secure data handling and privacy protocols, while incorporating voice command input to improve accessibility for visually impaired users. Creators: Brian Agui, Nyamvula, Ringa Sharleen, Onyango, Lorna Achieng, Wambugu, Mathew Nderitu
- Mkulima Connect connects farmers directly to markets to reduce exploitation by middlemen, promoting fair trade through transparency, accountability, and inclusive access via USSD for rural communities. Creators: Alex Kimani, Angela Kinga, Iman, Muntaha Mohamed, Joy Korir, Muna Maalim, Shekinah Vugutsa
- Autolife Saver (ALS) is an emergency response app designed to reduce response times, featuring multilingual support and accessibility tools such as screen readers and text-to-speech to ensure inclusivity and cultural sensitivity. Creators: Gitau Achshah, Vincent Mutua
University of Embu (UoEm)
- Al for early maize disease prediction a high-accuracy (99%) machine learning model to support small-scale farmers, with responsible computing achieved through transparency and close collaboration with end users (farmers). Creators: Team led by Humanities faculty, with students from Computer Science, Business in IT, Education; See: Video
- Al-based solution for climate change understanding a tool to advise farmers on optimal crops under changing weather conditions, promoting climate resilience. Responsible computing was achieved by ensuring farmer anonymity and actively involving end users. Creators: Team led by Education faculty, with students from Computer Science, Business in IT, Information Technology, Education; See: Video
- Al to improve work scheduling for proper time management a system to optimize task allocation in real time, with responsible computing achieved by ensuring fairness in scheduling decisions and protecting employee privacy. Creators: Team led by Computer Science faculty, with students from Computer Science, Information Technology, Education; See: Video
United States
Arizona State University (ASU)
- The Portable Memory Wallet is a learner-controlled system that captures and organizes academic, personal, and contextual data into a portable “memory layer” that can be shared across AI tools. It enables more personalized, continuous support by allowing users to control, audit, and selectively share their data while maintaining context across courses, platforms, and time. Creators: Alex Ababu, John Bevell, Kyle Brown, Ayat Sweid, Roger Kohler; See: Github and Presentation
Harvard University
- Inside Out is a decentralized, multi-agent memory system where independent “memory shards” capture different aspects of context and dynamically combine to generate responses. By making memory modular, portable, and adaptable across domains, it enables more flexible, cross-session learning and personalization compared to monolithic AI memory systems. Creators: Yilun Du, Zhenting Qi, Jack Fan; See: Github and Presentation
- An adaptive clinical copilot for global health a terminal-based AI agent system for exploring and interacting with complex knowledge graphs, enabling users to search, traverse, and analyze relationships between data points. By combining agentic retrieval with structured graph queries, it supports more dynamic, context-aware reasoning across interconnected datasets. Creators: Ayush Noori, Reza Shamji; See: Github and Presentation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Personal Robots Group explores an agent-based system for interacting with and navigating complex knowledge structures, enabling users to query and synthesize information across interconnected datasets. It demonstrates how modular AI agents can dynamically retrieve, traverse, and reason over domain-specific knowledge to support more adaptive and explainable decision-making. Creators: Sharifa Alghowinem, Serena Bono, Parker Malachowsky, Eugene Park; See: Github and Presentation
Stanford University
- Selective Disclosure of Portable Memory via Local-Remote Collaboration develops a privacy-preserving AI chat system that enables “unlinkable inference,” allowing users to interact with AI models without exposing persistent identity or traceable data. By using mechanisms like blind-signed tokens and ephemeral keys, it ensures that queries cannot be tied back to individual users, advancing more secure and user-controlled AI interactions. Creators: Ken Liu, Erik Chi, Sanmi Koyejo, J. Alex Halderman, Percy Liang; See: Github and Presentation
Western Governors University (WGU)
- Headway explores building an AI-powered learning or support tool that leverages structured data and modular components to improve user guidance and decision-making. It demonstrates how rapid prototyping can integrate educational data, AI assistance, and user-centered design to create more personalized and scalable learning experiences. Creators: Drew Ceccato, Cory Hammon, Taylor Hansen, Betheny Gross, Kymberly Lavigne-Hinkley; See: Github and Presentation
Past Mozilla Education Activities
Mozilla Foundation’s mission is to build a good technology future that serves and is shaped by the people who use it. Since 2010, Mozilla Education has advanced this mission by equipping the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to realize that vision.
Our early efforts focused on building a global ecosystem of programs, tools, and networks to promote web literacy and support educators in fostering meaningful participation online.
In 2018, we launched the Responsible Computing Challenge to transform how ethics and responsibility are integrated into computer science education. This impact was made possible by Mozilla’s unique ability to engage and mobilize a global community, resulting in strong brand recognition among partners and trusted leadership from education experts guiding the work.
Responsible Computing Challenge (RCC) (2018-current)
Since 2018, the Responsible Computing Challenge (RCC) has awarded numerous grants to faculty members to innovate their classrooms.
We are currently running in Kenya, India, South Africa, and the United States reaching 400+ faculty and staff and 60,000+ students.
Funders include: Mellon Foundation (Current), Newmark Philanthropies, Omidyar Network, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Schmidt Futures, United States Agency for International Development
Program impacts include:
- In India, Jerit Baiju created WebEase in his RCC class at Marian College, an open-source accessibility widget that helps make websites easier to use for people with disabilities. Since launching in 2025, it’s been loaded over 1.1 million times.
- In Kenya, RCC faculty from four of the eight universities have used the experience and outcomes of the RCC pilot and scaling phases to spearhead university level responsible computing policies such as RC and AI policy at Dedan Kimathi University and Technology that guide how students and staff at the whole institution use and design technologies.
- In the US, RCC students are building social justice tech tools. Adelphi University created a two-course program called “Spatial Justice as a Bridge to Responsible Computing.” In these classes, students create and analyze digital maps to tell stories about community issues, such as the gender wage gap and the burden of high rent prices.
Awardees:
2023 India Cohort
- Ashoka University | Sonipat, Haryana | Debayan Gupta
- CHRIST (Deemed to be University) | Bengaluru, Karnataka | Surya Kiran
- Digital University Kerala | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala | Anoop V. S.
- Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati | Guwahati, Assam | Priyankoo Sarmah
- Indian Institute of Technology, Indore| Indore, Madhya Pradesh| Gourinath Banda
- Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kottayam | Kottayam, Kerala | Ebin Deni Raj
- Marian College Kuttikkanam Autonomous | Kuttikkanam, Kerala | Nisha Jose T
- National Institute of Technology Warangal, India | Hanamkonda, Telangana | B. Spoorthi
- Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering | Vile Parle (West) Mumbai | Pranit Bari
2023 Kenya Cohort
- Dedan Kimathi University of Technology | Nyeri | George Musumba
- Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology | Juja | Eunice Njeri
- Kirinyaga University | Kerugoya | Kennedy Malanga
- Kisii University | Kisii | Fredrick Awuor
- Meru University of Science and Technology | Meru | Mary Mwadulo
- Riara University | Nairobi | Felix Musau
- University of Embu | Embu | Victoria Mukami
- University of Nairobi | Nairobi | Elisha Abade
2023 US Cohort
- Adelphi University | Garden City, NY | Suraj Uttamchandani | Matt Curinga | John Drew
- Bucknell University | Lewisburg, PA | Darakhshan J. Mir | Vanessa Massaro, Evan Peck | Nathan Ryan | Anne Ross | Sara Stoudt
- Howard University | Washington, DC | Yong Jin (Lance) Park | Chunmei Liu
- Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI | Susan Wyche | Jonathan Choti
- Northeastern University | Boston, MA | Vance Ricks | Meica Magnani
- Prairie View A&M University | Prairie View, TX | Marco Robinson | Sherri Frizell
- San José State University | San Jose, CA | Darra Hofman | Nada Attar | Saugher Nojan | Michele Villagran | Souvick Ghosh
- Stillman College | Tuscaloosa, AL | Fallon Wilson | Kevin Harris | Isaac McCoy
- University at Buffalo | Buffalo, NY | Dalia Antonia Caraballo Muller | Jamie Barber | Kenneth Joseph | Matt Kenyon | Christopher Proctor | Camilo Trumper
- University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | Lisa Yan | Ari Edmundson | Cathryn Carson
- University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | Remi Yergeau | David Adelman
- University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, IN | Katherine Walden | Karla Badillo-Urquiola
- University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | Miguel Willis | Claudia Johnson
- University of Washington | Seattle, WA | Melanie Walsh | Sylvia Fernández | Miriam Posner | Anna Preus | Amardeep Singh
- Winston-Salem State University | Winston-Salem, NC | Debzani Deb | Greg Taylor
2018 United States Cohort
- Allegheny College | Meadville, PA | Oliver Bonham-Carter
- Bemidji State University | Bemidji, MN | Marty J. Wolf, Colleen Greer
- Bowdoin College | Brunswick, ME | Allison Cooper
- Columbia University | New York, NY | Augustin Chaintreau
- Georgetown University | Washington, DC | Nitin Vaidya
- Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA | Ellen Zegura
- Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | Barbara Grosz
- Miami Dade College | Miami, FL | Antonio Delgado
- Northeastern University | Boston, MA | Christo Wilson
- Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA | Sukanya Manna, Shiva Houshmand, Subramaniam Vincent
- University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | James Demmel, Cathryn Carson
- University at Buffalo | Buffalo, NY | Atri Rudra
- University of California, Davis | Davis, CA | Annamaria (Nina) Amenta, Gerardo Con Díaz, and Xin Liu
- University of Colorado, Boulder | Boulder, CO | Casey Fiesler
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County | Baltimore, MD | Helena Mentis
- University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT | Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Sorelle A. Friedler (Haverford College), Seny Kamara (Brown University)
- Washington University | St. Louis, MO | Ron Cytron