Critical analysis and grounded decision making for our collective future.
For justice-oriented leaders, advocates, organizers, educators, funders, nonprofit professionals, HR/DEI practitioners, policymakers, and change makers who want to understand AI with more clarity, rigor, and courage.
No matter which way you turn, everyone seems to be talking about AI.
You may be hearing big claims about its limitless potential. You may be reading sharp critiques about AI corporate powers, algorithmic bias, and environmental harm. You may see your peers suddenly become an overnight AI expert and feel anxious that you might be falling behind. You may be wondering what your role is in all of this, and feel the pressure to figure it all out as quickly as the world seems to demand it.
Regardless of where you stand, one thing is clear: the impact of AI is already being felt by many, and it's spreading rapidly.
AI Strategy Lab for Social Justice Advocates is a live, online learning series designed for change agents who want to understand AI with more groundedness, clarity, and rigor. We are here to slow down the panic and give you a clear place to process the complexity. Across five live sessions, we will move beyond hype, panic, and abstract concern to building a solid foundation for understanding what AI is, how it works, and how to make sense of the range of opportunities and harms that exist. We will examine concrete case studies, practice making complex decisions around AI usage, intervention, and accountability, and restore agency by creating practical options beyond all-or-nothing. You will leave with better questions, immediately useful tools, and more confidence to participate in shaping our future.
AI systems are already being embedded into schools, workplaces, media, and everyday decision-making at a speed and scale we simply cannot ignore.
This series is an invitation to locate yourself in the struggle.
Your expertise already matters. This course will help you understand where and how to use it.
I have less fear and more courage to start from right where I am.Ralanda NelsonHead of Belonging, Equity & Impact at Figma
Each session includes lectures, guided reflection, real-world examples, small-group discussion, and group exercises.
The emphasis is on practicing analysis and discernment, not passively receiving information. Please join the session ready to engage and use your critical thinking skills!
In addition to the live sessions and course materials, all cohort participants have access to optional office hours and a private community chat, where they can receive tailored support and coaching from peers, past cohort members, and Michelle. Seats are limited to 25 people per cohort.
We'll begin by getting to know who is in the room and contextualizing our gathering. We will demystify AI by studying what it is, what it is not, how it works, and why our critical thinking matters now.
We'll deepen our understanding around how AI arrives to us by examining the AI supply chain. We'll examine how power and resources are distributed and analyze AI impacts on global, national, local, and personal levels, then spend time understanding existing AI narratives and how these stories shape our perspectives and relationship with AI.
We'll learn how to diagnose AI-related harms using the AI Harm Diagnosis Framework. We will work through a real-life case study together and expand our scope of accountability and resolution.
Once we understand the risks, what do we do? This session strengthens our sense of agency by introducing a customizable decision making framework. We will work through real-world scenarios and practice asking sharper questions about use case proportionality, potential harms, values-based tradeoffs, and necessary guardrails.
In the final session, we'll apply everything we learned to navigate pressing decisions that are alive for the cohort. We'll roll up our sleeves to support one another and look toward the future of AI, work, power, and social change together. We'll close by returning to collective courage—how we confront what is true, name what matters, act with discernment, and sustain ourselves and each other through ongoing change.
By far the best and most valuable course on responsible AI I've taken.DanicaPeople Analytics Consultant
At a time when many are turning to surviving in isolation, choosing to learn, struggle, and reflect in community is an act of courage. Every cohort is a small, committed group of justice-oriented leaders creating and envisioning together. You don't need to hold the complexity alone—join us and be a part of a growing community of strategic thinkers and change makers!
I have less fear and more courage to start from right where I am.
I rarely participate in trainings that meet my expectations so consistently. The frameworks give us an objective way to look at AI-related issues without losing the ethical weight these conversations carry—a language that keeps justice at the center.
I've taken so many courses on responsible AI adoption—this is by far the best and most valuable. That social justice lens is something I haven't seen built out in such mature frameworks anywhere else.
The perfect primer on the history of AI, its impact—including the very real harms—and its potential as a tool for social impact. A much-needed space. I recommend it to anyone even considering signing up.
A breath of fresh air—a reframing of the AI narrative we're told to accept: that it's “inevitable,” that we must embrace it or be “left behind.” The community that came together gave me hope in humanity.
It helped me foundationally understand what AI is, what it's not, the opportunities and the pitfalls. I left with more confidence, a set of tools and frameworks, and a deep sense that I'm not the only one wrestling with our collective future.
Other professional learning stays in the rose-colored, theoretical realm. What felt so impactful here was the pragmatism and the camaraderie with other intelligent, compassionate folks.
This series made me feel more confident in my choices and usage towards AI.
I now have the language I need to communicate concerns about our tools at work—and I can enter those conversations with confidence.
I feel more prepared to approach AI with honesty, complexity, and confrontation—and more confident navigating my mixed feelings about it.
See the full series outline for more on session goals.
I rarely participate in trainings that meet my expectations so consistently.Karim BourisPrincipal at Mixte Communications
Michelle MiJung Kim is an award-winning author, speaker, entrepreneur, and lifelong social justice activist whose work sits at the intersection of personal transformation and systemic change. She is the founder and CEO of The Courage Studio, a strategy lab and practice ground for collective courage.
Michelle began her career in management consulting and moved into senior leadership roles in tech startups, where she experienced first-hand how innovation, power, workplace culture, and social impact collide.
Michelle brings a grounded perspective to conversations about AI, shaped by her 13+ years of experience in the tech industry, and her own hands-on exploration of AI tools, local LLMs, and agentic workflows.
In this series, Michelle brings together her background in social justice, leadership and organizational change, and technology to help people understand AI, analyze risks and tradeoffs, and make grounded decisions for the communities and futures they are working to protect.
Michelle is the author of The Wake Up and the host and producer of I Feel That Way Too, a 2x Signal Award winning narrative podcast. She co-founded and served as the CEO for Awaken, a DEI education company serving Fortune 500, tech giants, nonprofits, and universities.
Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The New York Times, NPR, and MSNBC. She is a LinkedIn Top Voice, a Fast Company Queer 50 honoree, and the recipient of the Nautilus Gold Award. Across her work, Michelle helps people and organizations move through uncertainty with greater clarity and courage.
Michelle currently serves on the board of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE), and is a proud alumna of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. She lives in Oakland, California with her two rambunctious orange cats.
"Your expertise already matters.
You just have to understand where and how to use it."
More about Michelle's work → michellemijungkim.com
AI is already shaping the future of work, culture, knowledge, power, and public life. The question is not whether social justice leaders should care—it is whether we are equipped to meet the moment with clarity, courage, and discernment.
Register Before Seats Fill Up!Get on the waitlist and we'll let you know when the next cohort opens. No spam, no list swap.
The Courage Studio develops ideas, experiences, and cultural artifacts that build the conditions for courageous change.
We believe courage is not only an individual act, but a collective practice that can be strengthened. In a time of accelerating change, concentrated power, and deep uncertainty, we strive to create spaces, ideas, and work that expand our capacity to take risks and lead courageously.
If you are interested in experimenting with us, get in touch.