AI Safety Youth Pipeline – Malawi

Raising $15,000active

Building Malawi’s AI Safety Youth Pipeline by training secondary school students to become the next generation of responsible AI researchers.

Project Details

The AI Safety Youth Pipeline – Malawi is a capacity‑building program designed to introduce secondary school students to the fundamentals of AI safety, ethics, and existential risk. The project will establish AI safety clubs in selected schools, run workshops led by local educators and guest experts, and provide age‑appropriate curriculum modules that make complex ideas accessible to young learners. Students will also participate in competitions and creative projects that apply safe AI principles to real challenges in Malawi, such as agriculture, climate resilience, and governance.

What I will do

Develop and deliver tailored training modules for secondary school students.
Organize workshops and school clubs to foster ongoing engagement.
Host hackathons and competitions to encourage applied learning.
Connect students with mentors from universities and the global AI safety community.

Who’s involved

Local educators and facilitators to adapt content to Malawi’s context.
Secondary school students as the primary participants.
University researchers and global mentors to provide guidance and inspiration.
Community partners to help integrate AI safety awareness into broader educational initiatives.

Concrete output

A trained cohort of secondary school students with foundational knowledge in AI safety.
A replicable curriculum and toolkit for youth AI safety education in developing countries.
Case studies and student projects demonstrating how AI safety concepts can be applied to local challenges.
A sustainable pipeline of future researchers prepared to pursue AI safety at university level and beyond.

Theory of Impact

This project reduces existential risk from AI by building a pipeline of future researchers in Malawi who are trained early to understand and critically engage with AI safety. By introducing secondary school students to AI ethics, alignment, and governance concepts, we ensure that when they reach university and beyond, they already have the foundation to contribute meaningfully to global AI safety research.

In the absence of such programs, developing countries risk becoming passive recipients of foreign AI systems, with little local expertise to identify or mitigate risks. By cultivating awareness and skills at the pre‑university level, Malawi develops local guardians of AI safety who can anticipate misuse, advocate for responsible deployment, and contribute diverse perspectives to global debates.

The concrete impact is twofold:

Local resilience: Malawi gains a generation of leaders who can protect critical sectors like agriculture, energy, and governance from unsafe AI applications.
Global diversity: The AI safety field benefits from voices outside wealthy nations, reducing blind spots and increasing the robustness of global x‑risk mitigation strategies.

People

Lawrence Sajiwa Phambana

Team Member

Grants Received– no grants recorded

Funding Asks

grantmaking.ai Launch Round

Applied

Minimum

$15,000

Ideal

$20,000,100,000

How the money will be spent

Budget Breakdown

Minimum Funding ($20,000)

Covers a pilot program in 3–5 secondary schools, reaching ~100–150 students.

Curriculum development & materials – $5,000
(Designing age‑appropriate AI safety modules, printing guides, translation into local languages)
Workshops & school clubs – $6,000
(Facilitator stipends, venue costs, basic equipment for clubs)
Teacher/facilitator training – $4,000
(Training 10–15 educators to deliver content)
Student competitions & projects – $3,000
(Prizes, small grants for student projects, hackathon logistics)
Monitoring & evaluation – $2,000
(Tracking student outcomes, documenting lessons learned)

Output: A trained pilot cohort, curriculum toolkit, and proof‑of‑concept for scaling.

Ideal Funding ($100,000)

Covers a national program across 20–30 schools, reaching thousands of students, plus regional expansion.

Curriculum development (professional design) – $15,000
(Full curriculum package, digital + print, translated into local languages)
Teacher training nationwide – $20,000
(Training 50+ educators, workshops across regions)
School clubs & workshops – $25,000
(Establishing clubs in 20–30 schools, equipment, ongoing facilitation)
National competitions & hackathons – $15,000
(Annual AI safety challenge, prizes, logistics, media coverage)
Mentorship platform – $10,000
(Online hub connecting students with global AI safety researchers)
Monitoring & evaluation – $10,000
(Rigorous assessment, reporting, impact measurement)
Regional expansion – $5,000
(Sharing toolkit with Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania)

Output: A national youth pipeline, replicable curriculum, annual competitions, and regional influence.

Discussion

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