Bridging the AI Divide: Local NGOs as Catalysts for Inclusive EdTech in LMICs

• In Event: Driving AI-powered transformations in teaching, coaching, and learning: Experiences from LMICs

Proposal

As AI continues to expand rapidly–but unequally–across the globe, supporting LMICs to harness its transformative potential is an urgent priority. Team4Tech, an NGO impact accelerator, partners with local NGOs to drive inclusive growth in education technology. Through targeted small grants, hands-on AI training for educators, and skills-based volunteering from private sector experts, Team4Tech equips NGOs to strengthen digital infrastructure, integrate AI into teaching and learning, and overcome key challenges in EdTech implementation.

Local NGOs are essential partners in AI capacity development, particularly in underserved communities where governments and private sector actors often lack the resources or incentives to invest. By complementing public education systems, NGOs deliver critical services in areas frequently overlooked by technological advancement. They also design practical, context-driven solutions to pressing challenges faced by teachers and school leaders—such as student assessment, grading, and classroom coaching—where ministries of education face resource constraints and commercial providers see limited market opportunity.

Given this context, the presentation will present evidence and experience from Team4Tech’s model for advancing equitable access to education technology across a range of LMICs with support from the Ezrah Charitable Trust and the AI-for-Education.org Initiative funded by the Gates Foundation and other donors. The presentation will spotlight how Team4Tech builds NGO capacity to integrate AI tools ethically and effectively into education systems, emphasizing strategies that prioritize the felt needs of teachers and school leaders in low-resource settings.

Real-world use cases will be highlighted to illustrate the diversity and impact of NGO-led innovation in AI. In Kenya, NGOs have piloted AI-powered teacher coaching platforms that analyze classroom interactions and generate personalized feedback to improve instructional quality. In Uganda, voice-based AI is being used to support students in developing key skills through their feature phones. In Ghana, targeted training initiatives have equipped both government officials and students with digital literacy skills to use AI effectively for teaching and learning. And in Sierra Leone, AI-driven data systems are helping school leaders streamline data collection and analysis, enabling more responsive and data-informed decision-making at the school level.

The presentation will share data on changes in NGO staff levels of AI literacy as a result of Team4Tech training, identifying the content that is most critical for promoting AI awareness and readiness for its practical use in teaching and learning. In addition, the presentation will describe how Team4Tech has supported each NGO to develop AI implementation road maps and provided ongoing coaching on integration of AI tools in NGO activities with school leaders and teachers, drawing out common challenges and innovative solutions from grassroots actors as they expand the use of technology. The discussion will conclude with reflections on the broader implications of these capacity development efforts for other civil society actors, national governments, and funders aiming to scale up the equitable use of AI within education systems in LMICs.

Authors

• Caleb Ndaka, Team4Tech

• Jodie Fonseca, Team4Tech