2025 Call for Applications:
Gender & AI Innovation Collective
Build AI Solutions That Serve Your Community
Join women’s rights organizations across Africa in exploring how AI can be shaped by and for communities working toward gender equality.
You know your community’s challenges. We’ll help you build the AI tools to address them.
Quick Overview
- Application Window
November 10 – December 12, 2025 - When We Start
Cohort One begins January 7, 2026 - Where
Fully online/virtual - Time Commitment
4 hours per week for community learning and project development
What You’ll Get
- Community Learning & Development
8 weeks of learning modules on Feminist AI, data, models, and impact assessments, then develop a concept paper for an AI solution to a community problem you identify - Technical Support & Funding
Selected groups receive seed grants to build prototypes (CAD 7,500) or adapt existing solutions (CAD 3,000), with hands-on support from AI engineers and gender experts - Real-World Testing
Final groups pilot their solutions in their communities (CAD 15,000) with ongoing technical support to refine and scale - Already have a project idea? You can develop your concept paper while taking the course.
Who Should Apply
Your organization must meet all of these:
→ Civil society organization, interdisciplinary team, or activist organization in Sub-Saharan Africa
→ Women-led OR primarily working on women’s rights
→ Feminist or human rights mission
→ Commitment to community engagement and participatory design
You’ll need:
- Reliable internet connection (all engagement is online)
- 4 hours per week availability
- A designated person/people to lead the learning and project development
Why It Matters
Women’s rights organizations hold deep knowledge of their communities’ challenges – gender-based violence, economic inequality, healthcare gaps, education barriers. But many lack access to the technical tools to build AI solutions that could help.
This program bridges that gap. Together, we’ll create sustainable innovation ecosystems that can be replicated across African and majority world contexts, building your technical capacity so you can own and shape AI on your own terms.
Co-led by Code for Africa and Women at the Table
Supported by Canada’s IDRC and UK’s FCDO
Ready to Apply?
Read the Full Call for Proposals for detailed information about phases, funding, the Feminist AI Sandbox, and more.
Questions? Contact us: sarah(at)codeforafrica.org
