Alliance4ai was founded on the premise that skills training alone will not diversify & expand our AI developer pool for added value & decreased harm to Black communities worldwide. In this session, we’ll discuss the additional elements required to engage diverse learners to become emerging AI leaders, build tech & leadership skills, & promote a mission based AI for good worldview. We’ll also talk about the challenges African communities face in AI development & propose research & experience based solutions that can be scaled easily with community based leadership strategies.