aiEDU's Community Catalyst Program

Direct funding for the community organizations leading AI readiness.

aiEDU can't reach every community in the United States — and we shouldn't try. The hardest-to-reach require the most attention. If we can get AI readiness right for rural and Indigenous communities, we can get it right for everyone. The reverse isn't true.

Apply for the 2026 cohort → Read the stories
What Catalyst is

aiEDU funds community organizations to lead AI readiness — and gets out of their way.

The first cohort ran June through December 2025: eighteen subgrantees across ten states and twenty-six Native communities, each designing the convenings, professional learning, curriculum, and community engagement their context called for. The 2026 cohort opens this spring.

Across the cohort, three patterns kept showing up — every project did at least one, the strongest projects did all three.

Voices and projects from the field

Click any card to read more.

Stories told two ways: Voices are firsthand perspectives from the educators and tribal leaders running the work; Projects are what each grantee organization built.

Where the work is happening

Eighteen grantees, ten states, twenty-six Native communities.

Click any highlighted state to see the grantees working there.

Grantee headquarters
Active programmatic reach
Other US states
+ NREA & TIES have national reach across all 50 states
Applications open · 2026 cohort

If you lead a community organization doing AI readiness work, we want to fund you.

aiEDU's 2026 Catalyst Program funds 12-month projects from organizations rooted in rural and Indigenous communities — with the local context and trust to lead this work. Funded by Google.org.

$25K–$50K
Grant range
May 21
Letter of Intent deadline (applications opened May 1)
~12 months
Project period (begins summer 2026)

Who can apply

  • School districts
  • Educational service agencies (ESAs / ESCs / ESDs)
  • 501(c)(3) nonprofits delivering professional development to teachers
  • Independent charter schools and charter management organizations

Priority: organizations rooted in rural and Indigenous communities. The grant must represent 10% or less of your operating budget.

Pick a support pathway

Catalyst funds the work; you pick how aiEDU plugs in.

  1. Teacher PD — train-the-trainer model at Spark the Future
  2. District leadership advising — three-session series producing concrete deliverables
  3. Classroom integration — cohort seats in our Trailblazers program

All grantees join cohort convenings throughout the grant year.

What grant funds can cover

  • Non-teacher personnel costs
  • Teacher stipends and hourly rates
  • Substitute coverage for release days
  • Materials and operational costs for convenings

Not eligible: AI tool subscriptions/licenses, general communications, G&A above 10%.

Submit a Letter of Intent →

Letters of Intent are reviewed first. Selected applicants are invited to submit a full application.
Read the full program details on aiedu.org/2026-catalyst · or forward this page to a peer who should apply.