Bukhman Philanthropies is delighted to announce a $3 million grant to the Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard Graduate School of Education to expand its work on agency-centred AI literacy in schools.
The two-year grant will support the Center for Digital Thriving’s portfolio of research on AI in education, as well as the development of free classroom resources created for, and with, young people and educators.
The Center for Digital Thriving, part of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is a research and innovation centre focused on helping young people thrive in a technology-filled world. Its work is rooted in a belief that educators are essential partners in helping students navigate digital life with confidence, judgement and care.
The grant builds on the Center’s first three years as a public research centre and will deepen its work to support agency with AI for both young people and educators. Its vision is a future in which every educator can help students move towards digital thriving through joyful, connected learning guided by research, shaped by youth voices and tailored to their communities.
“Working closely with youth and educators has only strengthened our belief that AI literacy isn’t just about understanding technology. To have agency with these tools, we need to also understand the business models behind them, and who we are becoming in relation to them,” said Beck Tench, Co-Founder and Principal Investigator at the Center for Digital Thriving.
“Educators can feel on the back foot with AI, but we’ve found that they already have what they need in this moment: social emotional skills to anchor their relationships with students, and a deep sense of care. What’s missing are the structures, resources and support to reinforce those relationships and meet their students where they are with AI. We’re grateful Bukhman Philanthropies shares our aspiration to fill those gaps through research that supports agency with AI.”
With Bukhman Philanthropies’ support, the Center for Digital Thriving will continue to grow its agency-centred portfolio of work on AI in education, including direct engagement with schools and communities, youth advisory work, and the creation and dissemination of free, research-based classroom resources.
This will include working directly with schools and communities to test, refine and expand AI literacy resources in real classrooms, ensuring they remain grounded in young people’s lived experiences as those experiences evolve. The grant will also support the Center’s listening-fuelled design cycle, through which young people are engaged as collaborators through listening sessions, co-design and research co-interpretation.
Last year, the Center released five free, co-designed classroom practices to help educators and students explore AI together. This new funding will support the development and wider dissemination of more free, research-based public goods for classrooms.
“One of our primary aims as a philanthropic organisation is to help build a brighter collective future, and we know that young people must be included at every step to make that possible,” said Daria Bukhman, Co-Founder and Chair of Bukhman Philanthropies. “As an educator myself, I believe in the power of literacy to light the path forward. The Center for Digital Thriving’s work allows educators and students to walk that path together, especially at a time when so many are feeling in the dark with AI.”
“Project Zero has a long history of ‘making thinking visible’ in classrooms. We need that kind of shared exploration now more than ever with AI,” said Carrie James, Co-Director at Project Zero and Co-Founder of the Center for Digital Thriving. “One of the best ways to do that often starts by talking to each other and listening with curiosity.”
“Conversations about AI in education need to centre people instead of policy alone, which is why listening to educators and young people is the heartbeat of our work,” said Emily Weinstein, Co-Founder of the Center for Digital Thriving. “We’re grateful for the support of Bukhman Philanthropies to continue to shape a better future for, and with, the next generation.”
Every resource and initiative made possible by the grant is designed around the same goal: to foster meaningful choice, intention and control over how AI shapes children’s lives and learning.
The grant forms part of Bukhman Philanthropies’ wider commitment to understanding the impact of AI on youth mental health and wellbeing, and to supporting work that helps make digital environments safer, more thoughtful and more supportive for children and young people.