Youth|Workforce|Global Impact

Closing the AI Power Gap™

Means creating opportunity.

Responsible AI must create opportunities for learning, leadership, digital ownership, and sustainable innovation.

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Dr. Alexis S. Smith, Founder and CEO of Ascend AI NOW
Dr. Alexis S. Smith · Founder & CEO
Ascend AI NOW
  • Govern
  • Educate
  • Empower
  • Transform

Youth technology & career pathways

Education Day: access through experience

Department of the Air Force Information Technology & Cyberpower Conference

Education Day brought local high school students into direct contact with technology and career pathways. Dr. Alexis S. Smith hosted and organized the Education Day experience.

  • Engage with technology exhibitors and experience emerging technology firsthand.
  • Join discussions with technology professionals.
  • Explore artificial intelligence and emerging careers.
  • Consider pathways into the future technology workforce.

An estimated 200 to 500 students took part.

Opportunity by design

Meet students where technology becomes tangible

Hands-on exposure, candid career conversations, and welcoming access to working professionals can help young people connect classroom learning with future roles in technology.

The focus is not simply access to tools. It is agency: understanding how technology is built, governed, and used to create meaningful work.

Global AI education

Responsible practice, data literacy, and leadership

Dr. Smith's original curriculum and teaching connect responsible AI governance with practical skills in content, data, and digital entrepreneurship.

Four-week workforce certificate curriculum

AI Content Creation, Prompt Engineering & Digital Monetization

Taught through Carolina Christian College / Carolina TIUA and the SWIM Workforce Initiative.

  • Responsible prompting and content creation.
  • Professional branding and digital entrepreneurship.
  • Automation applied to practical work.
  • Capstone projects that bring the learning together.

Six-week course · Twelve instructional sessions

MA 326: Data Literacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Data foundations, multilingual data quality, storytelling, dashboards, bias, governance, and practical application.

The global classroom includes participation from the United States and Ghana, bringing culturally responsive perspectives into data and AI learning.

Independent Ascend AI NOW instruction

AI Power Gap™ Academy

Explore Dr. Smith's independent AI governance and learning pathway.

Explore Academy on Skool

Separate academic programs

College curriculum

Dr. Smith teaches AI content creation, prompt engineering, digital monetization, and data literacy through Carolina Christian College / Carolina TIUA and the SWIM Workforce Initiative.

The AI Power Gap™ Academy is offered independently by Ascend AI NOW.

Academic foundation

Scholarship That Advances AI Governance

Dr. Alexis S. Smith's academic work strengthens the research and executive practice behind Ascend AI NOW, grounding its approach in digital stewardship, AI ethics, and responsible innovation.

Doctorate in Digital Stewardship, AI Ethics & Governance Carolina Christian College

Explore the five-stage framework

Doctoral research

Media ministry and peer-to-peer file sharing in K–12 Christian settings.

Applied leadership

Connecting scholarship with executive practice and responsible implementation.

Ethics & governance

Human-centered and accountable approaches to digital stewardship and AI.

Impact focused

Advancing equitable access, education, and opportunity.

International workforce development · Nigeria

SkillBanc NOVARA

An eight-week entrepreneurial workforce initiative focused on practical digital ownership, technology infrastructure, professional branding, and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Alexis S. Smith served as a strategic advisor and partner in collaboration with SkillBanc NOVARA and its initiative collaborators.

7Live websites
7Registered domains
7Business email accounts
7Digital business cards
4Websites identified as market-ready

Outcomes as reported at the October 2026 Demo Day.

Digital equity & policy advocacy

Infrastructure is part of opportunity

Dr. Smith's K–12 leadership experience includes technology infrastructure, connectivity, digital access, and educational policy advocacy. Her roles include CoSN Thought Partner and K–12 CTO Academy Mentor.

Her E-Rate advocacy and educational materials address the FCC's 2026 review of the program, with CoSN attribution preserved.

Research & Insights

Connect & collaborate

Build opportunity with purpose

Start a conversation about educational partnerships, workforce development collaboration, student technology programming, international learning initiatives, or executive advisory.

Educational partnerships Workforce collaboration Student programming International learning Executive advisory