Zoom Cares Expands AI for Good Initiative With $2.75M in New Grants supporting Education, Workforce Development, and Nonprofit AI Readiness
One year ago at Zoomtopia 2025, Zoom Cares announced a bold commitment: $10 million over three years to help students, educators, workers, and nonprofits thrive in an AI-powered world. The AI for Good initiative was rooted in a simple conviction: AI should be accessible to everyone, and the people closest to the world’s toughest challenges should be among the first equipped to use it. Today, with nearly half of that commitment now deployed, Zoom Cares is sharing the early results and introducing the next wave of organizations joining the effort.
A Year of Results: What the First Grants Achieved
The first two AI for Good grantees, CodeAI and data.org, received a combined $2 million at launch. Their progress over the past year speaks for itself.
CodeAI: AI Education at Scale
With a $1 million grant, CodeAI set out to launch and scale its AI Foundations course in U.S. high schools. The results have far exceeded expectations:
- Over 168,000 students engaged with the AI Foundations curriculum — a full-year course teaching students how computing and artificial intelligence work, how to build with them ethically, and how to write programs.
- Nearly 9,000 teachers were trained by CodeAI to deliver AI and CS instruction in classrooms across the world
- Over 114,000 Mexican teachers received AI training through a partnership with Fundación Televisa’s Cuantrix program, which was supported by Zoom product donations across six Mexican states.
data.org: Surfacing AI Innovation for Economic Opportunity
data.org received a $1 million grant to host its fifth global innovation challenge, Activate AI: Economic Opportunity Challenge, a call for applications using AI to unlock economic opportunity and build more resilient communities.
The challenge received 500 applications from 76 countries. A panel of 11 expert judges selected six awardees committed to using data and AI to expand economic opportunity in their communities. With programs based across Hong Kong, Mongolia, Peru, the Philippines, Togo, and the United Kingdom, the awardees’ work to support workers, expand tech training, and strengthen women-led businesses is expected to positively impact more than 156,000 people.
Expanding the Mission: $2.75 Million in New Grants
Building on this momentum, Zoom Cares has distributed an additional $2.75 million to seven new grant partners. The new grants span three pillars: education, workforce development, and nonprofit AI readiness and innovation.
Education
- Teach for All — $500,000: Teach For All, through its Global Institute, will scale its AI Literacy & Creator Collective, a community of educators using AI in under-resourced schools around the world. The grant will help 5,000 educators in marginalized communities use AI to support teaching and learning in their classrooms, reaching 500,000 students, and document 100+ AI use cases for educators worldwide through its Better Future Hub and Zoom-powered courses and workshops.
- “Across the Teach For All network, educators are showing what is possible when they have the opportunity to shape and adapt AI tools for the realities of their own classrooms and communities. Zoom has been an essential platform for how our global network learns together, enabling educators across countries to connect, collaborate, and share learning in real time. Now, with the support of Zoom Cares, Teach For All’s Global Institute for Shaping a Better Future will support educators across our global network to design, test, and share practical innovations that strengthen teaching and expand opportunity for students” Wendy Kopp, CEO & Co- Founder, Teach For All
Workforce Development
- Jobs for the Future (JFF) — $500,000: JFF will expand its Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work, a resource for the workforce ecosystem navigating AI’s impact on jobs and skills. With demand for AI skills in non-tech job postings growing 800% since 2022, the grant will support research, training, and capacity building to promote economic opportunity across the workforce ecosystem.
- “Artificial intelligence is reshaping how we work and learn, and we have an opportunity to ensure that this transformation expands access to quality jobs and economic advancement for all. Zoom’s support will help JFF’s Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work build the capacity, knowledge, and partnerships needed to help workforce and education leaders navigate this moment and ensure workers and learners are better prepared for an AI-powered future.” – Alex Swartsel, VP of JFF’s Center for AI & the Future of Work
- National Academy of Engineering — $500,000: The NAE will expand its Pathways into Engineering K-12 outreach program from EngineerGirl to EngineerTeen, connecting young people nationwide with engineering mentors and AI-informed career pathways to help them understand how they can use AI and thrive in engineering careers.
- International Rescue Committee — $250,000: The IRC will launch PathwAI, a multilingual, AI-powered career and learning coach delivered via low-bandwidth messaging platforms like WhatsApp. The program will support 1,500 refugees in Germany in building AI literacy, identifying transferable skills, and navigating pathways to higher-wage jobs, including roles in the green economy.
- “With Zoom Cares’ support, the IRC will develop and pilot PathwAI to support newcomers in Germany, helping them improve their livelihoods and opportunities for long-term economic wellbeing,” said Jon Vosper, senior director for economic empowerment at the International Rescue Committee. “PathwAI will build on the IRC Germany’s youth green sector employment initiative, combining deep expertise across workforce development, innovation in the responsible use of AI, and strong local implementation capacity.”
- International Youth Foundation — $250,000: IYF will evolve its award-winning Passports to Success program to teach young people how to collaborate and thrive with AI, preparing them to succeed in school, personal, and professional environments.
- “The skills that help young people succeed — communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability — have never been more important than they are right now. With support from Zoom Cares, we’re evolving our Passport to Success curriculum so that young people don’t just learn about AI, but learn how to work alongside it with confidence. This partnership will help us reach hundreds of young people across the United States and ensure that the next generation is equipped to thrive in a workforce being transformed by technology.” — Christina Sass, President & CEO of IYF.
Nonprofit AI Readiness and Innovation
- NetHope — $500,000: NetHope’s AI Accelerator for Nonprofits will help 200 nonprofits worldwide responsibly adopt AI and build AI adoption roadmaps through assessments, cohort-based learning, peer exchange, and expert coaching.
- Next Chapter — $250,000: Next Chapter will support 45 formerly incarcerated individuals in developing AI and coding skills, with the goal of connecting them to reentry nonprofit organizations. Graduates will leverage their technical skills and lived experience to advance innovative AI adoption across the reentry space while creating pathways to economic stability. The program builds on its workforce development model, including a partnership with Zoom in which seven graduates completed software engineering apprenticeships. Since its inception, 68 of more than 100 graduates have launched technology careers at companies including Slack, Dropbox, Zoom, Plaid, and Affirm.
- “Zoom has been a longstanding partner in our work to create meaningful pathways into tech for formerly incarcerated people. Their renewed $250,000 investment is helping us prepare builders to thrive in an AI-driven economy while using their skills and lived experience to help reentry organizations expand their impact. We hope Zoom’s continued leadership inspires others to support and help scale this work.” — Kenyatta Leal, Next Chapter Executive Director.
“AI is creating one of the most significant shifts in how we work and live, but access to technology alone doesn’t drive impact. The real opportunity comes when people have the skills, confidence, and support to put these tools to work in meaningful ways. That’s what Zoom Cares’ AI for Good commitment is all about, and we’re just getting started.”
— Sara Shillinglaw, Head of Employee Engagement and Impact, Zoom
To learn more about Zoom Cares and the AI for Good commitment, visit zoom.com/zoom-cares.
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