The Gender & AI Innovation Collective is a network of women’s rights organizations across Africa building AI tools for their own communities. Organizations bring the problem and the community knowledge; the Collective provides structured learning, technical mentorship, seed funding, and a secure development environment — and the organizations keep what they build.
Run by the A+ Alliance, co-led by Women at the Table and Code for Africa, and supported by IDRC and FCDO. The programme runs from February 2026 to June 2027 across three cohorts.
Women’s rights organizations across Africa understand the daily challenges their communities face – gender-based violence, economic barriers, healthcare gaps, education obstacles, and limited political participation. But many organizations don’t have access to the technical tools to build AI solutions that could help.
Right now, organizations often spend their limited resources building similar tools separately, which wastes time and money. Basic chatbots with pre-programmed answers can’t handle complex problems.
We want to change that. Together, let’s imagine how AI can be shaped by and for communities working toward gender equality.
Technical support and infrastructure to explore and build gender-focused AI tools, plus:
• Community Learning in AI concepts and development
• Expert mentorship throughout your project
• A safe space to experiment and learn
• Funding for prototyping and testing your solutions
• A community of organizations doing similar work
• Help turning your ideas into real, working tools
Our goal is to build your technical capacity so you can own and shape AI on your own terms.
• Sharing knowledge equally – Everyone brings expertise to the table
• Community control over technology – You decide how AI serves your needs
• Creating innovations together – Collaborative development, not top-down solutions.
We follow a structured path from idea to implementation:
Phase 1: Concept Papers (3 months) – Unfunded
Eight weeks of community learning modules on Feminist AI, Data, Models, Impact Assessments.
Think through your idea and write a short concept paper that explains your idea. You’ll get:
Note: This phase includes unpaid training to help refine your ideas. You must complete this training to be eligible for funding in later phases.
Phase 2: Prototypes (4-5 months) – Seed Grants Available
Build a working version of your idea with help from our AI engineers and Gender Fellow. They’ll handle the technical complexity while you focus on your solution. You’ll:
Over the course of the project we will fund 6 prototypes at CAD 7,500 per project, and 6 Localisations/ adaptations of existing prototypes for new contexts at CAD 3,000. Per project.
Phase 3: Pilots (6-8 months) – Seed Grants Available
Test your solution in the real world with ongoing support. You’ll:
Over the course of the project we will fund 3 pilots at CAD 15,000 each.
We’re building a secure, human rights-focused digital environment with open-source AI models and development tools. Think of it as:
For learning: A safe place to understand AI, experiment with basic programming, and build skills with mentorship
For building: A space to rapidly prototype, co-create with your community, share resources, and get technical support – while you maintain ownership
This challenges the cycle of technology dependency and helps bridge the gap between knowing what needs to change and having the tools to change it.
Tangible results:
• Working AI innovations that positively impact real community challenges
• A model that other organizations can replicate
• High-quality research on gender-responsive AI
Long-term impact:
• The Gender & AI Innovation Collective continues beyond this project
• Ongoing peer support network
• Advancement of gender-responsive AI governance frameworks
The A+ Alliance for Inclusive Algorithms – A global feminist coalition of practitioners, academics, and activists prototyping a better future for AI.
Co-led by:
• Code for Africa (founded 2012) – Employs ~140 staff across 26 African countries, working in Arabic, English, and French with 13+ years of civic technology experience.
• Women at the Table (founded 2015) – A feminist organization in Switzerland focused on systems change, with deep multilateral expertise
Supported by: Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Our track record: Fast Company World Changing Idea (2020), WSIS Awards runner-up, Generation Equality Action Coalition leader, Paris Peace Forum official project (2021)