Al for Changemakers
Training and support for Changemakers exploring AI.
Build your curiosity, capability and confidence to use AI tools to support community changemaking and social resilience.
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Changemakers get ready - AI is here
ChatGPT launched in November 2022. By July 2025, 18 billion messages were being sent each week by 700 million users, representing around 10% of the global adult population. For a new technology, this speed of global diffusion has no precedent.
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Rural, regional and remote communities already face gaps in digital access and skills. Without the support and capability they need to use AI strategically, the rapid evolution of AI threatens to further widen these gaps.
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A time of change for changemakers
Beyond access and equity, there are deeper questions about how to use AI well - and ethically - when you're working with existing constraints around time, funding and capacity.
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Many changemakers are uncertain about AI and concerned about losing the human touch that makes your work meaningful and not "AI Slop". Further, tech hype and FOMO creates pressure to adopt tools without a clear understanding of when they help, when they don't, and worse, when they can prove counterproductive. More output is never the answer, but strategic use of AI capabilities can help you think clearly and communicate effectively, leaving time and energy to create the change you seek to make.
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A different approach
AI for Changemakers helps you navigate the transition to AI from a position of capability, confidence and curiosity. You'll learn how to use AI as a thinking partner while maintaining the judgement, values and reasoning that makes community change work meaningful - and human.
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Adapting to the AI transformation with a firm footing in human perception, reasoning and behavioural science
I've spent 30 years helping people understand how language shapes emotion, cognition and behaviour. As a communication scientist with training in linguistics, behavioural neurobiology and marketing, I've always worked at the intersection of language processing and effective communication. Now I'm extending that work to help people understand how to communicate with AI tools, and how these tools can support, enrich and extend (rather than replace) your thinking and communication work.
This training is designed specifically for rural, regional and remote changemakers, non-profits and people working in purpose-led organisations and agencies. It recognises the digital and access gaps that already exist, and aims to close those gaps before the AI transformation widens them.
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This approach is about getting AI to work with you as an ideation, thinking and reflection partner. For people working in isolation (which stops many good ideas before they start), AI can offer a way to externalise thinking, test ideas and gain momentum.
AI for Changemakers
Build your curiosity, capability and confidence to use AI tools to support community changemaking and social resilience
Who's it for?
People and groups curious or cautious about AI, and changemakers wanting to build essential skills and capacity in an evolving tech landscape. Particularly valuable for researchers, community leaders, advocates and communicators in rural, regional and remote areas who want practical guidance on using AI for communication and changemaking work.
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Training for individuals and small teams exploring AI, is offered at two levels:
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AI for Changemakers 101: Getting started
This course is for curious changemakers stepping into the world of generative AI. You’ll learn the basics of prompting, ethical use and practical ways to integrate AI into your communication, planning and reflection workflows. Designed especially for values-driven leaders in rural and regional contexts, this training helps you build confidence and capability, so AI becomes a helpful tool for change and connection.
AI for Changemakers 102: Beyond the prompt
This course is for experienced changemakers, researchers, strategists and values-driven leaders ready to use AI as a co-creating thinking partner. It emphasises systemic co-creation, where you and AI work in tandem to surface insights, test ideas, explore patterns in complexity and create new change narratives.
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Grounded in science and shaped by systems thinking, this training equips you to amplify human insight and creativity with AI’s support. The result is an enhanced capability and confidence to communicate with clarity and drive meaningful change.
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Delivery and support options
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Introductory webinars and short workshops
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Multi-session training programs for teams and organisations
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One-on-one coaching and advisory support
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Custom programs for rural leadership groups, community foundations, research centres and regional networks
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Group facilitation combining ideation, reflection and peer learning.
Additional offerings:
AI Synthesis and Pattern Finding
Use AI to analyse datasets, reports and documents to surface patterns, outliers and insights. I'll work with you to develop effective prompts for synthesis and systems thinking work and help you evaluate outputs to ensure accuracy and relevance.
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Master Prompts and AI Interaction Guides
Custom development of master prompts and AI interaction guides for your organisation or project. These tools ensure AI outputs align with your strategic purpose, values and communication standards, creating consistency across your team's AI use.
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What this is not
AI for Changemakers is not designed around productivity, automation or corporate efficiency. Instead, its emphasis is on learning how to use AI as a co-creating thinking partner that helps people organise and expand their thinking and changemaking work.
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When this work helps
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You're curious about AI but unsure where to start or what's worth your time
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You're concerned about maintaining quality and human judgment in your work
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You want to explore AI without hype or pressure to adopt tools that don't serve your goals
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You need support applying AI to real challenges like grant writing, message development or strategic thinking
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You're leading others and want to build AI capability across your team or organisation.
What you'll take away
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Confidence to experiment with AI tools relevant to your work
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Practical skills for crafting prompts that reflect your values, tone and strategic intent
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Understanding of where AI supports thinking and where human judgment remains essential
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Frameworks for recognising when to trust AI output and when to question it
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Strategies for using AI as a reflection partner while maintaining your own capacity for critical and creative thinking
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Language guidance to keep your communication values-based and human, even when AI assists the process.
Why Words for Change?
Because AI works best when it supports human thinking rather than replacing it. My approach builds capability, not dependency.
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I bring over 30 years of experience in communication, linguistics, ecology and behavioural science to this work. I understand both the science of how we learn and think, and the real-world contexts where rural and regional changemakers operate.
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