In July 2025, Team4Tech, in partnership with Dell Technologies and Computer Aid International, launched the AI Accelerator Program for nonprofits within Dell’s Solar Community Hub program. This cohort-based learning initiative engaged 15 community-based NGOs from seven countries—Brazil, Colombia, India, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, and the UK—to increase their skills and knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI) and explore how AI can support their programs and operations.
Delivered in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, the twelve-week program engaged 45 participants from NGOs that operate Dell’s Solar Community Hubs. Over the course of 12 weeks, Team4Tech facilitated:
- six modules of asynchronous course content hosted through our Community of Practice platform, where participating NGOs learned at their own pace
- seven synchronous virtual meetings fostering peer learning, experimentation, and collaboration
Building AI Literacy and Confidence
In the cohort, participants explored the fundamentals of AI, ethical and responsible use dimensions of AI, and practical strategies for real-world applications. These included:
- Learning prompting best practices to improve their use of AI chatbots
- Identifying how AI tools can support content creation for:
- fundraising
- marketing
- learning materials
- Discovering AI solutions for improving data workflows
- Exploring custom solutions for their specific contexts, such as offline options for using AI in areas with limited or no connectivity, and how to create chatbots tailored to specific needs
This course gave me the tools to integrate AI into my work in a critical and strategic way. Now I can automate tasks, improve data analysis processes, and design more innovative solutions, especially in community work and knowledge generation.”
—Lady Juliana Cano, Manager of Knowledge Management, Fundación Tiempo de Juego, Colombia
By the end of the cohort, 94% of participants demonstrated clear gains in AI literacy and skills. Participant attitudes toward AI also shifted significantly, with positive perceptions increasing from 78% to 95%. 81% of participants now report feeling confident about implementing AI solutions in their organizations.
Program evaluation data showed both a growth in skills and a change in mindsets. Cohort participants progressed from fear and uncertainty about AI technologies to viewing AI as a practical tool that can support their work with confident and ethical use.
From Knowledge to Practice: Co-Developing AI Action Plans
With coaching from Team4Tech, each participating NGO developed an AI implementation plan aligned with its local context and community needs. They identified areas where AI could add value to their work and selected a single use case to conduct a pilot.
Each week, cohort participants followed a guided process to:
- Conduct their own assessment of AI readiness
- Think about ethical considerations
- Apply criteria for selecting AI tools
- Engage other members of their team in testing and incorporating feedback for their AI solution.
Among the use cases piloted as part of this implementation planning, NGOs focused on:
- Creating engaging, tailored educational content for learners
- Analyzing program, participant, and infrastructure data to improve reporting, evaluation, and decision-making
- Developing virtual assistants to respond to staff or community queries more efficiently
These action plans demonstrated how NGOs operating Dell’s Solar Community Hubs can integrate AI tools into their operations responsibly and creatively to enhance programs for learners, automate routine tasks for staff, and better manage and use data for organizational goals.
The most important thing I gained from this program was a practical understanding of how AI can be effectively and ethically integrated into education programs and organizational operations, a deeper sense of community and collaboration, guidance on ethical practices, and, importantly, a significant step forward in my AI learning and application journey.”
—Imayabaramban S., Manager, Learning Links Foundation, India
Building for Sustainability and Scale
Beyond individual learning and the immediate pilots, the AI Accelerator helped participating organizations lay the groundwork for broader AI adoption and sustainable scale. Evaluation results showed that participants made progress on AI implementation, from early curiosity to active experimentation and adoption of AI solutions to improve their work. In addition, 89% reported they can now train others on effective AI use within their organizations.
For some organizations, the AI action plans piloted through this cohort are already developing into plans for full implementation. As both a partner and cohort participant in this initiative, Computer Aid International (CAI) leveraged the AI Accelerator to prototype a centralized AI-enabled system that can support management, knowledge sharing, and reporting across Solar Community Hubs. In collaboration with Dell Technologies, CAI is now planning next steps toward deployment based on testing and insights from this cohort.
I created my own bot ‘ICDL Trainer Assistant’ which I am very proud of. [As a team] we came up with a centralized management system (CMS) prototype, which we didn’t know was possible until we had this training.
As a trainer, now I can offer better curated content with the help of AI tools. I am now working on AI content to train the hub beneficiaries.”
—Martin Kuria, Director, ComputerAid Kenya
We are proud to partner with Dell Technologies on this initiative and celebrate the accomplishments of the cohort. We’re inspired by this cohort’s collaboration, innovation, and learnings, and we can’t wait to see how they continue to use technology to support their communities. Dell, Team4Tech, and Computer Aid International will continue their partnership with the launch of additional cohorts designed to further engage and support NGOs operating Dell’s Solar Community Hubs, building on the learnings from this initiative to ensure growth and sustainability.
This project is one example of how Team4Tech is building the capacity and accelerating the impact of community-based organizations worldwide. Explore our accelerator programming to learn more.