AI for Impact at NYU
Preparing Leaders for Human-Centered Innovation
Welcome to AI for Impact at NYU SPS—where current and emerging leaders learn to harness generative AI for ethical, human-centered innovation in organizations and public life. Designed and taught by globally recognized strategist Professor Elizabeth (Liz) Ngonzi, this experience equips you to turn AI from a buzzword into a trusted collaborator for storytelling, engagement, and governance-aware decision-making.
Whether you are shaping policy, leading an association or union, guiding a nonprofit or company, or representing constituents and communities, AI for Impact shows you how to align powerful new tools with your mission, values, and stakeholders—so you can drive meaningful change, not just keep up with it.
Meet Professor Liz Ngonzi
Liz Ngonzi is a globally recognized AI and leadership strategist whose work bridges artificial intelligence, digital storytelling, democratic governance, and social impact. She is an award-winning Adjunct Assistant Professor at NYU SPS, Founder and CEO of The International Social Impact Institute®, and a Board Member and Founding Chair of the Ethics & Responsible AI Committee at the American Society for Artificial Intelligence (ASFAI), where she also serves as Originator and Editor-in-Chief of the AI for Humanity anthology and platform, launching in January 2026.
Click to learn more about Liz Ngonzi…
Through her 1+1+AI=10™ Methodology and SHINE™ Storytelling Framework, Liz helps boards, executive teams, policymakers, union and association leaders, and senior professionals across sectors translate AI into values-aligned strategy, policy, and stakeholder engagement. Since 2023, her courses and convenings have equipped more than 10,000 professionals on six continents to integrate generative AI into their work in ways that strengthen accountability, human judgment, and real-world impact.
Amplifying Impact Through Storytelling
Begin your journey to amplifying impact, leadership, and authentic engagement in the age of AI. At the heart of every campaign, policy initiative, negotiation, and organizational transformation lies a timeless skill: storytelling.
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Whether you are seeking to advance your career, strengthen your institution’s mandate, or mobilize stakeholders, your ability to craft and share compelling narratives determines your influence. AI does not replace human storytelling—it amplifies it, turning well-framed ideas into scalable, multi-channel narratives that reach the right people at the right time.
When you combine the art of narrative with today’s most powerful generative tools, you do more than tell better stories—you create leverage for decisions, resources, and relationships that matter. AI for Impact is designed to make that leverage practical, ethical, and immediately usable in your work.
AI for Impact shows you how to turn a single story into speeches, briefings, social content, and stakeholder updates without losing your voice or values.
Liz's Unique Methodology and Framework
This is where the 1+1+AI=10™ Methodology and SHINE™ Storytelling Framework come together—turning individual creativity into organizational transformation and personal growth into visible leadership. These frameworks guide you to pair your lived experience and strategic goals with AI’s capabilities, so every prompt, campaign, and prototype stays grounded in your values and responsibilities. These are the guiding frameworks you will apply throughout Parts 1 and 2 to design your projects and AI agents.
Click to learn more about Liz's Methodology and Framework…
Part I: AI for Impact – Boost Your Marketability and Organizational Growth
At a Glance…
- One-day, onsite intensive at NYU SPS focused on hands-on generative AI for storytelling, engagement, and events.
- Ideal for leaders and professionals in policy and government, unions and associations, nonprofits, business, education, healthcare, and hospitality who want a practical, values-aligned starting point.
- Mix of live demos, guided exercises, and peer discussion using tools such as ChatGPT, Canva, AskHumans, Udio, and Adobe Firefly.
Step inside Liz Ngonzi’s flagship, hands-on seminar AI for Impact at NYU SPS. Discover how proprietary frameworks—1+1+AI=10™ and the SHINE™ Storytelling Framework—demystify AI and empower professionals to create compelling digital stories, stakeholder campaigns, and high-impact strategies.
See how leaders can script, produce, and deliver AI-powered video messages using GoogleVids and an AI avatar—ideal for campaign launches, member or employee updates, donor messages, and community outreach that stay human-centered and accessible.
Explore how AI can turn complex strategies into short, engaging audio briefings. This NotebookLM + Otter.ai podcast models how you might share course takeaways, organizational priorities, policy or program updates, and vision stories with busy stakeholders.
Experience collaborative storytelling in action: this cohort-created Udio anthem shows how teams can transform raw ideas and concerns into a unifying narrative—useful for internal culture-building, member or employee engagement, fundraising campaigns, and movement-building efforts.
See how conversational AI can surface real-time reflections from participants, staff, members, or communities, then group them into themes that inform strategy, messaging, service design, and change management across any sector.
Explore the Key Themes from Our Conversational AI Study
Click to see how this AI-powered site was created
This entire page—including the hero image and multimedia sections—was co-designed with generative AI tools used in AI for Impact, such as ChatGPT, Canva, Gamma for web presentation, Google Vids, NotebookLM, and Adobe Firefly. It models the kind of ethical, human-centered experimentation you’ll practice in the course.
Digital Storytelling
- Master frameworks that amplify human creativity through AI-powered narrative techniques.
- Experience how today’s advanced AI tools support authentic storytelling for campaigns, speeches, reports, and brand-building with purposeful impact.
Stakeholder Engagement
- Build meaningful connections using ethical AI for clear, trustworthy communication.
- Learn to harness generative tools to deepen engagement and foster trust with constituents, members, donors, customers, and teams.
Organizational Growth
- Create practical, AI-driven campaigns, strategies, and prototypes that drive measurable impact across any sector.
- Leave with the skills and examples to grow your organization and career.
Student Success & Impact90% of participants rated the AI for Impact course as highly relevant and impactful for their professional development.
"A meaningful and energizing class—I left inspired to apply AI ethically and responsibly."
"A game changer. I walked away with tools I could immediately apply to my professional practice."
"The frameworks helped me think differently about storytelling. AI became less intimidating and more empowering."
"Earlier this year, I completed the AI for Impact course taught by Elizabeth (Liz) Ngonzi at NYU School of Professional Studies, and it opened up a whole new layer of curiosity around storytelling and brand experiences.
I joined to explore how generative AI could meaningfully enhance human connection. I left inspired by its potential to expand creativity, accessibility, and inclusion - without replacing the magic only humans bring.
Thank you, Professor Ngonzi - grateful for the spark and excited for what’s next!"
Student Project ShowcaseReal Impact, Real Solutions: Explore six practical AI solutions designed and prototyped by the Summer 2025 cohort during a single-day intensive, spanning education, safety, organizational culture, operations, accessibility, and everyday life.
A multimedia STEM campaign with original video and song to inspire underrepresented youth in science and technology—showing how AI can support inclusive education and talent pipelines.
An AI-powered chatbot for campus safety officers featuring mental health resources and incident reporting—modeling how conversational AI can support safety, wellbeing, and frontline staff in any institution.
A cultural competency AI tool for cross-cultural communication in organizations, relevant to global companies, public agencies, and member-based institutions.
An AI integration proposal for private-sector operations and employee engagement that leaders could adapt for unions, associations, or public institutions navigating workforce change.
An AI-assisted app concept for children with unique language processing needs, illustrating how AI can support accessibility and personalized support.
An AI-enhanced meal-planning tool for busy families, demonstrating how everyday-use apps can model user-centered, responsible AI design.
Next session: February 6, 2026 – Washington Square Campus, NYU SPS.
Part II: AI for Impact – Advanced Lab
Building and Applying Custom AI Agents
Launching March 27, 2026, this hands-on lab invites professionals to design, build, and refine their own AI agents—digital collaborators trained to reflect each user’s voice, values, and goals. Through guided labs, peer feedback, and ethical frameworks, the course goes beyond tool use to empower meaningful transformation.
At a Glance…
- One-day, onsite advanced lab at NYU SPS focused on designing, building, and refining custom AI agents for leadership, storytelling, and organizational effectiveness.
- Ideal for professionals and senior leaders in policy and government, unions and associations, nonprofits, business, education, healthcare, and other sectors who already use tools like ChatGPT and want to move into custom agents.
- Prerequisite: completion of AI for Impact Part 1 or equivalent generative AI experience (e.g., ChatGPT, Canva AI, Claude).
You’ll walk away with…
- A functioning prototype of your own AI agent designed for storytelling, decision support, engagement, or organizational impact in your context.
- A repeatable framework for designing values-aligned agent personas, uploading key documents, setting guardrails, and iterating through role-play and feedback.
- Practical strategies for deploying agents responsibly inside your organization, ensuring transparency, human oversight, and alignment with your mandate and stakeholders.
- The confidence to lead conversations about AI agents with boards, executive teams, members, or constituents—and to identify new use cases that save time, scale impact, and amplify creativity.
Design Personas
Create AI collaborators aligned with professional purpose and personal values.
Build Prototypes
Develop functional agents in ChatGPT and Google AI with custom documents and guardrails.
Refine Through Testing
Iterate using role-play scenarios, peer feedback, and real-world applications.
Apply Ethical Frameworks
Ensure responsible, transparent adoption that safeguards human dignity.
Showcase Collaborators
Present AI prototypes in a supportive learning environment with expert feedback.
Below are three real AI collaborators Liz has designed and deployed—examples of the kinds of agents you will learn to prototype, adapt, or extend in this advanced lab.
LizNgonzi GPT ∞
LizNgonzi GPT ∞ is a digital twin that embodies 25+ years of thought leadership and lived experience in human-centered innovation, digital storytelling, and social impact. Built to support leaders with on-demand coaching, strategy prompts, and narrative framing, the agent delivers guidance, resources, and inspiration professionals can adapt to their own roles and institutions.
AI for Humanity Chapter Coach GPT and Anthology GPT
AI for Humanity Anthology GPT and Anthology GPT are governance-aware collaborators developed for ASFAI’s AI for Humanity anthology. These agents assist authors, editors, and contributors in crafting policy- and ethics-informed chapters, integrating human feedback, editorial guardrails, and Liz’s 1+1+AI=10™ and SHINE™ frameworks to keep every output aligned with shared principles.
Click to discover more…
Chapter Coach GPT
A dedicated agent guiding ethical AI product development for ASFAI and global teams. Chapter Coach GPT helps product leaders and teams integrate human feedback, equity, and principled design through every stage, leveraging the 1+1+AI=10™ Methodology, SHINE Storytelling Framework, and custom frameworks for responsible, socially responsive solutions.
A dedicated agent guiding ethical AI product development for ASFAI and global teams. Chapter Coach GPT helps product leaders and teams integrate human feedback, equity, and principled design through every stage, leveraging the 1+1+AI=10™ Methodology, SHINE Storytelling Framework, and custom frameworks for responsible, socially responsive solutions.
The ISII GPT: Powering Our Human + AI Team
The ISII GPT supports The International Social Impact Institute® by turning institutional knowledge into practical decision support for a Human + AI team. It helps staff and collaborators draft strategies, summarize insights, and prepare communications while reflecting the firm's mission, tone, and standards—demonstrating how leaders can build internal agents that scale capacity without losing control.
At The ISII, our “1+1+AI=10” Methodology turns collaboration into co-creation—with agents that reflect personal purpose and drive exponential impact.
These are the kinds of practical prototypes Part II is designed to deliver—AI collaborators that extend human capacity while safeguarding core values and professional integrity.
Harnessing Adobe Firefly, AskHumans, Canva Magic Studio, ChatGPT, Gamma.app, Google Vids, NoteBook LM, Otter.ai, Perplexity, and Udio.com
Copyright 2026 The International Social Impact Institute®