02/21/2026
This past Presidents’ Day, we unveiled our inaugural AI Design Conference, and it exceeded all expectations.
The morning featured four in-depth AI workshops led by our Director of Information Technology, Mr. Miah, guiding students through what AI is, how it works, the role of ethics, and how it applies in the real world.
After lunch, students stepped into Ethics By Design, our agile hackathon incubator built around one central principle: innovation must be responsible. Working in teams of four, students assumed real-world roles including UI Developer, UX Developer, Project Manager, Scrum Master, and Ethics Manager. In just two hours, more than 30 students built fully conceptualized AI applications from scratch.
The apps reflected both thoughtfulness and purpose. Students created tools focused on health, parenting, social engagement, and community support. The winning team developed an Immigration Rights App designed to help immigrants better understand their rights, access legal resources, and navigate critical information with clarity and dignity.
What distinguished Ethics By Design was not only the innovation, but the governance. Each team built with ethical guardrails, drafted an ethics charter, and demonstrated responsible AI design as part of the judging criteria. Ethics was not an afterthought; it was a requirement.
We were honored to have LO alumni, Jarod Groome, AE of Synthesia, and Patrice Thomas, CEO and Founder of TraRemedy Holdings Inc., serve as panel judges alongside Executive Director, Tamika Edwards. Our alumni, who also developed their own app, shared their career journeys with current students and stressed the importance of remaining curious.
Through our growing partnership with Mercer Labs, Museum of Art and Technology, the winning team received passes to experience a museum dedicated to the integration of art and technology.
In one afternoon, students moved from learning about AI to building it responsibly. The future of innovation is not only bright, it is ethical.
