AI Foundations for the Workforce
What AI is and is not; safe productive use of mainstream tools; prompting that holds up at work; verifying output; protecting personal and employer data.
No technical background required
Monthly from January 2027
AI is a pillar of this institute, not a module.
The Global Institute for Sustainable Development (GISD) runs a dedicated AI Training Academy, leads AI for Mission for the nonprofit sector, embeds AI practice inside every certificate program, convenes the region on AI and employment, and studies how AI is changing work in Virginia.
The AI Training Academy: dedicated AI tracks, by audience.
Applied AI for Professionals
AI inside real office, project, and communication workflows with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, ChatGPT, and Claude.
Working professionals
AI for Small Business and Entrepreneurs
Marketing content, customer communication, bookkeeping support, and workflow automation, with judgment on cost, quality, and risk.
Founders and owners
AI for Nonprofit Organizations
Delivered through the AI for Mission initiative.
Nonprofit teams and boards
AI embedded in every certificate
Session 6 of the Certified Administrative Specialist program is dedicated to AI tools, and AI practice runs through the full curriculum.
All certificate cohorts
See the AI Training Academy in full, including what applied AI literacy means, the three tracks, and who each one is for. Nonprofit organizations have their own route through AI for Mission.
Convening, research, policy, practice.
AI and Employment Forum
Regional convenings on AI's effect on work: November 2026 and April 2027.
Research
"AI and the future of work" is a standing theme of the GISD Research Fellows.
Policy
Findings become community-informed policy recommendations for local and state decision makers.
Practice
Responsible use is graded as a skill: accuracy checking, disclosure, confidentiality, and bias awareness.
Why an institute for sustainable development leads with AI.
Administrative, coordination, nonprofit, and small business work is where AI adoption is moving fastest, and it is where our participants compete. Sustainable development in this decade means making sure AI's productivity gains reach underserved communities, nonprofits, immigrant professionals, veterans, and small business owners rather than passing them by.