AI Leadership Network: Leadership, Ethics, and Adaptation in the Digital Age
Building leadership judgment for the AI era
The AI Leadership Network: Leadership, Ethics, and Adaptation in the Digital Age prepares labor union leaders, public sector employees, nonprofit executives, and social sector managers to exercise sound judgment about AI under conditions of uncertainty. Designed in consultation with regional labor leaders and technology advocates, this six-session program treats AI as a shifting landscape that calls for ethical judgment, sound organizational decision-making, and skillful leadership of change. Through experiential learning, cross-sector dialogue, and Coro’s proven inquiry tools and decidedly neutral stance on the adoption and use of AI, you’ll build the confidence and judgment to decide when, where, why, under what conditions, and with what safeguards AI should or should not be used.
This Coro California program is offered in the Bay Area.
Currently Accepting Applications
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Program Overview
- Exercise sound judgment about AI under conditions of uncertainty, determining when, where, why, under what conditions, and with what safeguards AI should or should not be used in your organization.
- Build foundational AI fluency grounded in your own questions and perspective, understanding the current AI landscape, how it’s deployed, and the ethical and economic debates surrounding it.
- Apply an AI judgment framework and a practical framework for deployment and augmentation to assess AI’s real impact on your role and sector.
- Develop tools for navigating personal, team and / or organizational resistance or enthusiasm to AI and leading high-stakes organizational conversations about AI.
- Practice facilitating difficult conversations across sector lines using Coro’s critical thinking and inquiry tools.
- Draft a written action plan ready to adapt to your organization.
- Join a peer network of labor, government, nonprofit, and social sector leaders committed to ongoing learning as the AI landscape continues to shift.
A Statement on Neutrality
Coro California does not advocate for or against AI adoption, and we do not promote any vendor, product, or policy position. Every session brings together voices with genuinely different views, so you can test your thinking against the full range of perspectives and reach your own conclusions. Our commitment is to the quality of your judgment.
Program Benefits
- Lead with confidence on organizational AI decisions, using frameworks that help you distinguish which questions need technical expertise and which require leadership judgement.
- Build the organizational change skills to guide your team, board, or membership through AI-related decisions, from the first conversation to implementation.
- Leave with the skills to lead the AI conversation in your own organization rather than just participate in it, backed by structured tools for high-stakes, cross-perspective discussions with your board, your membership, or your team, and a concrete action plan for bringing that conversation home.
- Build cross-sector relationships that outlast the program, creating accountability partnerships with labor, nonprofit, government, and technology leaders for ongoing sense-making as the AI landscape keeps shifting.
- Hear directly from researchers, policy experts, and engineers in structured conversations built around your questions, not vendor agendas, and drawn from across the range of views on AI.
- Join 15,000+ Coro alumni shaping communities, organizations, and causes across sectors and regions, with access to continuing education sessions, networking events with regional decision-makers, exclusive digital platforms, and digital credentials.
Ideal Candidates & Eligibility
- Serve as labor union, public sector / government, nonprofit, and social sector leaders making or influencing organizational decisions about AI adoption, bargaining, or policy.
- Live, work, or serve communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Bring genuine curiosity and an open mind about both AI’s potential and its risks.
- Want to build practical leadership judgment about AI. No technical background is needed.
- Commit to full participation in all six scheduled sessions (see program calendar for session dates and attendance policy).
Format & Curriculum
Session Cadence
Six full-day sessions, spaced every two to three weeks from March through June 2027. Between sessions, participants may be asked to complete tool exploration, and guided self-reflection to build hands-on familiarity alongside conceptual fluency.
Curriculum Themes
The AI Leadership Network: Leadership, Ethics, and Adaptation in the Digital Age is a leadership program with no coding or technical prerequisites. Participants learn how to make sound decisions about AI at work: when to trust a new tool, when to push back on one, when to wait, and how to explain your reasoning to your team, your board, or the people you serve and represent.
First, participants get a clear, honest picture of what AI actually is and how it works, cutting through the hype and the fear alike. Second, the program explores who owns and controls these tools today, and what that means for the participants’ organizations and the people they serve. Third, participants learn judgment frameworks and the fundamentals of leading organizational change. Fourth, they take everything they’ve learned and apply it to a real decision they are facing at work right now.
Every session pairs a short framework or concept with extended applied work: case analysis, small-group inquiry, structured debate, and open exploration with trusted voices from labor, government, technology, and policy who hold genuinely different views on AI. Participants leave with a concrete, implementable action plan, whether that’s a deployment proposal, a recommendation on whether and how to use a specific AI tool, a policy or governance proposal, or a plan to bring the conversation back to their own team.
Learning Approach
Coro’s experiential methods center active practice over passive listening. Participants engage in case discussions, leadership simulations, peer exchanges, and reflective exercises. Facilitators create space for mindfulness, vulnerability, and authentic connection, fostering psychological safety for adaptive collaboration and innovation.
Program Philosophy
Coro’s approach emphasizes three core principles: active leadership practice as lifelong learning, relating productively across differences in identities and perspectives, and embracing curiosity and vulnerability as foundations for authentic leadership and meaningful change.
Cost & Financial Support
Tuition
The program is fully funded. There is no cost to participants.
Participation stipend
Thanks to the support of the Coro community and the program’s sponsors, participants can request stipends to support with off-setting costs related to their participation. Any applicant is welcome to request consideration; however, preference will be given to those who work for a labor union or who are hourly non-exempt employees of their organization. Participants must opt in to the stipend on their program application and successfully complete the AI Leadership Network: Leadership, Ethics, and Adaptation in the Digital Age, including meeting the attendance policy. Stipends will be disbursed within 30 – 60 days following program completion.
Expenses and incidentals
Participants may incur expenses or incidentals due to participation, such as parking or transportation costs. Lunch during sessions will be provided by Coro.
Application Process & Key Dates
How to Apply
Complete the online application sharing your AI leadership goals and challenges, professional background, and commitment to advancing ethical digital leadership. Review the Application Guide for detailed instructions and tips for crafting strong responses. Applications are reviewed holistically with priority for varied perspectives across industries, identities, and experiences.
Application Deadlines
- Application portal open: October 8, 2026
- 1st round deadline: December 1, 2026
- 2nd round deadline: February 2, 2027
- Final deadline: March 2, 2027
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with cohort spots limited.
Selection Timeline
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with applicants notified within two weeks of each application deadline. Once the cohort has been filled, the application portal will close, even if before the second or final deadline.
Meet the Cohort and Past Organizations
- Meet the Cohort
- Meet the Cohort - Los Angeles
- Meet the Cohort - Bay Area
- Explore Past Cohorts
- Select Past Participating Organizations