Leadership — Lesson 3 | People United Foundation

Lesson status
Not completed

Saved only in your browser. Return to the course index to see overall progress.

Courses → Community Leadership → Lesson 3

Lesson 3 • Leadership

Bias, Equity, and Harm

AI systems can reinforce historical inequities if used without scrutiny. Community organizations are often closest to the people most affected.

Estimated time: 20 minutes Ethics-first Practical

Key concepts

Data can encode past discrimination and unequal access.
“Efficiency” can erase nuance and lived experience.
Safeguards must be explicit before adoption.

Practice Exercise

Identify one population you serve, one way biased data could disadvantage them, and one safeguard you would require before using AI.

Template (copy/paste)

ROLE: You are my AI assistant.
GOAL: Help me assess bias risks for an AI use case.
INPUTS: Population served, data sources, decision impact.
OUTPUT: 5 risks + 5 mitigations + a 'do not deploy' threshold.
CONSTRAINTS: Prioritize equity and explain tradeoffs plainly.

Ethics & accuracy: verify important facts, avoid sharing sensitive personal data, and be transparent when AI helped draft content.

← Previous Next →

Recommended next

Use these links to keep momentum and turn learning into artifacts.

Download the kit

Use the kit prompts and templates offline.

Open Kit

Use the checklist

A short action list to apply this course in the next 7 days.

Open Checklist

Certificate

Print a self-attested certificate for your personal documentation.

Certificates

Go further (optional)

Join a cohort, sponsor a seat, or use the Impact Pack for funders.

Cohorts Sponsor Impact Library