Skills4Good AI
Josephine Yam is the CEO & Co-Founder of Skills4Good AI, an award-winning edtech company advancing responsible AI literacy with a mission to democratize AI education. To do this, Skills4Good AI offers memberships to its AI Academy. Members have access to a comprehensive curriculum with over 150 on-demand video lessons, as well as a collaborative community where they can connect, share insights and learn from each other, and cutting-edge experiences like monthly webinars, expert interviews and networking events.
As Josephine explains, “As the first edtech company to provide responsible AI education in Canada, Skills4Good AI achieved a ‘first mover advantage.’ This has positioned us as thought leaders in the AI education field. The emergence of ChatGPT has further spurred exponential growth in our Academy membership. We have customers across Canada and the U.S. who are passionate about using ‘AI For Good’ and understand that continuous AI upskilling is critical to achieving this.”
With the mind of a lawyer and the heart of an entrepreneur, Josephine was driven to develop Skills4Good AI to combine her passions while helping to make the world a better place as it adopts and evolves with AI.
“When I immigrated to Canada from the Philippines, I started my career in Canada as a lawyer with an international law firm on Bay Street in downtown Toronto. My journey took a transformative turn when I attended Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. In one of my classes, a well-renowned professor remarked, ‘If you aren’t changing the world, don’t bother.’ This inspired me to co-found Skills4Good AI to address the lack of diversity and inclusion in our rapidly changing digital world. This drive was fueled by my firsthand experiences of being an outsider in three intersectional ways: I am a woman, a person of colour, and a Canadian immigrant.”
Josephine also found the education and support she received through The Forum to be invaluable in her entrepreneurial journey: “I am immensely grateful for the education I received from The Forum E-Series Program and my incredible Mentor from The Forum Mentor Program, who’s continued to advise me over the years.”
While few would attempt to argue against the importance of responsible AI adoption today, that wasn’t always the case—and proved to be one of the greatest challenges Josephine faced when launching her business.
“In 2019, when we began offering responsible AI education, many dismissed AI as science fiction. Convincing people of AI’s potential dangers without proper guardrails was an uphill battle. Despite skepticism, we persevered because we believed AI was a transformational revolution and it was crucial to help people build the skills to thrive in the Age of AI. We continued to develop our AI Academy with intellectual property assets, providing training to those who saw what we saw: AI was coming, and we needed to be ready.
Today, Skills4Good AI is a pioneering force in Responsible AI education. We’re proud to be Canada’s leading edtech provider in Responsible AI, with the Government of Canada as one of our customers.”
By democratizing access to AI education and focusing on ethical applications, Skills4Good AI empowers professionals to navigate the ethical complexities of AI and leverage it for the greater good.
Watch Josephine’s TEDx talk, “How To Right Algorithmic Wrongs” on how we can use AI For Good.