ARISE Technology Foundation bridges the digital divide for African and diaspora communities through digital literacy, AI education, and cultural preservation technology.
Millions of people especially those in African and diaspora communities have been systematically excluded from the technology revolution reshaping every aspect of modern life.
ARISE Technology Foundation was built from within this community. We don't design for our community we design with and from it. Every program, every curriculum, every artifact in our Heritage Archive is shaped by the knowledge, languages, and philosophical traditions of the people we serve.
"Technology + Culture = Diffusion. A platform and method of inclusion for all."
A 6-week cohort program that takes participants from device basics to confident internet users delivered in English, Yoruba, and Pidgin English.
An 8-week cohort that demystifies artificial intelligence teaching practical AI tools while centering equity, bias awareness, and cultural context.
Technology training fused with cultural preservation participants learn digital archiving while documenting Yoruba oral traditions and diaspora stories.
In the Atlanta metropolitan area alone, hundreds of thousands of residents lack the digital literacy skills to navigate healthcare portals, apply for jobs online, or access government services let alone participate in the AI-driven economy now reshaping every industry.
For African and diaspora communities, this gap is compounded by cultural exclusion: technology platforms built without their languages, their contexts, or their philosophical traditions in mind.
ARISE doesn't just teach technology. We build culturally-situated frameworks where technology meets heritage and transformation follows.
All programs available in English, Yoruba, and Pidgin English removing the most fundamental barrier to access.
Curriculum built on doctoral research in AI adoption and culturally-situated technology frameworks at Kennesaw State University.
Diaspora & Cultural Advisory Committee holds decision-making authority over content. We are accountable to our community by design.
Program graduates become peer educators and mentors creating a self-sustaining ecosystem of knowledge within the community.
The ARISE Heritage Archive is a living digital repository of Yoruba oral traditions, diaspora family stories, proverbs, language recordings, and cultural knowledge built by community members, for the world.
Our Elder Technology Companion model pairs ARISE alumni with community elders for 1-on-1 documentation sessions preserving wisdom that would otherwise disappear. Every artifact is publicly accessible online, serving the global African and Nigerian diaspora community.
A living repository of Yoruba traditions, diaspora stories, and cultural knowledge publicly accessible, globally reaching.
ARISE's founder is a Nigerian-American technology professional, PhD candidate at Kennesaw State University, and Yoruba cultural practitioner whose own family members represent the exact people ARISE exists to serve.
His 10+ years of Salesforce and enterprise IT implementation experience across healthcare, finance, and retail combined with doctoral research on AI adoption in underserved communities, creates a leadership profile that is simultaneously technically credible to corporate funders and authentically trusted by the communities ARISE serves.
We begin from a place of gratitude for the cultural wisdom that grounds our work and the communities that sustain it.
Good character — iwa pele — is the foundation of everything we build. How we do the work matters as much as what we do.
Culture is not an obstacle to technology adoption it is the pathway through which technology becomes meaningful and lasting.
We pursue progress that brings communities forward together not a technology revolution that leaves people behind.
Whether you're a funder, a volunteer, a community partner, or someone who needs these programs ARISE is for you.