The Next Step Foundation

The next step foundation's upili program expanded its impact in 2024, improving mental health support for youth with disabilities in kenya. The program grew beyond its joytown secondary school pilot to include treeside kambui school for the deaf, where it launched its first group counseling cohort conducted in kenyan sign language (ksl) by a deaf counselor. Through this expansion, we were able to serve 200 students with disabilities whose improved mental health resulted in higher test scores on the kenyan national exams.

In 2024, the next step foundation partnered with the assistive technologies for disability trust (at4d) to launch ai for the sustainable development goals (ai4sdg) center, a new initiative harnessing ai to advance sdgs in the global south. Targeting sdgs 4 (quality education), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 10 (reduced inequality), and 11 (sustainable cities and communities), the center drives innovation through collaboration. The center supports projects like the nikkoworkx data annotation training platform, preparing students for ai careers and fostering equitable, culturally relevant solutions.