Kinwise: AI Insights for Educators

Cary Wright, a 30-year veteran educator and co-founder of T.E.A.C.H. , joins us to share how he’s helping teachers go from overwhelmed to empowered through practical, responsible AI use. From streamlining lesson planning to unlocking data insights, Cary explains how he and his co-founder, Tyler Hunt, are building a future where AI supports educators. In his role as K-12 Coordinator of Humanities i...

What happens when a centuries-old set of values meets one of the most disruptive technologies of our time? In this episode, we slow down the AI conversation with John Sharon, Assistant Head for Teaching and Learning at Carolina Friends School. With over 34 years in education, John has seen fads come and go and knows the importance of discernment. Grounded in the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, i...

Montana science teacher and district AI lead Connor Mulvaney joins host Lydia Kumar to share how he turned fishing photos, traffic-light rubrics, and a healthy dose of curiosity into AI leadership in Montana and across the nation. Fresh off announcing aiEDU’s largest Trailblazers Fellowship expansion, Connor shares stories about leading students and educators to responsible AI adoption.  In this e...

In this episode, Guide and curriculum designer Ben Gordon Sniffen pulls back the curtain on Alpha School’s two-hour learning model, where an AI tutor condenses core academics into a focused morning block and frees guides for passion-driven life-skills workshops in the afternoon. Listen in as Ben explains: How 120 minutes of adaptive learning hits each child’s “productive-struggle” zone. The role o...

Kinwise Conversations is your weekly AI learning lab for teachers, principals, and district leaders. In Season 2 we dive into real classroom pilots, district-wide roll-outs, and cross-sector insights that show exactly how AI can boost student learning without losing the human heart of education. 🎙 What to expect • Classroom and district innovators already pushing AI to its limits • Warm, grounded...

Brand strategist Jim Cobb, founder of The Bloodhound Group and a creative force behind MasterCard’s legendary “Priceless” campaign, joins host Lydia Kumar to unpack how neuroscience, emotion, and generative AI can support branding. Drawing on four decades of advertising experience, Jim explains why 90 percent of purchase decisions start in the unconscious mind, how skin-response testing saved the...

Welcome to Kinwise Conversations! In this episode, I’m honored to chat with Dr. Alison Harris Welcher, strategic leader, educator, and executive life coach, about nurturing human potential, leading with authenticity, and integrating AI thoughtfully into our work and lives. Dive into this inspiring conversation as Alison reveals: The thread of human potential that connects her journey from high-sch...

Is AI simply a productivity hack or can it supercharge genuine creativity? John “JK” Kornegay, a digital-marketing strategist by day and a sought-after event photographer by night, joins host Lydia Kumar to reveal how he lets AI handle the first 80 % of the work so his human expertise can perfect the last 20 %. From building a mini “team” of custom GPTs to forecasting a future of hyper-personalize...

Is AI a tool that can finally close the educational equity gap, or will it only widen the divide? Tanzania "Taz" Brown, an educator and curriculum designer whose work is deeply rooted in social justice, joins host Lydia Kumar for a crucial conversation about the reality of AI in our schools. Drawing from her experiences in both under-resourced public schools and elite private institutions, Taz off...

In this Kinwise Conversation, join host Lydia Kumar as she chats with Mariah Street, an inspiring estate planning attorney blending profound personal empathy with practical AI efficiency. Mariah's powerful journey from personal loss to entrepreneurship reveals how she uses tools like ChatGPT and Zoom AI to streamline her law practice, allowing her to focus on providing compassionate counsel and bu...

Welcome to Kinwise Conversations! In this episode, I'm thrilled to chat with Jen Murphy, the entrepreneurial force behind a successful Raleigh, NC wedding planning company. Jen shares her fascinating journey from a decade in social work, grappling with systematic challenges in mental health services, to finding a new path that beautifully blends her deep commitment to community and human connectio...

Dox Brown, a strategist, systems designer, and self-described 'epistemic architect,' challenges us to look beyond AI's practical uses to its fundamental impact on language, knowledge, and what it means to be human. Introducing his concept of 'hollisis,' the dynamic, embodied thinking that AI can't replicate, Dox reframes neurodiversity as an evolutionary advantage and offers a roadmap for rethinki...

Vera Cubero, Emerging Technologies Consultant for NC Public Instruction, shares how AI guidelines, project-based learning, and durable-skill portfolios can make classrooms more human, especially in rural and underserved schools. A roadmap for teachers who want safe, student-centered AI adoption.  

Systems-thinking consultant Travis Packer joins host Lydia Kumar to ask a defining question: What should AI handle, and what must remain fundamentally human? From change rituals to ethical guardrails, learn how to build organizations that thrive beside intelligent tools.

Host Lydia Kumar talks with nonprofit comms lead Celia Jones about wielding ChatGPT as a research sidekick, confidence boost, and ethics checkpoint, proving AI can deepen, not replace, human connection.

AI is evolving fast, but how do we use it with intention? In this trailer, host Lydia Kumar introduces Kinwise Conversations, a podcast about integrating AI into our lives and work with care, ethics, and creativity. Hear from real leaders navigating this space weekly starting in June. Subscribe and join us at kinwise.org .