UCLA Awarded $300,000 State Grant to Launch Public Interest Technology Pathways
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UCLA Awarded $300,000 State Grant to Launch Public Interest Technology Pathways
New initiative will expand access to public interest technology education through a UCLA Extension certificate, proposed undergraduate minor, and future transfer pathways from California community colleges
LOS ANGELES — UCLA DataX and the UCLA Center on Resilience & Digital Justice (CRDJ) have been awarded a two-year, $300,000 grant from the California Education Learning Lab (Learning Lab) to launch Public Interest Technology Pathways (PIT-P), a project that will expand access to public interest technology education and prepare students to address society’s most pressing challenges through data, artificial intelligence, and public-interest approaches to technology.
Led by Principal Investigator Dr. Safiya U. Noble, PIT-P was selected as part of Learning Lab’s Building California’s Resilient Workforce initiative. The Resilient Workforce initiative makes targeted investments to expand pathways in high-demand or burgeoning fields, including through stackable, short-term credentials and industry recognized certificates.
“Learning Lab is excited to support this important work by UCLA DataX and the Center on Resilience & Digital Justice, creating flexible and accessible opportunities for learning and credentialing in Public Interest Technology,” said Lark Park, director of the California Education Learning Lab. “This effort promises to greatly expand the number of learners equipped to meet the growing demand for professionals who can help ensure emerging technologies are deployed responsibly and in ways that serve the public good.”
Public Interest Technology is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines technical knowledge with ethics, policy, governance, equity, and public impact. Through developing new educational pathways for UCLA students, transfer learners, and working professionals, UCLA PIT-P will provide multiple entry points to prepare learners to understand how technologies influence communities and institutions while developing the skills needed to create more accountable and equitable technological systems.
“Who gets to shape the future of technology and data in society matters,” said Noble. “Too often, the people and communities most affected by technological systems have been excluded from the conversations that determine how those systems are built and governed. PIT-P is about broadening participation and preparing learners to engage AI and data systems with both technical expertise and an understanding of their social and ethical implications.”
The program builds on several years of curriculum development at UCLA, including the Data, Justice, and Society cluster courses, which have introduced more than 600 first-year students to critical perspectives on data, technology, and society.
Over the next two years, PIT-P will focus on three interconnected pathways:
• Development of a stackable UCLA Extension certificate in Public Interest Technology for working professionals and adult learners
• Creation of a new undergraduate minor in Data in Society, open to students across all disciplines
• Expansion of access through General Education offerings and academic roadmaps that support future transfer pathways from California community colleges
• Creation and dissemination of OER (open education resource) to expand public interest technology fundamentals/education to the public
PIT-P aligns with Learning Lab’s mission to improve learning outcomes and reduce equity gaps in public higher education by lowering barriers to participation for students historically excluded from technology education. It is expected to serve approximately 300 UCLA students and 50 working professionals during its initial implementation period while laying the groundwork for broader participation through future transfer pathways and community partnerships.
The project will engage advisory partners from healthcare, workforce development, and public-serving organizations to ensure that curriculum and learning outcomes align with emerging workforce needs. Dr. Safiya U. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, Faculty Director of UCLA DataX and the UCLA Center on Resilience & Digital Justice.
About UCLA DataX
UCLA DataX is a faculty hiring and research initiative that serves as UCLA's campuswide hub for data-centric research and collaboration. Bringing together faculty, students, and partners from across disciplines, DataX works at the intersection of data science, AI, creativity, public interest technology, governance, and data justice. Through research, courses, lectures, events, and collaborative programs, DataX supports interdisciplinary discovery while helping to ensure that data and technology serve the public good.
About the UCLA Center on Resilience & Digital Justice
The UCLA Center on Resilience & Digital Justice, led by Founder and Faculty Director Dr. Safiya U. Noble, is a research center that focuses on deep and lasting public impact that foregrounds accountability and repair from extant and emerging digital and AI harms.
About the California Education Learning Lab
The California Education Learning Lab is a State of California-funded program and is administered in partnership with the Foundation for California Community Colleges. Learning Lab’s mission is to improve learning and close equity gaps for students attending the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California campuses through strategic grantmaking that incentivizes teaching and learning innovation and streamlines pathways, in addition to convening higher education partners.
