Automattic has backed a new open-source education initiative at the University of Illinois Chicago, supporting the launch of a workforce-oriented AI literacy program.Â
The funding will help power the UIC Tech Solutions Open Source Fund and its first offering, AI Leaders. The hands-on course provides training in generative AI, offers participants a WordPress micro-credential, includes paid training, and connects students to jobs that require practical AI skills.
The University of Illinois Chicago will manage the curriculum, student enrollment, and cohort operations, with oversight from the WordPress Foundation.
Initiative Structure
The course will begin online in March, with access to in-person workspaces at partner campuses, including the University of Illinois Chicago, Louisiana Tech University, and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
For the first intake, there will be 80 students from Illinois and Louisiana, and they will be given an orientation that will cover generative AI tools and literacy, following which 40 students will progress forward and earn the credential as highlighted, “ From there, 40 are selected for a class that leads to the AI Leader WordPress Micro-Credential and an opportunity to secure a living-wage job.”
The students who complete the course will also receive $1,000. Blake Bertuccelli-Booth, UIC’s assistant director of web accessibility engineering, will oversee the fund and teach the AI Leaders course.
Program Goals
Bertuccelli-Booth said the fund will focus on projects that deliver outcomes for both UIC and the wider community, “ Every project we fund must have measurable value for the UIC community, as well as open and reusable resources the public can adopt, improve and scale.”
Mary Hubbard, executive director of WordPress, said the initiative furthers the platform’s goal of broadening access to online publishing and engagement, while also bringing that focus into AI literacy.
“WordPress was built to expand access to publishing and participation on the open web,” said Mary Hubbard. “With support from Automattic and UIC, this work extends the WordPress project’s mission into AI literacy, bringing together open-source tools, curriculum and hands-on training that students and institutions can adopt, improve and scale.”
The AI Leaders program is designed as a workforce-first course, focusing on hands-on training rather than traditional classroom instruction or a bootcamp model, “ AI Leaders is not a traditional academic course and not a bootcamp. It’s a workforce-first program that teaches AI literacy through execution.”
Automattic said the program is designed to connect academic institutions, AI training, and the open-source community, “ This initiative brings together academia, AI, and the open source community by design.”