Week One: Describe your Leadership-in-Action project: where will it take place, and what community will you be joining? Does the work you do this summer connect with your research last summer, and if so how? If your work this summer feels entirely different, how and why did you decide to pursue this project? Include a photograph of your room, the route you take to work, or the view from a window in your living quarters. Explain the photo (even if briefly!).
I'm writing from St. Lucia — a country in the Caribbean — where I've joined the small but ambitious tech community. My work here spans teaching the national robotics team, running small classes for children with special needs, and helping develop the local tech industry more broadly.
This connects directly to my research last year, as I'm teaching the use of AI in everyday workflows, and it sits within the same field of computer science. It's always amazing to see tech actually deployed, and I'm glad I can both teach and apply my expertise on the ground. I wanted to pursue this project because I've been curious about how tech is applied around the world, and I wanted to help encourage children and adults alike to get into design and innovation, especially in developing countries. This seems to be a sentiment shared by many of my colleagues here, who hope to bring St. Lucia to the forefront of global tech.
St. Lucia is absolutely beautiful (heard from my coworkers that it is called the Helen of the west). Attached are photos from my balcony and from my walk back from work. The sunsets are remarkably quick, and the rain comes and goes with little warning. I'm hoping to explore more of the island as time goes on.
Also attached is a photo from a class I ran with the special needs school, where we got to let the kids play with robots and 3D printers. (sorry my photography is not great will get better photos soon!)