AI Symposium to End the Preschool-to-Prison Pipeline

📅 Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025
🕘 Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM CDT
📍 Location: Virtual

Join professionals from Memphis and across the country to create innovative, ethical, and community-focused AI-driven solutions that address the preschool-to-prison pipeline, starting with Memphis as a model for the nation. Hosted by STEM4US!, this virtual symposium focuses on transparency, equity, shared responsibility, and the critical need to manage risks and build public trust in the implementation of AI within our education and justice systems.

Why This Symposium Matters?

Memphis located in Shelby County, TN — home of Collusus, the wordl’s largest super-computer built in record time is emerging as a hub for technological innovation, attracting global attention from tech leaders like Nvidia—valued at over $3 trillion in 2025. Experts see the region as a potential "Silicon Valley of America’s AI Revolution," with an estimated economic impact on the region of up to $1 trillion over the next decade, creating thousands of high-paying jobs in AI, cloud engineering, and data science.

Yet, workforce leaders are concerned about the region’s readiness, given the challenges facing young people:

  • Academic Struggles: Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) students have reading, math, and science proficiency rates of approximately 20%, 15%, and 18%, respectively, placing the district in the bottom 10% of Tennessee.

  • High Suspension and Absenteeism Rates: A 25% suspension rate among MSCS students contributes to the preschool-to-prison pipeline, while 28%+ chronic absenteeism hampers educational outcomes.

  • Juvenile Delinquency: Over 500 juvenile charges in 2023 highlight the urgent need for early intervention to prepare a future workforce for a tech-driven economy.

    🎯 Our Goal

    This symposium provides a vital forum to responsibly leverage AI to address Memphis’s challenges by:

    • Transforming Memphis into a model where AI helps parents and educators engage studens and keep them in classrooms, not courtrooms and jailhouses.

    • Elevates the call for a $100B HBCU-AI Fund to transform HBCUs into incubators for innovations to end the Preschool to Prison Pipeline.

    • Advancing policies for court transparency, school board accountability, and public safety reform.

Symposium Schedule

  • 9:00 AM – 9:10 AM: Welcoming Remarks
    David Owens, STEM4US! Chairman, opens the symposium with a vision for using AI to drive equitable change in Memphis and beyond.

  • 9:10 AM – 9:30 AM: STEM4US! Impact and Vision for AI in Education
    Talib Karim Muhammad highlights STEM4US!’s work in Memphis over the past few years, including community programs that have supported over 5,000 students through STEM education initiatives since 2020. He will also discuss the $100 Billion HBCU AI Fund, a transformative plan to build AI data centers on HBCU campuses, fostering innovation and economic growth. To support this fund, STEM4US! is launching a cryptocurrency initiative, enabling HBCUs to generate sustainable revenue through digital asset sales, ensuring long-term financial stability for AI-driven education reforms.

  • 9:30 AM – 9:40 AM: Opening Remarks: Shelby County’s Role in AI-Driven Reform
    Harold Collins, Chief Administrative Officer of Shelby County, shares insights on local governance and AI’s potential to transform education and justice systems.

  • 9:40 AM – 10:05 AM: Panel 1: Reenvisioning Education Models with AI
    Explore AI-enhanced schooling, focusing on student discipline, family support, transparency in leadership, and moral values-based learning, featuring local and national experts, and a live Q&A with panelists.
    Confirmed Panelists:

  • Isaiah Harrison, Tech & Investment Coach

  • Marion C. Williams, Tech, Cloud Engineering Professional

    10:05 AM – 10:10 AM: Break with a short video on AI’s impact in education.

  • 10:10 AM – 10:35 AM: Panel 2: Justice Reform & Oversight in Courts and Schools
    Discuss policy reform proposals, including new state oversight of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, family court restructuring, and balancing discipline with fairness, with insights from Memphis and national leaders, and a live Q&A with panelists.

    10:35 AM – 10:40 AM: Break with a short video on justice reform success stories.

  • 10:40 AM – 11:05 AM: Panel 3: Healthcare, Economic, and Workplace Impacts of the Pipeline
    Analyze the costs of failing students, including increased emergency room visits, strained mental health infrastructure, employer challenges in maintaining safe workplaces for workers and customers, and recruiting honest employees, and explore how AI-driven prevention can mitigate these burdens, featuring a live Q&A with panelists.

    11:05 AM – 11:10 AM: Break with a short video on AI-driven community solutions.

  • 11:10 AM – 11:35 AM: Panel 4: What a Successful Student Home and Support Network Looks Like
    Examine the elements of a supportive home environment, including two-parent family dynamics, healthy sleeping habits, consistent homework completion, participation in sports, parent volunteering at school, and engagement with a faith community, to foster student success and reduce pipeline risks, and a live Q&A with panelists.

    11:35 AM – 11:40 AM: Break with a short video on family support strategies.

  • 11:40 AM – 12:00 PM: Closing Plenary: Memphis as a National Model
    Engage in a Q&A with all speakers, discuss next steps for the Fall 2025 symposium, build a coalition for nationwide change, and learn how to support STEM4US! in advancing AI initiatives in Memphis and beyond.

💼 Sponsor Registration – $500+

  • $500 Bronze: Name listing, social media shoutout

  • $1,000 Silver: Logo placement on website + program listing

  • $2,500 Gold: Verbal recognition during event + logo + social mentions

  • $5,000 Platinum: Premium logo placement + invitation to speak or introduce a session

  • $10,000 Visionary: Headline branding across platforms + featured remarks in Closing Plenary

    How it works: Click “Sponsor” and enter any amount of $500 or more.

Speaker Registration – $50

  • The opportunity to speak on a panel or during the closing plenary

  • Promotion as a featured speaker on the event website and program

  • Admission for one guest

This is your chance to elevate your voice in front of parents, educators, policymakers, and tech leaders working to reimagine education and justice through AI.

🎓 Students & Guests – Free Admission

  • Mentorship Opportunities: Engage with leaders in AI, education, and policy.

  • Networking: Connect with peers, professionals, and potential mentors.

  • Come be part of the conversation and grow your network in a welcoming, knowledge-rich environment.