MakeChange.AI · Stewardship Academy

The training arm of MakeChange.AI.

We hold the contracts, set the standard, and train the practitioners who deploy human-first AI in the field. Twelve modules, fifty-plus lessons, and a capstone defended before our faculty.

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How the Academy Fits

A company-led training practice — not a conference circuit.

The Academy exists because clients hire MakeChange.AI for outcomes. Cohorts are the way we scale the standard without diluting it.

MakeChange contracts the work

Our consulting practice signs the engagement, scopes the deployment, and owns the outcome with the client.

We present and we train

Faculty led by our founder and senior practitioners run every cohort, keynote, and certification defense.

The Academy is the platform for others to grow

Stewards we train deliver inside their own churches, schools, nonprofits, and businesses — under our standard, with our playbooks.

Programs

Four pathways. One operating standard.

Choose by role and readiness — every program runs on the drafts / verify / decide spine MakeChange.AI uses on every engagement.

8 weeksApplication only

Executive Leadership Cohort

For: CEOs, executive pastors, heads of school, EDs

Senior leaders deciding strategy, governance, and how AI shows up in front of the people they serve.

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4 weeksTeam pricing

Staff Implementation Bootcamp

For: Ops, program, comms, dev teams

Operations and program staff who will actually deploy and verify AI roles in daily workflows.

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Self-pacedMember access

AI Literacy for Mission Teams

For: Pastors, teachers, board members

A foundational course for pastors, educators, and community leaders new to AI.

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12 weeksCapstone required

Certified AI Steward Program

For: Practitioners, consultants, fellows

Our flagship practitioner certification — capstone implementation inside a real organization, reviewed by MakeChange faculty.

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Course Catalog

12 modules. 50+ lessons. One certified practitioner.

Live cohorts meet weekly with MakeChange faculty; foundation modules run self-paced between sessions. Every module ships with lesson previews, labs, and a graded artifact.

Weeks 1–4

Phase: Foundation

4 Modules · 16 Lessons

Ethics & Principles of Human-First AI

A working ethic for deploying AI in front of high-trust audiences.

Lesson Preview

1.1 The dignity test: when AI helps vs. when it diminishes
1.2 Mapping reputational, doctrinal, and equity risk
1.3 Authoring your organization's AI principles statement
1.4 Case review: three deployments that went sideways

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AI Literacy from First Principles

What LLMs actually do, where they fail, and how to talk about them without jargon.

Lesson Preview

2.1 Tokens, context windows, and why responses drift
2.2 Hallucination patterns and source-linked output
2.3 Choosing models: capability vs. cost vs. control
2.4 Plain-language briefings for boards and elders

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High-Trust Risk Frameworks

Reputation, doctrine, equity, privacy, and people-impact taught as a single lens.

Lesson Preview

3.1 The five-risk matrix walk-through
3.2 Privacy floors: PII, FERPA, HIPAA-adjacent data
3.3 Approval thresholds and who signs what
3.4 Drafting your refusal patterns

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The Drafts / Verify / Decide Protocol

The operating spine of every certified steward's practice.

Lesson Preview

4.1 Why AI drafts, humans verify, leaders decide
4.2 Designing verification checklists per workflow
4.3 Logging decisions for audit and learning
4.4 Lab: run the protocol on a real task this week

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Weeks 5–9

Phase: Practice

5 Modules · 20 Lessons

Prompt Engineering for High-Trust Voice

Voice fingerprints, brand alignment, refusal patterns, and tone control.

Lesson Preview

5.1 Building your organization's voice fingerprint
5.2 System prompts vs. task prompts
5.3 Refusal and escalation templates
5.4 Lab: ship a voice-locked weekly email

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Role Design & Guardrails

Turning a workflow into an AI staff role with a clear job description and review cadence.

Lesson Preview

6.1 From task list to staff role JD
6.2 Guardrails, scope creep, and stop-conditions
6.3 Onboarding documents your AI staff actually need
6.4 Lab: deploy your first AI staff role

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Workflow Mapping & Automation

End-to-end mapping, identifying human checkpoints, and compressing cycle time.

Lesson Preview

7.1 Mapping the current state without lying to yourself
7.2 Choosing automation vs. augmentation
7.3 Wiring tools: email, CRM, docs, calendar
7.4 Measuring cycle time before and after

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Data, Privacy & Compliance

PII handling, source-linked output discipline, what never leaves the building.

Lesson Preview

8.1 A practical data inventory for small teams
8.2 Vendor review and data-processing terms
8.3 Source-linked output as a compliance asset
8.4 Incident response: what to do in the first hour

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Governance, Policy & Human Review

Authoring usable AI policy your board, elders, or commissioners can actually approve.

Lesson Preview

9.1 The one-page policy your board will sign
9.2 Review boards, cadence, and escalation
9.3 Training your team on the new policy
9.4 Lab: present the policy for adoption

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Weeks 10–12

Phase: Capstone

3 Modules · 12 Lessons

Implementation Lab

Deploying three to five roles into a real organization, measured on hours saved and people served.

Lesson Preview

10.1 Selecting the right capstone host
10.2 Scoping the deployment in one page
10.3 Running the install: week-by-week plan
10.4 Faculty office hours and rescue protocols

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Measurement & Reporting

Leadership-ready dashboards and outcome briefs that survive audit.

Lesson Preview

11.1 Choosing two metrics that matter
11.2 Building the monthly outcome brief
11.3 Telling the story without overclaiming
11.4 Lab: deliver the brief to your sponsor

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Capstone Defense & Certification

Present your implementation, defend your guardrails, and earn the Certified AI Steward credential.

Lesson Preview

12.1 Building your capstone defense deck
12.2 The faculty review rubric, demystified
12.3 Live defense and Q&A
12.4 Credential issuance and alumni pathway

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Take the full curriculum with you.

Download curriculum PDF View cohort calendar

By the End of the Program

What you will be able to do on the job.

Author a high-trust AI policy your board or elders will sign

Design and deploy at least three AI staff roles with documented guardrails

Run the drafts/verify/decide protocol as daily operating discipline

Map a real workflow end-to-end and compress its cycle time

Produce leadership-ready outcome briefs with source-linked metrics

Pass a capstone defense in front of MakeChange practitioner faculty

Format

How the Academy runs.

Live weekly cohorts

90-minute sessions on a fixed weekday evening, recorded for cohort access.

Implementation labs

Hands-on labs built inside your own organization — not a sandbox.

Human-review protocol

Every assignment ships with the drafts / verify / decide spine built in.

Cohort + community

Persistent cohort channel plus access to the Make Change Network.

Enrollment · Waitlist

Reserve your seat in the next Stewardship cohort.

Cohorts are small by design. Tell us who you serve, which program fits, and when you want to start. A MakeChange.AI faculty member will follow up within one business week with the application packet and cohort dates.

Priority access to upcoming cohort dates
Faculty review of your readiness and role fit
Optional team / partner-org pricing on request
Direct line to our admissions team — no marketing funnel