Kayla Life isn’t worried about artificial intelligence taking her job.
“The first thing I would say is embrace the terror,” she said of AI. “Put your hands on it. Figure out what’s happening right inside of your own community. Figure out how you can use AI to impact it.”
Life, an Atlanta-based nonprofit founder and entrepreneur, has done just that as she advocates for tech education and nonprofits with an eye on building her own company.
After graduating from Spelman College in 2015, where she studied education and computer science, she moved to New York and began teaching. Somewhere along the way, she realized her students lacked basic tech skills.
“I ran to the principal (and said), ‘We have a problem. There’s no way we are going to … bring them to college preparatory high schools if they can’t send an email,’” she said.
Her solution was to create a technology curriculum, implemented in 2017.
“I looked at my fifth graders, and I said, ‘Hey, this is my first time teaching tech. This is your first time learning tech. We’re going to do this together,’” Life added.
It worked. Students started learning programming languages and earning coding certifications. In fact, the curriculum was so well-received, Life started training personnel at the district level.
But she felt called to something greater. And she wanted to move back to Atlanta.
Life began her next chapter in 2020 by founding RebrandLand AI, which started out as a consulting and brand strategy firm, and has also developed AI-based tools for nonprofits.
RebrandLand operates alongside Life’s nonprofit, the Rebrand Institute of Tech Equity.
The goal: close the digital divide via education and apprenticeship programs in fields like graphic design, digital marketing and IT project management. There are more than 3 million IT pros in the U.S., according to a Microsoft blog post encouraging people to give thanks on National IT Professionals Day, which falls on Sept. 16 this year.
RITE generates funding from grants, sponsorships, services and donations, according to Life.
“We have this crazy idea that anyone can innovate,” she said. “You don’t need a fancy degree, you don’t need some special title, you just need a chair and a chance.”
Life plans to open another nonprofit in Maryland next year, where she has found grant funding and a space for her envisioned Rebrand Community Innovation Center to offer tech literacy and apprenticeship programs.
“I’ve seen firsthand how many people are left out of technology spaces that could transform their lives,” Life said. “I’ve worked with seniors who needed extra patience as they navigated the digital world for the first time and with formerly incarcerated individuals who were rebuilding their lives but lacked the tools to access opportunities online.”
Life is working to raise funding for RebrandLand AI. The company is not yet profitable. And she’s balancing work with raising her 21-month-old son.
“I’ve got to make sure that when he grows up, he has a choice in what he wants to do,” she said. “That is my goal — for my son to have every option available to him.”
Her advice for women in the workplace is this: Confidence is key.
“Confidence and relationships are what’s gotten me to where I am today,” she said.
“If you know that you are the best at what you do, it doesn’t matter who sits in front of you. You know that you can make this thing happen. And if they don’t want it,” she said, “Sit in front of somebody that does.”
AJC Her+Story is a new series in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighting women founders, creators, executives and professionals. It is about building a community. Know someone the AJC should feature in AJC Her+Story? Email us at herstory@ajc.com with your suggestions. Check out all of our AJC Her+Story coverage at ajc.com/herstory.
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