Meet the AI4ALL Team: Tiffany Shumate, Director of University Partnerships

  • AI4ALL News
Meet the AI4ALL Team: Tiffany Shumate, Director of University Partnerships

We’re excited to introduce you to the newest member of our team, Tiffany Shumate. As Director of University Partnerships, she will do critical work to build university partnerships that allow us to support the diverse future AI leaders at our summer camps for underrepresented high schoolers. This summer, we’re increasing our impact by running 6 camps at universities including Stanford University, Princeton University, UC Berkeley, Boston University, Simon Fraser University, and Carnegie Mellon University. We look forward to expanding to additional universities and new areas next summer.

Tiffany’s career has centered around equity and access to high-quality education from the start. As a special education teacher in DC, she crafted curriculum modifications designed to better support special needs students. While working as Assistant Director of Admissions, Access & Equity Coordinator at Bryn Mawr College, she built multicultural recruitment processes and improved outreach efficiency through carefully curated partnerships. As Regional Director at Black Girls CODE, she focused on bringing girls of color into tech through education and partnerships. Her strong belief in creating equitable, high quality learning spaces through partnerships, her perspective on diversity and inclusion in tech, and her deep experience in creating accessible and inclusive education experiences all make her an incredible asset to AI4ALL.

Below, learn more about what drew Tiffany to join AI4ALL, who her role models are, and how she spends her time in Oakland, CA.


What motivated you to join AI4ALL?

Going to this idea of equity and developing partnerships so we can give students access to nontraditional learning spaces like AI4ALL, I came to it thinking about how we can bridge business, education, and technology to support under-resourced students.

I worked at a public school in East Oakland [California] and we didn’t have money for basic necessities, like copy paper or ink. I would always ask the question, “Why are we essentially in the Silicon Valley but we have this inequity? This isn’t fair.” This concern brought me into a conversation within the tech community about diversity and access for different under-resourced communities.

My work at Black Girls CODE was the culmination of business, education, technology. I saw it as an opportunity to bring black women into the forefront. I was also thinking about how we can widen the spectrum. Yes, black women are underrepresented in this field, but there are other communities that are underrepresented as well. While researching these questions I stumbled upon AI4ALL, and thought, “Yes!” I think it’s not only mission-aligned but also [the role would let me] do work that I love.

I love building partnerships, and I think that the university structure can be a place for change when utilized properly.

What are some of the bigger issues you see in this space regarding getting underrepresented people into AI?

There’s the buzz out there, it’s a popular word, but I didn’t understand the impact until I started to dive deeper in my own research. I’m not sure if underrepresented communities know how impactful AI is going to be for everyone’s future. I think that education — knowing what’s out there, how it impacts you, and what you can do to be a part of it — is a big issue.

Who were your role models growing up? Do you have any role models now?

My role models growing up were local women and women in my family. I didn’t know this as a kid, but I feel like the universe was prepping me to be a feminist. Two role models that I can think of distinctly growing up are my mom and my aunt. My mom, because she was diagnosed with schizophrenia before I was born. She didn’t let that diagnosis hold her back. To see the energy and passion she had about life was inspiring. Her younger sister, my aunt, who raised me, had a 6th-grade education. She raised me to have a love of education, a love of reading, and ignited my passion for curiosity and travel. What little she had, she poured it all into me. To be someone now who graduated from college, working at an organization like AI4ALL, and the path that I’ve taken, I always think back to those roots and think back to what my mom and my aunt gave me.

I read Shonda Rhimes’ A Year of Yes and that book changed my life. Beyond just being a great writer, she was authentic in sharing her struggles and using them to talk about how they spurred her into becoming the woman she is today. Any of the mess-ups or mishaps I have, instead of sweeping them under the rug, I keep them as part of who I am and part of my development because in the future they’re going to be worth something. I got that from Shonda.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Oakland?

I love to walk around Oakland. Some Saturdays I spend just walking, which is a lot of fun. There are great hiking trails here that I feel are hidden gems. Oakland is just so rich and full of things to do. I went to an event where the proceeds go to founders of color in Oakland. We were printing shirts — creating designs and printing them on shirts. It was a community event, and I love that aspect of Oakland. Anything that deals with community, I’m there.


About Tiffany

Tiffany Shumate is the Director of University Partnerships at AI4ALL. She defines herself as an educator dedicated to equitable opportunities for all students. Her early work in social policy research and teaching in public charter schools in Washington, DC ignited her passion for college access. This drove her transition to Admissions at Bryn Mawr College, her alma mater, as Assistant Director and Coordinator for Access and Equity. While at Bryn Mawr, Tiffany established partnerships with peer institutions and national organizations that led to increased enrollment and retention of underrepresented students.

Before joining AI4ALL, Tiffany served as Regional Director at Black Girls CODE, where she led program and partnership development in seven regions, including Johannesburg, South Africa. Her interest in leveraging business and technology to establish public-private partnerships grew out of the financial challenges she witnessed working in underresourced school districts as a Campus Director in East Oakland and Academic Affairs Director for College Track in East Palo Alto, CA. She currently sits on the Board for Camp Common Ground, a Bay Area leadership camp committed to building community between racially and economically diverse students. Tiffany is excited to bring her passions for partnership development and creating equitable learning spaces to AI4ALL.

The 2025 AI4ALL Ignite Program Application is Now Open. Apply Now!