Building Toward Equitable AI Implementation In K-12 Schools: Hendy’s Partnership with AI for Equity

By Hendy Avenue Consulting

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to enhance educator efficacy, efficiency, and sustainability. It also has the potential to exacerbate educational inequity if school systems serving under-resourced communities don’t have the support, training, and planning necessary to benefit from this technological advancement. This dual reality, AI as both opportunity and risk, is exactly why Hendy Avenue Consulting partnered with Aaron Cuny, founder of AI for Equity, in 2023.

Over the past three years, this partnership has been an incredible opportunity to collaborate with a visionary thought leader (hey, Aaron!), work alongside motivated educators pushing the envelope on what teaching and learning look like in the age of AI, and continue honing our skills as advisors in the education space.

The Genesis: Why This Partnership Matters

When Aaron Cuny founded AI for Equity, he understood something crucial: the AI revolution in education would either narrow opportunity gaps or widen them dramatically. There would be no neutral middle ground.

School systems with resources, technical expertise, and planning capacity would adopt AI tools strategically. Systems already under-resourced would fall further behind, unless early adopters intentionally built the infrastructure, knowledge, and support structures to level the playing field.

That mission aligned perfectly with Hendy Avenue’s commitment to creating equitable opportunities for all students. Our expertise in implementation, change management, and building educator capacity made us natural partners for AI for Equity’s vision.

The result? A three-year collaboration (and still going strong) that has touched hundreds of educators, developed critical frameworks and resources, and influenced how school systems approach AI implementation with equity at the center.

The Work: From Communities of Practice to AI Literacy Standards

Years 1-2: Building the Foundation 

AI for Equity Communities of Practice

We began by co-facilitating Communities of Practice where education leaders learned about AI, grappled with its implications, and supported each other through the uncertainty of this rapidly evolving landscape.

These weren’t typical professional development sessions. They were spaces for honest conversation and collective sense-making. Leaders asked hard questions: How do we approach AI when we barely understand it ourselves? How do we ensure equity when these tools are built by companies that don’t understand our communities? How do we balance innovation with protecting students?

Resource Hub Development

Recognizing that scattered information was a barrier to thoughtful implementation, we built comprehensive resource hubs:

• AI Literacy Curriculum Hub: Vetted curriculum resources, lesson plans, and implementation guides
• Talent Resources Hub: Tools and frameworks for how AI affects recruitment, development, evaluation, and retention of educators

These weren’t just link collections. They were curated, contextualized resources designed specifically for K-12 realities.

AI Product Reviews

We systematically reviewed AI products and platforms, helping school systems cut through vendor hype to assess: Does this tool actually work? What are the equity implications? What implementation support is needed? What are the privacy concerns? Our reviews helped systems make informed decisions rather than reactive purchases.

Year 3 and Beyond:

AI Explorers Cohorts

Aaron’s priority has always been bringing intentionality to how he creates space for education leaders to wrestle with AI adoption and literacy. After reflecting on the impact of AI for Equity’s Communities of Practice, Aaron launched the AI Explorers Cohorts, accelerated communities of practice aimed at bringing newly interested schools and systems up to speed.

Hendy’s Rachel Modica-Russell facilitated two AI Explorers cohorts in 2024-2025, reaching over 15 additional school systems nationwide.

AI Literacy Framework Development

As the partnership matured, we moved from general AI awareness to building specific literacy frameworks. Anchored in the OECD AI Literacy Framework, we defined what AI literacy actually means for K-12 students across three domains:

• Creating with AI: Collaborating ethically with AI systems in creative and problem-solving processes
• Managing AI: Intentionally choosing how AI supports and enhances human work
• Designing AI: Understanding how AI works and its social and ethical impacts

This wasn’t theoretical work. It was grounded in what students would actually need to thrive in an AI-saturated world.

AI Literacy Collective 

Over the last year, Erica Murphy has spent much of her time contributing to the AI Literacy Collective – an ecosystem of partner play, bringing together organizations like TNTP, Leading Educators, Teaching Lab, Bellwether, Student Achievement Partners, and others (including Hendy!) to collaboratively develop and disseminate a framework to use when integrating AI literacy into core content instruction.  

What Makes This Partnership Work

Reflecting on three years of collaboration and heading into year four, several factors have made this partnership fruitful:

Complementary Expertise Aaron brings visionary thinking about AI’s trajectory and deep connections to tech and policy worlds, along with extensive experience as a leader in the K12 space. Hendy brings implementation expertise, change management frameworks, and intimate knowledge of how school systems operate at scale. Together, we bridge the gap between possibility and practice.

Shared Values Both organizations are anchored in a commitment to equity. This shapes every decision we make about which tools to recommend, how to structure learning experiences, and which schools to prioritize for support.

Learning Orientation Neither organization pretends to have all the answers. AI is evolving too rapidly for that. Instead, we approach the work with curiosity, humility, and willingness to learn alongside the educators we serve. When we discover we were wrong about something, we adjust quickly.

Why This Partnership Matters for Hendy

Beyond the direct impact on school systems, this partnership has shaped Hendy Avenue Consulting in important ways.

It has kept us on the cutting edge of a rapidly evolving landscape, ensuring our consulting work stays relevant and forward-looking. It has connected us to innovative educators and thought leaders across the country, expanding our network and learning. It has challenged us to think differently about implementation. AI requires different change management approaches than traditional initiatives.

Most importantly, it has reinforced our belief that the future of education depends on thoughtful, equity-centered partnerships between organizations that bring different expertise to the table.

An Invitation to Join the Work

If you’re an education leader grappling with AI implementation, you don’t have to figure it out alone. AI for Equity has built the infrastructure, frameworks, and community to support thoughtful, equity-centered AI adoption.

Learn more about AI for Equity by visiting their website:,https://ai-for-equity.org/ , or reach out to Hendy Avenue Consulting to explore how we can support your system’s AI journey.