AI Vanguardest. 2024
The 2026 Vanguard Open winners are inMeet the winners →
Representing students at
CypressTroyDowneyGretchen WhitneyOxford AcademyGahrCerritosBeckmanCypressTroyDowneyGretchen WhitneyOxford AcademyGahrCerritosBeckman
01On mission

“AI is already changing how young people learn — and the decisions being made right now will shape the next decade of education. Those decisions are being made without us. We exist to change that.”

— AI Vanguard · Mission statement
A classroom in session — students at desks, teacher presenting at the whiteboard.

The room where AI policy gets decided — and the students whose learning it defines.

Fig. 01 · A classroom in Southern California
What we do

Three programs.
One loop from student voice to governance.

See all our work →
Close-up of the AI Vanguard Policy Survey response spreadsheet, rows of student answers on AI use.
Program 01 / 03
01

Student voice research

Find out what students actually think.

Surveys, focus groups, and a preregistered public-records study that turn student experience with AI into evidence districts can act on.

  • —2025 policy survey: 447 students across six campuses
  • —A companion teacher pilot and rep-led field studies
  • —A preregistered study of student influence in the twelve largest U.S. districts
Students holding yes and no signs during an AI Vanguard policy session in a school library.
Program 02 / 03
02

AI governance

Bring that evidence into institutional decision-making.

Working inside district processes rather than outside them: roundtables, proposals, and standing student input on how AI tools and guidance get decided.

  • —District AI roundtables and educator presentations in ABC Unified
  • —The Student AI Pulse pilot proposal to Los Angeles County districts
  • —A proposed standing student AI body, under district review
Students gathered beneath the Student Senate on AI Policy final-vote board showing 83 to 15.
Program 03 / 03
03

Student leadership

Create structures that keep students involved over time.

A network of campus representatives and State Directors, so student participation outlasts any single meeting, semester, or student.

  • —Fourteen representatives across eight campuses
  • —State Directors in six states
  • —The Vanguard Open, a national student competition
How it works

A repeatable loop,
not a one-off club.

The system that turns student experience into evidence, and evidence into policy conversations.

  1. 01

    Listen

    Student reps run surveys, interviews, and focus groups on their campuses.

  2. 02

    Synthesize

    Findings are compiled into briefs school leaders and districts can actually use.

  3. 03

    Advocate

    We meet with schools, districts, and local events to turn evidence into policy.

  4. 04

    Sustain

    The representative network keeps the loop open — student voice, year over year.

Leadership

Run by students —
not for them.

A fifteen-person cabinet of student leaders, steering research, operations, outreach, and national expansion.

Meet the team →
Avery Updike, Founder & President
Avery Updike
Founder & President
Aadhitya Narayanan, Vice President
Aadhitya Narayanan
Vice President
Timothy Yang, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer
Timothy Yang
Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer
Parisa Mabrooka, Chief of Staff
Parisa Mabrooka
Chief of Staff
Makaela Wei, Secretary
Makaela Wei
Secretary
Impact · At a glance

Real schools.
Real reach.

Still early — and already in rooms across six states. The numbers reflect where we are today, not where we're stopping.

447
Students surveyed
First AI policy study, 2025
8
Campuses with representatives
Southern California
6
States with student leadership
CA · MI · TE · CO · NE · MI
12
Largest U.S. districts under study
Preregistered · led by our founder
The ask

Your school's next AI policy should have students in the room.

Join the next cohort of student representatives — or bring AI Vanguard to your school or district.

Four students gathered around a tablet, working together.
Fig. 02 · The next cohort