Key points:
- Champions of Change, in partnership with Women’s Leadership Institute Australia (WLIA), has launched the Inclusive AI Pledge — a leadership commitment to harness the power of AI to intentionally create a fairer future for everyone.
- The initiative includes the Inclusive AI Prompt, a practical tool to help leaders and teams use AI in ways that strengthen gender equality, respect, safety and inclusion and reduce the historical bias that is currently built into AI.
- Champions of Change invite all people to take the Inclusive AI Pledge and start using the Inclusive AI Prompt in their everyday work, creating a global movement to embed inclusive AI into governance, standards, systems and decision-making across their organisations.
Champions of Change, in partnership with Women’s Leadership Institute Australia (WLIA), has launched the Inclusive AI Pledge — a call to action to ensure AI is designed and used in ways that strengthen equality, respect, safety and inclusion.
It is one of the first initiatives of its kind globally, inviting leaders at all levels to actively harness the power of AI to build equality and inclusion into the future.
The Inclusive AI Pledge invites people to:
- Lead the way: Role model responsible and inclusive AI use, and champion equal and fair access to AI tools, learning and capability development.
- Take practical actions to embed equality and inclusion into how people use and implement AI.
- Accelerate change: Encourage others to adopt the Inclusive AI Pledge, and share examples, insights, and success stories to build capability and accelerate wide-spread adoption of Inclusive AI.
The initiative recognises that without clear direction, AI can reinforce outdated norms, bias and inequality. With leadership, it can help unlock better decisions, stronger outcomes and more inclusive opportunities across organisations and communities.
Alongside the Inclusive AI Pledge, Champions of Change has released the Inclusive AI Prompt — a simple, practical tool to support leaders and teams to apply inclusive thinking when using AI in everyday work, from communication and decision-making to product and system design.
The Inclusive AI Prompt draws on the Champions of Change 7 Switches for Inclusive Gender Equality by Design, a practical, research-informed framework based on more than 100 tests and checks and over 15 years of real-world experience across the Champions of Change membership. It also incorporates the Gender Compass messaging guide developed by Plan International Australia and its partners, which supports clear, inclusive communication grounded in shared values and broad audience engagement.
The Champions of Change website also features a growing library of practical examples demonstrating how the Inclusive AI Prompt can be applied, from procurement and policy design to product development, communications and system design. This will help leaders and teams translate inclusive intent into practical action.
Comments:
Elizabeth Broderick AO, Founder and Convenor, Champions of Change Coalition
“AI will influence how opportunities are created, how decisions are made, and whose voices are heard. Leaders can shape a future where the benefits of AI are shared more broadly, and where people of all genders are visible, valued and able to contribute.Our vision for Inclusive AI is that equality and inclusion are intentionally built into how AI is developed, accessed and used, shaping a fairer future for all.”
Carol Schwartz AO, Chair and Founder, Women’s Leadership Institute Australia
“Where power concentrates, women must be present. AI is becoming one of the most powerful systems shaping our world. Yet unchecked, its outputs reinforce the gender imbalances we’ve spent decades trying to fix. The Inclusive AI Pledge gives leaders and teams an easy, repeatable way to change that, ensuring AI strengthens, rather than undermines, the future we’re building.”
Andrew Stevens, Chair Champions of Change Coalition and Non-Executive Director
“This is the kind of action Champions of Change has always led. We bring leaders together to step into complex issues early and embed practical change where it matters. AI is no different. The Inclusive AI Pledge and Prompt reflect our focus on shaping systems upfront, so better outcomes are built in from the start.”
Kristen Hilton, Convenor, Champions of Change National, STEM and Health, Insurance and Fire and Emergency Groups and Non-Executive Director
“Leaders are working through how AI is embedded into organisational systems and decision-making. The choices made now will set the standard for how these technologies are governed and used across sectors. The Inclusive AI Pledge and Prompt help set those expectations early, so inclusion and fairness are built into how AI is designed and overseen.”
James Fazzino, Convenor, Champions of Change Energy and National Groups and Non-Executive Director
“AI is rapidly becoming part of the systems that shape our economy, our workplaces and our society. If we get this right, we can lift productivity, sustainability and inclusion at scale. If we don’t, we risk embedding the inequities of the past into the future. This is about putting the right foundations in place now.”
Julie Bissinella, CEO, Champions of Change Coalition
“We have seen from our work what happens when bias gets built into systems. It scales, becomes deeply entrenched and is almost impossible to unwind. AI will do the same if we are not deliberate in how we design and use it. From directing tools like Copilot, ChatGPT and Claude to intentionally thinking through who will be most impacted by AI-driven transformations, we have a generational opportunity to harness AI to build equality and inclusion into the future.”
Access the Inclusive AI Pledge and Prompt: https://championsofchangecoalition.org/resource/leading-on-inclusive-ai/
For more information, please contact: media@championsofchangecoalition.org
About Champions of Change Coalition:
Champions of Change includes CEOs, Secretaries of Government Departments, Non-Executive Directors, and community leaders who believe gender equality is a major business, economic, societal, and human rights issue. Established in 2010 by Australia’s then Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick AO, the Coalition is today globally recognised as a leadership strategy that drives progress on gender balance, respectful workplaces, and inclusive gender equality in decisions and design processes. Last year marked 15 years of Champions of Change, a milestone that reflects our shared commitment to bold leadership and sustained action on gender equality across workplaces, sectors and society. Together, the Coalition’s 200+ Members represent more than 800,000 employees across every major sector. Our goal is to achieve inclusive gender equality across workplaces by 2030. Learn more: championsofchangecoalition.org
About Women’s Leadership Institute Australia:
Women’s Leadership Institute Australia (WLIA) is a not-for-profit organisation, founded by Carol Schwartz AO. We see politics, media, policymaking and capital allocation as pivotal engines for propelling gender equality forward. So, we focus on high-impact investments, strategic partnerships and groundbreaking research in these four influential spheres. Learn more: wlia.org.au