Excelsior University’s Center for Social Justice, the Democratic Engagement Rope Team, Fielding Graduate University, the Underground Railroad Education Center, the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region, the St. Petersburg Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center, and the No Hate Capital Region Council are thrilled to invite you to participate in the 2026 Democratic Engagement Dialogue Series on Thursday, September 17, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. EDT. 

At a time when technology is rapidly reshaping how we learn, work, communicate, and engage in civic life, this session will explore a timely and important question: How do we lift every voice in a democracy increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence? 

The Democratic Engagement Dialogue Series invites participants into a collective exploration of the meaning and power of democracy, inclusion, and collaboration as a choice, a way of thinking, and a way of life. Together, we will examine strategies for engaging in dialogue that transcends disagreement, promotes belonging, leverages our diversity, and strengthens democratic participation. Participants will also consider concrete actions they can take to foster democracy, inclusion, and collaboration within their own communities and organizations. 

To launch the September conversation, we are honored to welcome Shana Pote, a doctoral candidate, educator, executive coach, and researcher whose work examines how emerging technologies influence human judgment, knowledge, learning, and institutions. Shana will introduce a multidimensional framework for understanding AI’s human and democratic implications. Rather than focusing solely on issues such as productivity, innovation, bias, or regulation, her presentation will explore how AI intersects with questions of agency, knowledge, human development, relationships, power, values, responsibility, and the growing delegation of human functions to technological systems. 

Drawing on her research and teaching experience, Shana will invite participants to identify overlooked dimensions of AI-related challenges, trace potential consequences across multiple levels of society, and consider what meaningful human agency, accountability, and stewardship might require in an increasingly AI-mediated world. 

Shana has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Temple University’s Fox School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania and has developed programs for academic, civic, nonprofit, and professional audiences. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in Human Development at Fielding Graduate University, where her research focuses on AI and doctoral education, including questions of authorship, assessment, academic identity, digital competence, and human agency. 

Register to attend here: https://communities.excelsior.edu/events/2026/09/17/lifting-every-voice-democratic-engagement-dialogue-session-on-september-17/