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The Spark Center for Innovation in Learning This is our moment

Where innovation meets impact Embedded in ASU’s entrepreneurial ecosystem As a leader in innovation and one of the fastest-growing research enterprises in the U.S., ASU has launched 250+ startups, generated nearly 5,000 invention disclosures, secured 1,500 U.S.-issued patents, and raised $1.4B+ in funding for startups based on our intellectual property. We were the first university to partner with OpenAI, kicking off the AI Innovation Challenge and activating 220 ChatGPT EDU projects in 2024. Leveraging our entrepreneurial and tech-enabled ecosystem, the Spark Center for Innovation in Learning was founded only a year later and is already off to an impressive start. The center hosts global venture competitions and supports earlystage startups in advancing AI-driven technologies that empower neurodivergent learners throughout their educational journeys.

Changing Futures | Spark Center for Innovation in Learning

Advanced visualization technology being used at the Thunderbird School.

Arizona State University

Early momentum, lasting impact The Spark Center’s first student design sprint, the Arizona AI Challenge, brought together more than 90 students from ASU, community colleges, and partners such as First Place and the Southwest Autism Resource and Research Center (SARRC), for a weeklong challenge focused on designing solutions for neurodivergent adults transitioning into the workforce. First Place is an independent living community for adults with autism and intellectual disabilities, while SARRC is an internationally recognized nonprofit that conducts innovative research, provides evidence-based practices, disseminates effective training, and builds inclusive communities for individuals with autism and their families. Deeply rooted in the community, both organizations offered valuable insights and connections alongside a neurotech student founder and a venture accelerator focused on disability tech. This year’s winner, Navia, developed an AI companion and second brain to support post-college transitions by providing adaptive executive function support. The student team now participates in DevLabs Momentum, a competitive startup accelerator for high-potential early-stage start-ups. Hosted by the Spark Center in collaboration with OpenAI and ASU’s J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute, the 2026 Global AI Competition identified and supported pre-seed and seed companies up to Series A investment. Drawing 47 applications from ventures across eight countries in its first year, the challenge selected 10 semifinalists who advanced to a finalist judging panel, which included an OpenAI researcher. Winners participated in the Spark Center’s four-week Pitch Studio and presented their ventures at ASU+GSV Summit 2026. Four winners received a cash prize. Eleplan, an AI-powered care management platform for family caregivers, won the OpenAI Grand Prize and has since opened a Series A funding round. These early successes demonstrate the Spark Center’s ability to mobilize students, founders and partners around AI solutions with real-world impact. Building on this momentum, the center launched the North American AI Challenge in summer 2026 to expand its reach, strengthen cross-sector collaboration, and accelerate promising innovations that improve learning outcomes for neurodivergent learners.

Changing Futures | Spark Center for Innovation in Learning

Enhancing OpenAI’s reach and profile The following investment opportunity sits at the intersection of innovation and the public good, offering the OpenAI Foundation a chance to make a positive impact on countless young people for generations to come. It will position the foundation as a leading force in advancing AI to improve how neurodivergent individuals learn and connect in our communities. ASU offers partners the opportunity to reach thousands worldwide through its extensive global network. As one of the largest universities in the U.S., ASU serves 200,000+ students and reaches 25M+ annually with our learning assets worldwide.

Elizabeth Reilly, former Executive Director of AI Acceleration at ASU Enterprise Technology, brainstorms new ideas for technology use across the university.

ASU is already a force in the EdTech industry as the co-host of the ASU+GSV Summit, which featured the winners of the Global AI Competition hosted by the Spark Center and OpenAI in 2026. The summit drew 7,000+ attendees from 65 countries and enabled the university to showcase how educational institutions and technology companies are producing innovations of public value. Prominent signage and printed program acknowledgment at various events like ASU+GSV will raise OpenAI’s profile among key audiences. Additionally, as part of this partnership, OpenAI will receive a “first-look” presentation of all competition winners and the opportunity to serve as the presiding chair of the Spark Center Advisory Council. Based on OpenAI’s interests, opportunities to name various competitions and aspects of the center can also be considered.

Arizona State University

The challenge: Persistent barriers to learning Built for some, not for all Every year, millions of brilliant minds enter classrooms designed for someone else. Students who think differently—those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, executive functioning challenges, and other neurodiverse learning profiles — often spend more time and energy navigating the educational system than engaging with the ideas it was built to teach. Too often, their intelligence is obscured by barriers that have little to do with their ability to learn. For decades, the response has focused on helping students adapt through accommodations, specialized support and personalized interventions. While valuable, these services are expensive, difficult to scale, and available to only a fraction of those who could benefit. Even then, students are frequently asked to adapt to a system that was never designed with their strengths in mind. An estimated 1.6 billion people worldwide are neurodivergent, representing about 20% of the global population. As awareness and identification continue to improve, the need for effective, personalized learning solutions will only grow, even as education systems remain slow to change. In the United States, fewer than half of neurodivergent students graduate from college. Without greater investment for innovation, we risk leaving untapped the potential of millions of creative, analytical and intelligent thinkers.

Changing Futures | Spark Center for Innovation in Learning

Artificial intelligence is used in a lab to predict the age of an individual from their MRI scans.

Unlocking potential: AI and neurodiverse learners Artificial intelligence offers a fundamentally different path. Technological advancements now enable learning to continuously adapt to the individual. AI can simplify complex information without diminishing rigor, provide explanations in multiple formats, break down overwhelming tasks into manageable steps, offer real-time coaching, and personalize learning experiences — all at a scale never before possible. Next-generation, AI-driven tools designed to meet the needs of neurodivergent learners are vital for students and educators of all stripes. They offer one of the most promising ways to provide every learner with access to the kind of personalized support that has historically required intensive one-on-one instruction. It will fully unleash the great potential of neurodivergent minds that have often been squandered due to the wide range of barriers limiting their full participation in education, work and everyday life. ASU is guided by a charter: to be measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed. In that spirit, we recognize the remarkable potential of generative and multimodal artificial intelligence to transform teaching and learning for learners of all ages and backgrounds. We are committed to harnessing these technologies in ways that expand access, deepen understanding, and advance equitable outcomes.

Arizona State University

Students at W. P. Carey develop technical and business skills to design, deploy and apply AI to a constantly evolving business landscape.

Changing Futures | Spark Center for Innovation in Learning

The opportunity: Advancing AI to transform global education The Spark Center for Innovation in Learning at ASU ASU is the ideal home to the Spark Center for Innovation in Learning, founded by former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema to advance AI-driven technologies that empower neurodivergent learners throughout their educational journeys. Through global venture competitions for early-stage startups and students, the center identifies AI-powered solutions that support neurodiverse learners of all ages. It then helps promising founders transform those ideas into impact through non-dilutive seed funding, mentorship and business development support, preparing them for acceleration, investment and market readiness. By 2030, the Spark Center will support at least 350 teams through its competitions and help 20 start-ups bring their ideas to market to benefit neurodivergent learners.

Global AI Competition The Spark Center hosts an annual open call for startups developing and scaling AI-driven solutions that address barriers to neurodivergent success in neurotypical learning environments, healthcare settings, workplaces and society. Examples of potential applications range from speech and language processing, sensory-friendly AI navigation systems, to real-time feedback systems for educators. Selected finalists receive the opportunity to workshop their ventures in the Spark Center’s Pitch Studio and present to industry leaders, investors, students, educators and families at an annual convening hosted by the center. Winners receive non-dilutive funding and year-long support to develop investment-ready pitches, pursue accelerator opportunities, and access ASU’s network of resources.

Arizona State University

Arizona and North American AI Challenges The Arizona AI Challenge is an accelerated design and venture competition where teams of 4-5 Arizona college students work with subject matter experts in AI, neurodiversity and entrepreneurship to develop their concepts and present them in a virtual pitch competition. Over the course of one week, teams work intensively to prototype and pitch AI-powered neurotechnology solutions focused on neurodiverse learning and life transitions for a chance to win scholarship funding and the $15,000 Sinema Student Prize. Each working prototype and venture-style pitch must demonstrate technical feasibility, ethical AI use and real-world relevance to be competitive. With the success of the Arizona AI Challenge, the Spark Center is expanding the model beyond the state with the North American AI Challenge. Through a regional hub-andspoke model, participating teams complete a two-week design sprint, conduct direct user and market research, and pitch in person at a regional Challenge Launchpad. One winning team from each Launchpad site will advance to the grand finale in Phoenix, Arizona, to compete for $20,000 in prizes. Designed in partnership with ASU Enterprise Technology, the challenge ensures research integrity, equitable access and high-quality live competition experiences. The Spark Center aims to refine this challenge model before scaling it internationally in 2027.

Changing Futures | Spark Center for Innovation in Learning

The AI Acceleration team uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to revolutionize the student experience, advance research excellence and expand ASU's impact on society.

Spark Global Collaborative Companies, nonprofits and university research partners are critical to the success of the teams and to the center’s overall reach. We are continually expanding our global network of researchers, innovators and educators. ASU’s presence in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Hawai‘i and London provides a strong foundation for deepening partnerships with universities across Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Spark Center will support the development of a venture finance ecosystem that enables innovators and start-up founders to develop their neurotech ideas abroad. Our goal is to stimulate crossborder collaborations that advance intelligent technologies for neurodiverse learning by connecting with university-based innovation centers and participating in international hackathons.

Arizona State University

The opportunity Invest in the future of learning The next generation of innovation, entrepreneurship and visionary thought will be shaped by those who think differently. Through interdisciplinary partnerships, the Spark Center for Innovation in Learning will advance new ideas, tools and approaches that better serve neurodivergent learners and define the future of learning. Building on its early success and to ensure lasting impact, the Spark Center seeks a $25 million endowment gift to: • Seed promising startups This investment would provide critical early-stage support for the most promising competition finalists, helping founders accelerate product development, strengthen market readiness and move their solutions toward scale. • Build a full venture ecosystem This funding would enable the center to develop a year-round open incubator dedicated to neurodiverse education where students and early-stage entrepreneurs can access ASU’s knowledge, research capacity and entrepreneurial expertise. Participants would be able to develop ideas, receive mentorship from industry experts, and accelerate the path from concept to realworld application and impact.

Changing Futures | Spark Center for Innovation in Learning

• Ensure long-term sustainability Establishing an endowment for the Spark Center at ASU ensures that generations of students, researchers and communities can benefit from a world-class resource for neurodiverse education, workforce development and entrepreneurship. As technology and learners' needs continue to evolve, an endowed fund would serve as a permanent catalyst for innovation in personalized learning. By investing in the Spark Center for Innovation in Learning at ASU, the OpenAI Foundation will bolster a partnership primed for success aligned with its Resilience in the Age of AI goals. The Spark Center exemplifies OpenAI’s goals by promoting AI for social impact through entrepreneurship, teaching and learning innovation, research and market-driven solutions for the next generation. This support will enable the Spark Center to engage at least 500 students worldwide in entrepreneurship, AI principles for social impact and neurodiversity awareness.

An assistant teaching professor helps create a GPT to allow students to participate in conversations in German at their language level.

Arizona State University

Advancing AI for good Shaping the future together At ASU, we believe AI should expand opportunity for everyone. This proposed investment will help shape the future of education, work and community life for the better, with a focus on learners who have too often been overlooked by traditional systems. Neurodiverse individuals are especially well-positioned to benefit from responsible AI innovation. The Spark Center for Innovation in Learning envisions a future where: AIenabled behavioral and pattern analysis supports earlier screening and diagnosis; where students can access assignments; teaching methods and feedback are tailored to how they learn best; and where employers can better understand how individuals work, communicate and contribute, building stronger cultures that adapt to the strengths of every employee. The future is being shaped now. Join ASU in ensuring it is a future that catalyzes artificial intelligence for good. From Arizona, for the world.

Changing Futures | Spark Center for Innovation in Learning

As part of the ASU AI Innovation Challenge, innovators at ASU are advancing 105 projects that explore the use of ChatGPT Enterprise across academic, research and work environments.

Arizona State University

About us Arizona State University, ranked the No. 1 “Most Innovative School” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 11 years in succession, has forged the model for a New American University by operating on the principles that learning is a personal and original journey for each student; that they thrive on experience and that the process of discovery cannot be bound by traditional academic disciplines. Through innovation and a commitment to accessibility, ASU has drawn pioneering researchers to its faculty even as it expands opportunities for qualified students.

ASU Charter ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.

Erin Walker Senior Director of Development ASU Foundation for a New American University (614) 371-9397 Erin.Walker@asufoundation.org

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