Agilix Labs Wins AWS Grant to Expand AI Training in Sierra Leone
Agilix Labs has received an AWS Education Equity Initiative grant to support an AI-focused training program for young people in Sierra Leone. The Future Learning Institute will formally launch its Finder Program on Nov. 10 and open a Community Learning Center at Freetown Polytechnic.
- Agilix Labs received an AWS Education Equity Initiative grant.
- Learners will run AI work on AWS through Amazon Bedrock.
- The Finder Program launches on Nov. 10, 2026.
- A new Community Learning Center opens at Freetown Polytechnic.
- The year-long program serves young Sierra Leoneans who could not get a university place.
AWS grant supports the Finder Program
The grant from Amazon Web Services will allow learners in the Finder Program to run their AI work on AWS through Amazon Bedrock, according to Agilix Labs. The program is operated by the Future Learning Institute, which Agilix Labs established in 2025 under an agreement with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Technical and Higher Education.
FLI's second Community Learning Center will open at Freetown Polytechnic's Jui Campus in Freetown. Its first center, in Kono District, opened in March 2026. The institute said the Freetown center opens in November 2026.
Training young people to answer community questions
The year-long program is designed for young Sierra Leoneans who qualified for university but could not get a place. It includes young women, students with disabilities, and young people from rural areas and low-income families.
Participants take questions from local businesses and community groups and work with AI to develop answers. The program defines a Finder as a young person whom the community brings its questions to. That person uses AI with local judgment, checks the work, and brings back something a trader, farmer, or teacher can use.
Lessons run on Agilix Dawn, which the company says continues working when the signal drops. The model combines technology training with assignments connected to the learners' own communities.
A route into work and local services
Mustapha Turay, president of FLI Centers in Sierra Leone, said the initiative builds on the knowledge young people have of their communities. “Our young people know their communities better than anyone,” Turay said, according to the announcement. He added, “I promised myself that whatever education I got in the United States, I would bring it home. We started in Kono. Now Freetown has a center of its own.”
Curt Allen, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Agilix Labs, said FLI was created to help young people get jobs, beginning with those who were ready to learn but had no place to do so. “At our centers, they use AI to serve their own communities. Finder is the job we're training them for,” Allen said.
For participants, the AWS-backed expansion provides the cloud infrastructure for practical AI work within the program. For the communities involved, the stated aim is to produce answers that can be used by local businesses and community groups, while the centers provide an education route for people who were unable to enter university.