Agilix Labs Awarded AWS Education Equity Initiative Grant for Finder Program in Sierra Leone

The building sits on Freetown Polytechnic's Jui Campus, yellow with blue trim. Inside are computers, connectivity, backup power and Learning Facilitators trained on Agilix Dawn. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, it opens as the Future Learning Institute's second Community Learning Center in Sierra Leone, and the Finder Program formally launches there.

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The young people who will train in it qualified for university and couldn't get a place. The program is for them, including young women, students with disabilities and young people from rural areas and low-income families.

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Agilix Labs has been awarded a grant to use AI and cloud technology from Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) through the AWS Education Equity Initiative to support the Finder Program. The program is run by the Future Learning Institute (FLI), which Agilix Labs established in 2025 under an agreement with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Technical and Higher Education. We announced the grant on Nov. 9 on PR Newswire.

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What a Finder is

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A Finder is a young person the community brings its questions to. The Finder uses AI with local judgment, checks the work and brings back something a trader, a farmer or a teacher can use.

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An AI model can produce an answer to almost any question. A Finder knows the people and the place well enough to tell which answer will work there.

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At Tuesday's launch, speakers will describe the program as youth employment, high tech and community impact. Youth employment: it prepares young adults to make a living as micro-consultants in their own communities. High tech: learners build core AI skills over about a year of courses, at a Community Learning Center and on their own phones. Community impact: a Finder helps local leaders, business owners, farmers, teachers and others find better ways to do their work and put them into practice.

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How the program works

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Over the year-long program, learners take on questions from local businesses and community groups and work with AI to answer them. The Certificate in Applied AI runs as eight courses of six weeks each, and learners finish with a portfolio of community work. The certificate is awarded through Trico College of Innovation and Advanced Technology, with Freetown Polytechnic and Kono University of Science and Technology as higher-education partners.

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Lessons run on Agilix Dawn, which keeps working when the signal drops. Learners download lessons, videos and course materials to their own phones, keep studying between visits to the center, and their progress syncs the next time they have a signal. At the center, Learning Facilitators work alongside them.

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Adults 18 and over can enroll. The program does not guarantee a job. Income depends on each Finder's skills, the community work they can show and client demand. Kono's first learners have completed their first courses and are working toward the certificate. The first Finders will be recognized in public when they complete it and present their community work.

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What the grant adds

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With the grant, learners' AI work will run on AWS, through Amazon Bedrock: taking a question from a local business, researching it with AI, checking the answer against local knowledge and handing back a recommendation the business can act on.

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Two centers since the 2025 agreement

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"Our young people know their communities better than anyone," said Mustapha Turay, President, FLI Centers in Sierra Leone. "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."

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"We founded FLI to help young people get jobs, starting with those who were ready to learn and had no place to do it," said Curt Allen, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Agilix Labs. "At our centers, they use AI to serve their own communities. Finder is the job we're training them for."

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How we got here

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• May 19, 2025. Hon. Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, Minister of Technical and Higher Education, and Curt Allen sign the agreement that established the Future Learning Institute, at Lancaster House in London during the Education World Forum.
• March 24, 2026. CLC ONE, the first Community Learning Center, opens in Koidu City, Kono District.
• May 2026. Freetown Polytechnic signs the host agreement for the Freetown center.
• Oct. 12, 2026. Enrollment opens in Freetown.
• Nov. 10, 2026. The center opens and the Finder Program formally launches.

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Where the centers are

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Launch day in Freetown

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Tuesday, Nov. 10. Students, center staff and members of the community march to Freetown Polytechnic from 10:00 a.m. The formal program runs from 12:00 noon to 2:45 p.m., with a drama about the Finder role and a song performed by students from Kono District, then photographs, interviews and refreshments. Officials of the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, the leadership of Freetown Polytechnic, traditional leaders from Kono District and learners from CLC ONE are expected.

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Guests can register on the open house page. Media can find the advisory, fact sheet, interview contacts and downloadable photos in the press room.

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Thank you to Freetown Polytechnic for hosting the center, to the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, and to the AWS Education Equity Initiative team.

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Read the full release on PR Newswire. Meet the Finder, or Fund a Finder.

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About the Future Learning Institute. The Future Learning Institute (FLI) trains young Sierra Leoneans to become Finders. Its center at Freetown Polytechnic opens in November 2026. Its Kono District center opened in March 2026.

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About Agilix Labs. Agilix Labs is an education technology company based in Lehi, Utah. Its Buzz platform has supported more than 55 million course enrollments, with users in more than 200 countries and territories. Its Agilix Dawn platform delivers FLI's courses, including lessons that work offline.