Vanessa Macamo

Amplifying Inclusive Voices through AI: Enhancing Accessibility, Leadership, and Opportunity in Youth Media

This transdisciplinary project investigates how AI can amplify the social
impact of "O Cantinho da Sissi: Eu Acredito" ("Sissi's Corner, I Believe"), a Mozambican youth-
focused TV program promoting inclusivity, leadership, and opportunities. Initially aired on
national television with sign language interpretation, the program has expanded to social media
platforms like YouTube and Facebook and is currently managed from Arizona, USA, during Vanessa's
graduate studies.

The project aims to explore AI's role in:
• Enhancing accessibility via automated sign language translation, captioning, and voiceto-text tools.
• Connecting marginalized youth, particularly girls and people with disabilities, to scholarships,
internships, and job opportunities using AI.
• Analyzing audience interactions to identify themes of inclusion and empowerment.
• Promoting ethical AI use rooted in cultural and disability justice.

Vanessa's personal goal with this project is to explore and build creative approaches to address complex
societal challenges focusing on social exclusion, lack of accessible information, and
underrepresentation of people with disabilities, youth, and girls. Through her program, Vanessa is
currently utilizing an inclusive media platform, creatively incorporating sign language with
human sign language translators, storytelling, experts, and youth-led dialogues to foster
visibility and empowerment. AI tools like real-time captioning and multilingual translations will
be integrated to enhance accessibility.

The project's research questions are:
1. How can AI support inclusive leadership for marginalized youth?
2. How can AI be ethically implemented to promote equity for people with disabilities in media?
3. How can youth-created media train AI systems in ethical and inclusive ways? Theoretical
 

The project is underpinned by three frameworks:
• Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. This principle has always been at the heart of Vanessa's media work,
by incorporating sign language interpretation into every episode of our television and online
programming — not as an afterthought, but as a commitment to affirming that Deaf culture and
communication belong in the educational and public space.
• Disability Studies in Education. The framework views disability as a social experience, prioritizing 
first-person narratives from individuals with disabilities. This has deeply influenced how Vanessa design 
content and select guests for the show. Rather than speaking about disability, Vanessa's team prioritize 
voices who speak from lived experience.
• Technological Humanism. AI must be shaped with intention, transparency, and accountability
— not to replace human insight, but to extend our capacity for inclusion and equity.

Building on previous work, the project utilizes:
• Content mapping to align media themes with AI's potential.
• Community interviews to understand the impact of the content and gather feedback on AI integration.
• Testing AI tools for audience engagement and accessibility. 

Expected outputs include,
• A digital toolkit for AI-enhanced inclusive media production.
• Peer-reviewed articles on ethical AI in media.
• Youth-led training modules integrating AI tools.
• Public campaigns highlighting transformation stories from the program.

Vanessa's goal with this project is to use AI responsibly and ethically to enhance
inclusion—not to replace human connection or engagement. The project will address language
equity, improve access for Deaf individuals and respect local traditions and personal narratives.