PULSE — Promoting Unity & Leadership for Social Empowerment — hosted a high-impact community workshop at the Fort Bend County Sugar Land Library, bringing together 34 Houston-area youth and community membersto explore how artificial intelligence can strengthen disaster preparedness, civic engagement, and community storytelling.
Students from the University of Houston, Houston Community College, and several local high schools participated in the hands-on training session, using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and Google NotebookLMto research, script, and produce multimedia stories rooted in real issues affecting Greater Houston.
“AI is now a civic tool, not just a technological one. When youth use it to create accurate, community-centered content, our entire city becomes stronger and more prepared,” said Najia Ashar, Co-Founder and Executive Director of PULSE, who led the training demonstrations.
“Integrating AI into education and storytelling is no longer optional — it’s essential,” said Faysal Aziz Khan, Co-Founder and President of PULSE. “We encourage youth to bring civic storytelling into the spaces where information is shaped, shared, and acted upon. That’s how communities evolve and grow stronger.”
The workshop opened with an organizational overview by Aliha Ali, Director of Community Engagement at PULSE News, who highlighted four major gaps affecting Houston’s South Asian and immigrant communities — information, preparedness, civic, and economic — and discussed PULSE’s role as a bilingual media and resilience platform working to close these gaps through education, community programming, and digital storytelling.
Participants then broke into teams and produced one-minute video stories using multiple AI platforms. Their stories covered: Flood and storm safety – Crime response during disasters – Small business challenges – Environmental pollution – Road and night-time driving safety – Youth civic responsibility
Adding a youth perspective, Areesha Faisal, Director of Youth Affairs at PULSE, shared a message for participants: “When young people step forward to tell community stories, they create impact far beyond the classroom.”
PULSE Directors Nusrat Haris, and Arsalan Ali attended the session and mentored youth throughout the production process. Participants described the evening as “eye-opening” and expressed strong interest in joining future PULSE programs focused on AI literacy, resilience education, and multimedia journalism. Many indicated they would like to be part of PULSE’s upcoming Youth Media Cohort, which will continue producing stories on preparedness, civic awareness, and community resilience.
The workshop concluded with group presentations, a networking session, refreshments, and a closing photo with PULSE leadership and community participants.
