The Asia Venture Philanthropy Network ( AVPN ), the largest network of social investors in Asia, will, via three initiatives, further expand the impact of its AI Opportunity Fund: Asia-Pacific, supported by Google.org and the Asian Development Bank ( ADB ), which started as a US$15 million fund.

Last year, the fund expanded with an additional US$10 million for phase two, which has selected 18 local training providers across Asia-Pacific.

Firstly, this year, the AVPN, building on the strong outcomes of phase one, aims to have curriculums that ensure workers are prepared for an AI-ready workforce and continuing to overcome systemic barriers in the region.

Beneficiaries include farmers, healthcare workers, vocational school and university students, those seeking employment, domestic workers or caregivers, and professionals, managers, executives and technicians.

Among the organizations receiving funding are the Centre for Social and Behaviour Change in India, which seeks to strengthen the capabilities of self-help group women; Manabiya Mom in Japan, which aims to create long-term impact by building digital confidence and employability among vulnerable groups in Japan's service economy; and Ruang Kolaborasi Perempuan in Indonesia, which strives to generate a significant impact for workers across various sectors by equipping them with the ability to use AI as a tool that enhances their daily tasks.

Secondly, the AVPN is also building an AI training ecosystem through the fund. This includes a publicly-available AI training content hub, AI Learning for the Future of Work, which provides open access to local training providers and their programmes for the general public to discover and enrol in relevant courses, thus increasing the number of workers able to benefit from localized AI upskilling.

And thirdly, on a policy infrastructure level, the AVPN has also developed an AI skilling policy toolkit for governments and policymakers. Built on insights from the AI For All report and engagements with policymakers across Asia-Pacific, the toolkit defines and translates design principles for more effective AI skilling initiatives into actionable policy considerations and implementation pathways that can be undertaken through the skill development cycle.

The network hopes to use the toolkit to support ongoing and deeper policy engagements in 2026, helping to strengthen ecosystem alignment and provide a common reference point for unified approaches to AI skilling across the region.

“Workers in Asia-Pacific have an urgent need for contextually relevant, localized, digital skills and relevant upskilling that will position them well for employability, entrepreneurship and job retention,” says Naina Subberwal Batra, the AVPN’s CEO. “Continuing on the strong momentum and results of phase one, phase two of the AI Opportunity Fund initiative expands the good work that has been and continues to be done by the selected organizations in empowering workers across the region, partnering policymakers, reaching out to workers seeking resources and forging more equitable outcomes for all.”