Ethics, Technology, and Public Policy for Practitioners - Course Offering
APPLICATIONS CLOSED for the Fall 2025 cohort (Sept 24 - Nov 5).
For more see: Stanford Online's Application Portal
Deadline to apply: Aug 24th, 2025
Our live, cohort-based education program gathers practitioners from across the tech sector (industry, civil society, and government) whose work directly shapes technology or addresses its impacts. Participants in the “Live Course” offering will experience: 7 online (Zoom) sessions over 7 weeks, each consisting of:
- Lectures from leading academic faculty representing a breadth of issues at the intersection of ethics, technology, and public policy.
- Engagement with prominent guest speakers who represent salient and timely topics in technology.
- Facilitated, small-group discussion to grow peer connections and collaboratively examine our role as technologists.
- Readings and content to challenge our preconceived notions.
In addition we offer:
- (Optional) Extra curricular programming for professionals looking to create actionable impact.
- Invitation to an ongoing community of practice made up of course alumni.
- An official record of completion for participants through The Stanford Engineering Center for Global and Online Education.
Space is limited as participants are selected through an application process.
About the Course
Get access to the 2024 Course Syllabus
Why
The rapid pace of technological innovation, including generative AI, brings major societal challenges in the form of online abuse, surveillance, labor and economic inequality, misinformation, and lagging regulation. We invite professionals to reflect on their own role in these issues to meet these rapidly evolving challenges. Through this course, we hope to build shared language, foundational understanding, and a lasting network of cross-sector expertise committed to responsible tech leadership and meaningful action.
What
Over seven weeks, participants will confront critical questions relevant to their professional practice in technology: How do we understand the landscape of issues created by technology? What is at stake? And most importantly: what agency do we have as professionals to influence the trajectory of technology toward ethical ends?
The course features insights from leading faculty and practitioners at the forefront of AI, tech, and ethics to improve participants' understanding of salient issues through academic and theoretical frames.
Participants will also have a chance to hear from and interact with distinguished guests and leaders. Past sessions have included Frances Haugen, Reid Hoffman, Ro Khanna, Rumman Chowdhury, Sam Altman, Jacinda Ardern, Meredith Whittaker, Ellen Pao, and others.
Finally, the course fosters peer-to-peer connection through facilitated, group interaction and follow-on engagement as a community of practice. Each session features smaller discussion groups, facilitated by an experienced course alumni, to reflect on the day’s content and exchange experiential perspectives. Optional extra-curricular modules may be offered to focus on actionable bridging of ethics and practice. Finally, participants are invited to join an alumni network to continue their engagement and connection beyond the course.
Who
This course is for technologists, policymakers, and civil society leaders interested in the intersection of ethics, public policy, and technological change, and need not have a formal affiliation with Stanford. From frontline tech roles (product management, engineering, sales and marketing, trust and safety) to academics and researchers, government workers, non-profit leaders, and journalists, we welcome all stakeholders to learn from our experts and to connect with each other to promote novel, interdisciplinary approaches to ethics in technology.
Asynchronous Course
We offer an “asynchronous version” for participants who cannot attend the “live course.” This self-paced option includes: recorded lectures (faculty portions only), and class reading assignments.
However, due to Chatham House Rules you will not have access to: guest speaker appearances, Q&A sessions, and cohort discussions
Important: asynchronous participants are not eligible for a record of completion
History
This program builds upon the frameworks created by Rob Reich, Jeremy Weinstein, and Mehran Sahami. In 2019 the trio created and established a course at Stanford University, CS182 - Ethics, Public Policy, and Technological Change. Together they co-wrote System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot, putting their approach into a format for the masses.
Ethics, Technology, and Public Policy (ETPP) for practitioners was born out of Rob, Jeremy, and Mehran’s goal to offer this coursework to those on the frontlines. Within the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University, the program focuses specifically on extending resources and ethics + tech discovery to practitioners.
Beginning in 2024, this program is made possible in part by Frank McCourt in association with Stanford’s partnership with the Project Liberty Institute.
FAQs
What's in it for me?
Participants will walk away with a foundational understanding of salient topics in the field of ethics and technology through an interactive set of lectures, discussions and readings. Our efforts go well beyond a typical online course by fostering peer-to-peer connection with other technologists to complement its substantive learnings and to benefit participants well beyond the course's end. Most importantly you should feel more empowered with frames that will help you negotiate uncertainty involving ethics in your professional practice.
Upon successful completion, a non-credit bearing record of completion is issued to participants through The Stanford Engineering Center for Global and Online Education.
Who is this course for? Is it really for me?
This course is for practitioners in the field of technology (broadly defined) across disciplines, sectors, and job functions, whose work touches or creates impact at the intersection of our ethics, public policy, and technological change. Our live course prioritizes leaders ready to take the next step in examining their own potential gaps in recognizing agency and opportunities for accountability to guide a responsible tech future.
We welcome a breadth of lived experiences, sectoral representation, and career stages to help shape a new conversation over the development and use of technology. If you're unsure about your qualifications, please apply anyway. Past participants have included people between roles, affected by layoffs, starting companies, or questioning if they're "tech enough." If you care about the future of technology and are willing to explore shared responsibility, you belong here.
I’m at a senior level in my firm. Is this course appropriate for me?
Yes. Past cohorts have included CEOs and founders, venture capitalists, board members, senior engineers or, as well as scholars, educators, and executive directors from nonprofits. Senior leaders are invited to lean into the diverse and interdisciplinary learning environment as a break from their conventional routine, and to realize a deeper understanding of the impacts their decisions have on society.
I’m extremely technical. Will this course add value to my role?
Yes. Many past cohort members share that their technical work has sometimes felt isolated from other disciplines such as philosophy, social science, and political science. By engaging in our diverse cohort body and by exploring novel angles to familiar problems, the course will better equip those with technical backgrounds to understand the downstream impact of their work, and work toward more responsible innovation.
I’m from outside the U.S. Is this course right for me?
While the majority of public policy context in this course focuses on the U.S., we welcome diverse, global experts and stakeholders to this conversation as these issues are inherently global and interconnected far beyond the U.S. Some of our most impactful course discussions come from participants and guest speakers who cut across different global contexts, bringing perspective on deeply affected populations or different regulatory environments on technology very often overlooked. Anyone who completes the course is also welcome to join our community of practice regardless of background.
I am interested in scholarship/subsidy to participate, what is the criteria and how do I apply?
If accepted to the live course, participants will be prompted to pay a program fee along a sliding scale selected in their application. Please note: participants are trusted to exercise discretion on the category that best fits their situation. No need to provide documentation or justification.
While tuition is required of participants to help sustain this course, we also seek to reduce barriers for participation for qualified individuals who lack the means. We offer discounted rates for those paying out of pocket, unemployed or based outside of a “high income” country (per World Bank classification)
We also offer scholarship/subsidy to a limited number of applicants based on stated need. We don’t have a hard criteria for scholarships, as there are a limited number, and are given based on need communicated in their application.
If you are interested in a scholarship, please apply as normal in our application portal but be sure to make select "financial assistance/scholarship" when prompted, and to elaborate on your situation in the given fields.
When/how will I know if I am selected?
For the 2025 Fall Cohort, our application deadline is Aug 24, 2025. We resolve to notify applicants by Sept 16, 2025 at the latest, but it will likely be sooner.