Who gets to build the technology that will shape all of our lives?

Across 20 years in UK Parliament and a decade in the U.S. tech industry, Oona King has made a career of pairing two things she believes are far weaker apart: how to change the system and how to tell a story.

Through her career, Oona has spent her career fighting the assumption that wealthy, well resourced communities hold a monopoly on talent. Drawing on her years representing the poorest constituency in the UK and organizing low-paid workers, she makes the case for porous institutions that let talent in rather than hoarding it, and for valuing potential over privilege.

In this episode, Oona and Last Mile founder & CEO Ruthe Farmer explore what it means to invest in hidden talent, and how the U.S. is sitting on a competitive advantage it often fails to use: an expansive population at scale, ready to help build and direct the AI systems now reshaping every part of daily life.

This episode makes the case, in the clearest possible terms, for why investing in STEM students close to the finish line is not charity. It is the highest-yield investment in the American tech workforce available to any donor right now, and a question about what kind of future we are building, and who we are trusting to build it.

Learn more and support Last Mile's mission:

https://www.lastmile-ed.org/

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