NEW YORK, NEW YORK – John Pasmore, the Founder and CEO of inclusive Large Language Model (LLM) Latimer AI, joins the 2024 class of the Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program (LLFP), which recognizes and honors a small group of exceptional Black innovators from across the U.S. each year and takes them on a year-long journey of community, learning, mentorship and opportunity. Latimer AI and the Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program were both inspired by and named after Lewis Howard Latimer, one of the first major Black inventors who made significant contributions to an array of products that have shaped our modern world, including a key role in the perfection of the lightbulb and the telephone. The similarities extend further, as both organizations share missions that are deeply rooted in empowerment and innovation. 

“It’s an honor to be selected into the program,” Pasmore said. “Our team at Latimer AI and the fellowship program have many shared values, so it feels like the perfect fit, and I can't wait to get started. There is so much to learn and do together.” 

Pasmore’s acceptance into the program is a result of a rigorous application process and derives from his newest endeavor Latimer AI, the premier online artificial intelligence resource for accurate historical and cultural information. Unlike other LLMs, Latimer AI is trained with esteemed and factual sources, including textbooks, dissertations, licensed content from the Black-owned newspaper, New York Amsterdam News and more, in order to mitigate bias and more accurately reflect the experience, culture and history of Black and Brown people. 

“Latimer AI follows in Lewis Howard Latimer’s footsteps with cutting-edge innovation and a positive impact on the world, which is why we are so excited to have John join the program this year,” Jonathan Cropper, Co-Founder of the Latimer Fellowship Program says. “We look for people who truly embody Lewis Howard Latimer, as Black innovators and changemakers, however that may look, and John and his team at Latimer are exactly that.” 

Along with Pasmore, four other fellows will be joining the LLFP – Adrian Burrell, a third-generation artist from Oakland, California; Tiffany Griffin, the CEO, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Bright Black, a North Carolina candle company that pays tribute to Black greatness; Sidney McLaurin, Jr., the CEO of Fleet Robotics, intelligent automation platforms for the maritime sector; and Sian Proctor, a professor, the first female commercial astronaut spaceship pilot and the only African American woman to be a mission pilot. 

The 2024 Edison Awards will be held from April 17 - April 19, 2024 in Fort Myers, FL, where the Lewis Latimer Fellows will be announced, and the program will officially begin. 

To learn more about Latimer AI, please visit www.latimer.ai. 

ABOUT LATIMER

AI is amplifying the bias, inaccuracy, and erasure of Black and Brown cultural data. Latimer was built to solve this. Founded and led by serial entrepreneur John N. Pasmore - who also established Latimer’s parent company, FutureSum.AI, which works to build premier AI tools to improve how organizations engage with diverse audiences - Latimer has gathered some of the most notable names across various industries to create a more inclusive and equitable Large Language Model (LLM) platform. Latimer built and utilizes a RAG Model with its proprietary vector database, which sits on top of a foundation model, which is currently Open AI's Chat GPT. Named for Lewis Latimer, a Black inventor whose legacy and historical scientific contributions are often overlooked, the LLM provides users with more accurate details, reflecting the experience, culture, and history of Black and Brown people. To learn more, please visit www.latimer.ai.

About The Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program 

The Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program is an organization dedicated to providing special access and mentorship to a select group of exceptional Black innovators. Announced at the Edison Awards in Fort Myers in April 2022, the organization centers around the tenets of technological, behavioral, futuristic, systematic, and design-oriented thinking to transform innovation and combine ideas across cultures. The Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program employs a one-year, hybrid learning experience designed to help participants unlock the potential of exponentially advancing technologies and provide them the resources to build societally beneficial and profitable new ideas. 

About The Edison Awards

Established in 1987, and held in Fort Myers since 2021, the Edison Awards are dedicated to recognizing, honoring, and fostering the best in global innovations and innovators. Named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), the annual competition honors excellence in global new product and service development, marketing, design, and innovation. Past award recipients include Steve Jobs, Carmichael Roberts, and leaders of global corporations such as Coca-Cola, Apple, Lenovo, SpaceX, Babcock Ranch, IBM, Black & Veatch, Genentech, General Electric, IBM, and Campbell Soup Co. In 2021, the Edison Awards introduced the inaugural Lewis Latimer Fellowship program designed to celebrate, connect, and bring together a community of innovative Black and Brown thought leaders. The Edison Awards are considered the Oscars of Innovation and will be held at the Luminary Hotel in Fort Myers, FL on April 17-18, 2024. For more information on the Edison Awards visit EdisonAwards.com.