Love is Everything Memorial
WomenAILabs™ honors Jana Johnson through learning, responsible AI innovation, and community action—from October 30, 2026, through International Women’s Day, March 8, 2027.
By Dawn C. Simmons, Founder, WomenAILabs™
Jana Johnson believed that love should move people to act. Beginning on her birthday, October 30, 2026, WomenAILabs™ will carry that spirit forward through the Love is Everything Memorial: Jana Johnson Memorial Sprints. Together, participants will learn, build, test, and improve practical resources before sharing their work on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2027.
For me, this memorial begins with a friendship that lasted two decades. Jana was my HDI friend, my Long COVID sister, and a champion for humanity. Moreover, her generosity helped inspire the purpose behind WomenAILabs: create opportunities for people to learn, contribute, and lead while building technology that serves human needs.
Who was Jana Johnson?
Jana Johnson was an HDI champion, publishing leader, entrepreneur, educator, philanthropist, fashion designer, and healthcare innovator. Across these roles, she connected creativity with service. Whether she supported professional learning, education, or women rebuilding their lives, she brought attention to people whose needs others overlooked.
Within the HDI community, Jana connected people through knowledge, encouragement, and professional relationships. Her publishing career also included serving as Editor-in-Chief of Customer Service Management magazine at Ziff Davis, as described in my published remembrance. Through that work, she helped make customer service expertise visible.
Beyond publishing, Jana pursued design and entrepreneurship. Her memorial account describes more than 30 years of designing and selling handbags. It also records her creation of a machine intended to help herself and other women living with lipedema. In both pursuits, she responded to everyday needs with imagination and determination.
Meanwhile, her humanitarian commitments reached into education and human trafficking recovery. Her memorial account records fundraising for a CNN documentary about trafficking and support for girls’ freedom and education. These efforts reflected the compassion I knew in her: people deserved safety, dignity, and opportunities to shape their own futures.
I remember Jana as a champion for healthcare, education, women’s rights, and people recovering from domestic violence and human trafficking. As her Long COVID sister, I also understood the importance of having someone believe you when illness becomes invisible to others. Our friendship brought understanding into that experience, and I carry her encouragement into this work.
What are the Jana Johnson Memorial Sprints?
The Jana Johnson Memorial Sprints are a WomenAILabs community initiative connecting learning with practical contributions. From October 2026 through March 2027, participants will develop resources, test ideas, share evidence, and recognize the people who help improve them.
Students, career changers, experienced professionals, educators, advocates, designers, and developers can contribute. In addition, mentors and community partners can help teams choose achievable challenges and strengthen their work.
Each team will focus on a specific need and produce something useful, such as a learning guide, focus book, training package, video lesson, workflow, or tested prototype. Throughout the process, teams will examine accessibility, privacy, fairness, and human oversight.
How will the memorial carry Jana’s values forward?
The program will connect Jana’s interests with opportunities for community action:
- Health and dignity: Improve the clarity and accessibility of care-navigation and support resources.
- Education and opportunity: Create learning materials, mentorship pathways, and proposed scholarship partnerships.
- Survivor-informed recovery: Work with trusted advocates to shape safer pathways into learning and economic opportunity.
- Women’s visibility: Credit expertise through AmplifyHER stories, contributor profiles, and demonstrations.
- Responsible innovation: Test AI tools and workflows against real needs, documented risks, and meaningful measures of improvement.
Scholarship proposals will depend on funding and trusted partnerships. Similarly, survivor-facing resources will require survivor-informed review, while health information will require qualified review.
The WomenAILabs and HDI Chicagoland calendar
The memorial sprints will run alongside HDI Chicagoland opportunities for professional recognition, membership, leadership, and connection. As a result, participants can build skills while strengthening the relationships that help communities thrive.
| When | WomenAILabs™ | HDI Chicagoland |
|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | Launch and Gather: Begin the Jana Johnson Memorial Sprints on October 30, welcome contributors, form teams, and select challenges. | Explore professional learning, mentoring, and recognition opportunities. |
| November 2026 | Learn and Build: Develop focus books, training materials, video lessons, and early prototypes. | November 4: HDI Award Nominations deadline. |
| Week of December 4, 2026 | Review and Improve: Share progress, gather feedback, and prepare projects for testing. | HDI Local Award Celebration. |
| January 2027 | Test and Strengthen: Test resources and prototypes, address gaps, and report findings. | HDI Member Drive: Welcome members and invite participation. |
| February 2027 | Prepare and Recognize: Complete the annual International Women’s Day report, prepare demonstrations, and organize contributor recognition. | Encourage participation in the March celebration. |
| March 8, 2027 | International Women’s Day: Present results, recognize contributors, and celebrate Jana’s legacy through completed work and lessons learned. | Recognize participating members and community partners. |
| Spring 2027 | Continue learning pathways and advance promising projects beyond the memorial sprints. | HDI Chicagoland Leadership: Develop leaders and strengthen chapter participation. |
| Summer 2027 | Vibe Code: Build practical tools while testing quality, accessibility, and human impact. | HDI Boat Cruise: Celebrate community and strengthen professional connections. |
This planning calendar reflects the dates supplied by the organizers. Event details, venues, and remaining dates require confirmation.
What will teams report on International Women’s Day?
On March 8, 2027, WomenAILabs will bring the memorial sprint results together through demonstrations, a community report, and contributor recognition.
Teams will explain the problem they addressed, show what they created, and describe how they tested it. Furthermore, they will identify remaining gaps and name the people responsible for continued work.
The report will distinguish completed resources from prototypes and proposals. Recognition will credit research, writing, teaching, mentoring, design, development, testing, and community support—because useful innovation depends on all these contributions.
How can you participate?
Bring one skill and help a team create something useful.
Students can research a question or test a resource. Professionals can mentor learners or review a workflow. Educators can strengthen training materials, while advocates can help teams understand needs that technology often misses. Sponsors can support access, learning, and participation.
To express interest in contributing, mentoring, or exploring a partnership, contact info@womenailabs.org.
Jana gave me friendship, courage, and a lasting reason to keep opening doors. Through the Love is Everything Memorial, we will carry her generosity into learning, opportunity, and practical work that helps others move forward.
- AI Equity Challenge — Women AI Labs
- HDI
- HDI Local Chapters
- ISIBINDI, creating circles of care for orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa
- Why AI agents need to be held to a code of conduct
- Women of AI Innovation LinkedIn
Love is everything. Remember. Build. Protect. Renew.
