Mimi Joshi Kothari is the Founder and CEO of Co-AI Founder, an AI platform built to help students turn real problems into real, practical solutions. She also serves as Executive Director of the Co-AI Founder Foundation, a partner organization expanding access to structured innovation support for individuals historically underrepresented in traditional education and entrepreneurship.
Her work centers on helping students develop the skills, confidence, and technical fluency needed to move from ideas to action. Whether through Co-AI Founder's platform or the Foundation's guided programs, her focus stays the same: helping people identify real problems, evaluate opportunities, and mobilize the right tools to build and test solutions, hands-on, not abstract.
Before founding Co-AI Founder, Mimi spent six years as a Health Scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she worked on applied research and data readiness initiatives supporting emergency preparedness and response.
That experience, moving projects from research to funded, real-world implementation, shaped a conviction she's carried ever since: the cost of waiting always outweighs the cost of preparing. It's a principle she now builds into everything at Co-AI Founder. Mimi is committed to closing the gap between potential and opportunity, equipping students with the skills, tools, and frameworks to design, build, and lead from wherever they're starting.
