HAI Project Manager Explains: Weekly Video Review and Approval Pipeline

Getting a video approved and scheduled inside the Humanitarians AI Fellows program isn't a matter of just uploading a file. There's a defined five-step pipeline and six specific approval gates every submission has to clear, and knowing the rules in advance saves a lot of back-and-forth with reviewers.

The weekly requirement

Fellows are expected to produce two videos per week, delivered in both aspect ratios, which works out to four files total per week. STEM content and project updates both count toward this, but project updates are treated as the absolute floor of the content window, not a substitute for substantive material.

The five-step pipeline

The review process runs from upload to final sign-off. Files go into a shared Google Drive folder, get named according to a strict template, and move through review until they receive the final call from Prof. Brown and Prof. Nina. Along the way, the fellow submitting the work pings their PM, Sanjana or Pooja, to flag that the upload is ready for review.

Hard formatting rules

Several requirements are non-negotiable. Every video needs to follow the Brutalist visual guidelines, render natively in 4K rather than being upscaled after the fact, and be produced in both 16:9 and 9:16 aspect ratios from the source, not cropped afterward. There's also a required, non-negotiable intro line that has to appear as written; it isn't a stylistic suggestion.

The six PM gates

Before a video moves to the publishing queue, it has to clear six checks in order: correct Brutalist formatting, native 4K at the source, confirmed 4K after upload, both aspect ratios delivered, clean formatting with properly rendered images, and text that stays legible on both desktop and mobile. Beyond formatting, reviewers also confirm the required intro line is present exactly as specified, and that the viewer walks away with one concrete takeaway, something they can now do or know that they couldn't before watching. Only after all six checks pass does a video move into the scheduling queue.

File naming and GitHub requirements

Naming is enforced at upload. Every file, across both aspect ratios of both weekly videos, uses the same base project name followed by an underscore and the volunteer's name, with no spaces, no dates, and no "v2" or "final" tacked on. Version history belongs in GitHub, not in the file name. GitHub itself is mandatory: the code or source project behind the video has to be uploaded, and the repository URL shared alongside the video files at submission time. No repository means no upload.

Shorts scheduling strategy

The vertical, 9:16 side of the channel has its own rule: shorts are scheduled at least one hour apart from each other, channel-wide, and each short links to the most popular existing related video. That link is chosen at scheduling time based on current performance, not pulled from memory or an old list.

Key takeaways

• Fellows submit two videos weekly in both aspect ratios, for four files total, with project updates as the content floor.
• Six PM gates cover formatting, native 4K, both aspect ratios, legibility, the required intro line, and a real viewer takeaway.
• File naming follows a strict project-name-plus-volunteer-name template, with no dates or version tags; version history lives in GitHub.
• A GitHub repository with the project's source code is mandatory at submission; there's no upload without it.
• Shorts are spaced at least one hour apart and linked to the current most popular related video at scheduling time.

Who this is for

This is a practical checklist for Humanitarians AI Fellows preparing a weekly video submission, whether it's a STEM deep dive or a project update. Anyone without an assigned PM yet should route their readiness message straight to Sanjana.