H1S and George Mason University Honors College worked together for a year, from September 1, 2025, to September 1, 2026, to understand nonprofit challenges and explore custom agentic AI solutions.
Many nonprofits juggle grant deadlines with the changing availability of volunteers. Each funding cycle can bring different eligibility rules and requests for evidence. When people’s availability changes, keeping that information organized and the work moving becomes a challenge of its own.
Dr. Hugo Diaz helped students understand the needs of a small volunteer team often starting grant applications from scratch. Dr. Melanie Fedri coordinated the student consulting experience. Together, they explored how custom agentic AI could support that work.
By December 2025, the students had delivered two AI agent prototypes: one designed to find, filter, and rank grant opportunities, and another to help draft proposals for government agencies or private foundations. A structured intake form organized the nonprofit’s budget, results, and other supporting facts before drafting began.
The design kept people responsible for approving opportunities and reviewing and editing proposals before submission. The aim was to give volunteers a more consistent starting point for future grant cycles, with tools shaped around the organization’s needs, capacity, and evidence. The partnership gave H1S practical tools and insights to better support nonprofits and the communities they serve.