Global Agentic AI Accelerator · Class of 2027
Your community needs a solution. Build it.
A tuition-free, 24-week accelerator helping 100 grassroots leaders turn validated community problems into AI-powered products and build the nonprofit organizations behind them.
- founders
- 100
- impact tracks
- 5
- weeks
- 24
- fully sponsored
- Tuition-free
Plan on 15 to 20 hours a week.
The Opportunity
You know the problem. You deserve the infrastructure to solve it.
Community leaders understand what is failing and who is affected. What is often missing is access to engineering, legal support, capital, and networks.
The technical gap
You know exactly where the system breaks. Turning that insight into software that works at scale takes engineering skill, tools, and guidance that are hard to reach.The capital gap
Many funders can only give to organizations that already have IRS approval, which can take 6 to 12 months. Good ideas wait while the problem grows.How the accelerator helps
Engineering guidance, legal support, and a fiscal sponsorship pathway meet founders where they start. Sponsorship gives your project a way to receive funds. It does not guarantee that funds will arrive.
The Destination
Build the product. Build the nonprofit. Lead what comes next.
What will you have to show for these six months? This is what you will work toward.
A working product
A functional AI prototype that addresses a specific community need.Evidence from users
Discovery and testing that inform your product decisions.An organizational foundation
Legal, governance, and privacy work appropriate to your venture's location and stage.An operating system
Donation, spending, cloud, and documentation workflows.A launch-ready story
A clear demonstration of the problem, the solution, the evidence, and your next funding need.
Legal and funding outcomes depend on where you are and what stage your venture is at. Not every founder will complete the same steps.
Impact Tracks
Five tracks. One shared ambition: stronger communities.
Twenty founders join each track, so you build alongside people working on similar challenges.
- SDG2
Zero Hunger
Help surplus food reach people who need it.
Example build
Food recovery and redistribution coordination
- SDG3
Good Health and Well-Being
Help people navigate care and support.
Example build
Clinic navigation and resource discovery
- SDG4
Quality Education
Make learning more accessible and responsive.
Example build
Adaptive learning and localized curriculum tools
- SDG8
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Help talent move toward opportunity.
Example build
Skills verification and workforce navigation
- SDG13
Climate Action
Help communities understand and act on local climate challenges.
Example build
Conservation monitoring and localized climate tools
These are examples of possible ventures. You are welcome to bring your own idea within a track.
The Support
You bring the conviction. We help build the foundation.
Tuition is fully sponsored. The rest of the support is organized by the barrier it removes.
Build your solution
AI tools, development environments, cloud infrastructure, and engineering guidance.
- A working prototype with real AI logic
- Production cloud setup and security testing
- Engineering guidance as you build
Tools you will use
- Google AI Studio
- Vertex AI
- NVIDIA developer APIs
- Replit Agents
Establish your organization
Legal structuring, governance, privacy safeguards, and a fiscal sponsorship pathway.
- Legal, governance, and data privacy guidance matched to your location and stage
- Incorporation support through VOLS NYC where it applies
- A fiscal sponsorship pathway so funders can give to your project while you build your own organization
Run your operations
Donation capture, spending workflows, and the organizational software to keep it all documented.
- Donation tools for fundraising
- Spending controls and finance workflows
- Shared workspace and documentation habits
Tools you will use
- Funraise
- Ramp
- Google Workspace
Grow your leadership and reach
Coaching, peer circles, pitch preparation, and next-stage application support.
- Track Lead coaching and a four-founder peer circle from the start
- One-on-one mentorship from a network of 50 mentors after Week 12
- Media training, mock board panels, and pitch preparation
- Application preparation and introductions to next-stage programs
The tools named here are what founders build with. They are not endorsements or formal partnerships.
The Journey
24 weeks from validated problem to launch.
Two phases and six milestones. Phase 1 validates your problem and builds your prototype. Phase 2 builds the organization and prepares you to launch.
Before Week 1: onboarding, your fiscal sponsorship pathway, a Google Workspace account, and a baseline technical review.
Weeks 1 to 4
Define the problem
What you do
- Scope the problem you have validated with the people you serve.
- Design prompts in Google AI Studio and map your AI workflow, including multi-agent logic.
What you produce
A scoped problem, user evidence, and a proposed AI workflow.
The Week 12 gate: advancing requires a functional prototype. Teams that advance unlock one-on-one mentorship.
How we build
Understand
Map the problem and where AI creates real value, not just where it is trendy.
Design
Set responsible AI boundaries and design a system that fits your mission.
Build
Stand up the tools and integrations that turn the design into a working product.
Evaluate
Measure what works, such as accuracy and adoption, before scaling.
Operationalize
Move from prototype to practice with documentation, training, and ownership.
Scale
Extend what works, with the governance to keep it responsible.
Learning moves through three levels: mission literacy and responsible AI (the 4D framework of Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence), product and business design, and hands-on technical build.
The Founder Experience
A small circle. A serious commitment.
This is the Founder Commitment: a working relationship where you show up and the Collective shows up for you.
What you commit
- Give 15 to 20 hours a week, tracked in your shared workspace
- Send short daily updates and join weekly syncs
- Meet with your four-founder peer circle
- Ship the deliverable for each milestone
What the Collective provides
- Track Leads who guide your track of 20 founders
- Clear structure, honest feedback, and peer support
- Coaching from the start, and one-on-one mentorship after Week 12
- The same standards for every founder
The standard: four unexcused missed milestones end participation in the program.
The Launch Moment
Bring your solution to New York.
In Week 24, founders show their work live at the summit in New York City.
The summit
A live exhibition and pitch experience in front of an audience of 250 to 300 municipal leaders, foundation heads, and venture philanthropists. It is open to founders who complete the program.The competitive award pool
$65,000 is the total pool for the top five teams. It includes cash grants for first, second, and third place, plus MacBook Pro and Mac Mini production packages. Awards are competitive and are not guaranteed to every team.How you prepare
In the final weeks you work with mentors one on one, practice in media training and mock board panels, and freeze your production codebase so your demo is ready.
The Next Chapter
Build beyond the accelerator.
Graduation is the start of the next stage. The Collective helps you prepare applications and get introductions to programs that can help you keep growing.
- Fast Forward Tech Nonprofit Accelerator
- Google for Startups Accelerator
- NVIDIA Inception Program
- Nasdaq Milestone Circles and MAKERS
We offer application preparation and introductions. Admission decisions belong to each program.
Fit and Commitment
Built for founders ready to follow through.
You do not need a technical background. Nontechnical applicants are welcome.
- You have lived experience with the problem, or a deep connection to the people it affects
- You have talked with the people you want to serve, and can document at least 10 conversations
- Your idea fits one of the five impact tracks
- You are resourceful and ready to follow through
- You can give 15 to 20 hours a week
- You are comfortable with clear accountability and advancement standards
Credibility
Why build with the Collective?
Mentor Me Collective is a global technical institute. This program draws on what we have already built.
- members in the Collective
- 40,000+
- annual applications
- 25,000+
- in verified Scholar career outcomes
- $100M+
- the year we began
- 2020
Led by Chanel Power, Founder and CEO
Chanel is a technology executive and founder who builds AI products, developer ecosystems, and leaders. She founded the Collective in 2020 and serves on the AI/ML Advisory Board for DevNetwork.
How to Join
Three steps to the Class of 2027.
AI-assisted screening supports the first step. People make the final decisions.
Show your problem
AI-assisted screening checks that your idea fits a track and that you have talked with the people you want to serve.
Tell your story
Answer one question in a three-minute video: How have your toughest setbacks tested your commitment to solving this problem without pay or recognition, and what did that teach you about ethical leadership?
Meet the review panel
A human panel reviews finalists and forms the five tracks of 20 founders each.
Before you apply
- Name the problem and the track it fits
- Document at least 10 conversations with people affected
- Prepare your three-minute video answer
- Confirm you can give 15 to 20 hours a week
Questions founders ask
Do I need a technical background?
No. Nontechnical applicants are welcome. You bring lived experience and a problem worth solving, and the program teaches the tools.
What does it cost, and how much time does it take?
Tuition is fully sponsored. Founders commit 15 to 20 hours a week for 24 weeks.
What is fiscal sponsorship, and does it include funding?
It is a pathway that lets funders give tax-deductible grants to your project while you build your own organization. It gives you a way to receive funds. It does not guarantee that funds will be raised or awarded.
What happens at Week 12?
Week 12 is a gate. Advancing requires a functional prototype. Teams that advance continue to Phase 2 and unlock one-on-one mentorship.
How is AI used to select founders?
AI-assisted screening supports the first review step by checking track fit and evidence from your conversations with the people you serve. A human review panel makes the final selection.
What does “$65,000 in awards” mean?
It is the total competitive award pool for the top five teams at the summit: cash grants for first, second, and third place, plus MacBook Pro and Mac Mini production packages. Awards are competitive and are not guaranteed to every team.
Your next chapter starts with a problem worth solving.
Tuition-free. 24 weeks. 100 founders. Bring your lived experience, your problem, and 15 to 20 hours a week.