Our Work
Proof beats promises. Here is what it looks like when AI closes the gap between a program and the people it serves.
A statewide rebate program that answers every call
A state-funded vehicle air conditioning repair rebate program serves income-qualified households across California. Demand is statewide. The team is small. Every missed call is a family that may not call back.
FNS architected the program's AI front door: a coordinated system of voice agents that answers in English and Spanish from day one, covers nights, weekends, and out-of-office hours, and hands callers to the human team the moment a conversation needs one.
Behind the phone line sits a referral network of more than 300 community organizations across 89 California cities. The AI extends the team's coverage. It does not make decisions for them: every approval, denial, or exception is owned by a human, by design.
The system discloses that it is AI, as California law requires. Its architecture is mapped to the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and California privacy and civil-rights requirements, documented so a procurement reviewer can audit every decision.
Pro bono: capacity for a Sacramento nonprofit
A Sacramento nonprofit with more than a decade of community programs had its history scattered across files and inboxes. FNS organized 10+ years of program data into a structured, queryable knowledge base, designed an impact-metrics tracking layer, and stood up AI tooling the team now uses to research funders, surface aligned opportunities, and draft grant narratives faster.
Same principle as the flagship: the team got faster and reached further. Nobody got replaced.
Program and organization names are withheld to protect client confidentiality. References and a walkthrough of the live system are available in conversation.
The through-line: a career connecting people to services
FNS is new. The work is not. Before founding FNS, Colin Lyons spent his career on the same problem with different tools.
Feeding America, Native American Outreach Project
Led data analytics across six states. Quantified 45.7% food insecurity in Alaska Native communities against a 10.5% national average, and mapped 15+ Native organizations into the strategic outreach plan.
Accelerate Louisiana Initiative
Captured and synthesized 55 listening sessions with 153 participants across all 64 Louisiana parishes, driving statewide recommendations on healthcare, food security, housing, transportation, and education.
Bridge to Health
Organized community health events and resource fairs, and directed a screenings initiative that delivered 2,500+ comprehensive health screenings, dental screenings and dental care, and connected 3,500+ families to healthcare resources at no cost.
Be Covered and CalEITC
Co-created a community campaign helping uninsured low-income families navigate healthcare coverage, and built the award-winning English and Spanish campaign that surfaced the California Earned Income Tax Credit to families across the state.
Have a program that should reach more people? Let's talk.
Thirty minutes, no pitch. You leave with an honest read either way.