Put AI to work in your organization, with a local guide who understands the work.
Great Lakes AI Institute helps leaders and teams learn what AI can do, find sensible places to use it, and build the skills to use it well. We work with small businesses, nonprofits, schools, faith communities, and community organizations.
Led by Matt LaFleur, CPA, an advisor and organizational leader who works with small businesses and nonprofits.
- 1 Your notes
- Dana: confirm catalog quote by Fri
- open house, leaning Nov 14?
- follow up with the 2 new leads
- 2 AI first draft
Hi team, thanks for Tuesday. Here is what we agreed: Dana will confirm the catalog quote by Friday, we are planning the open house for November 14, and I will reach out to our two new leads this week.
- 3 You review
- Date checked against the calendar
- Tone adjusted for the team
- Nothing confidential included
Built for organizations that cannot staff their own AI team
Most of the organizations that hold a community together run lean. They do not need a transformation program. They need someone who will sit down with them, understand the work, and help them take a sensible first step.
- Small businesses and professional firmsOwners who wear several hats and want time back.
- NonprofitsLean teams with board reports, donor letters, and grant deadlines.
- SchoolsLeaders and staff sorting out what responsible use looks like.
- Churches, synagogues, and faith communitiesSmall staffs and volunteers doing a lot with a little.
- Community and civic organizationsGroups that serve the region and cannot staff an AI team.
You might recognize this
- Staff are already using ChatGPT or Copilot, and nobody has talked about what is okay to paste in.
- The same report, recap, or letter gets rebuilt from scratch every month.
- You tried AI, got a bland or wrong answer, and are not sure it is worth another try.
- One person holds the know-how for a key process, and everyone else waits on them.
- A board member, parent, or client asked what your AI policy is.
Local matters here. Because we are in Northeast Ohio, we can meet your team in person, sit in on how the work really gets done, and come back when it is time for the next step.
Three common starting points
Most organizations we talk with fit one of these. If you are not sure, that is what the first call is for.
I am curious, but not sure where AI fits
You have heard a lot and tried a little. You want a clear picture of what is useful for your organization and what is noise.
AI readiness and leadership advisingMy team needs practical training
Some people use AI every day, some never have, and nobody is sure what is allowed. You want everyone on firmer ground.
Practical AI education and trainingWe have one process that eats our week
A report, a follow-up routine, an intake step. You suspect AI could help, but you want to test it carefully first.
Workflow improvement and implementationFour kinds of help, sized to where you are
Each engagement is scoped to your organization. Guidance on data, accuracy, and human review is part of every one of them, not an add-on.
AI readiness and leadership advising
For owners, executive directors, school leaders, and leadership teams
Find out how your people already use AI, where it could help, what needs guardrails, and what to do first.
Learn more02Practical AI education and training
For staff teams, leadership groups, boards, and conference audiences
Hands-on sessions built around your real work, so people leave with skills they will use on Monday.
Learn more03Workflow improvement and implementation
For a team with one recurring task that takes too long
Pick one process, map where it gets stuck, test whether AI actually helps, and pilot a better version with clear review steps.
Learn more04Ongoing adoption support
For organizations that have started and want it to stick
Regular check-ins after an assessment, workshop, or pilot so early progress turns into everyday practice.
Learn morePlain steps, at a pace your team can keep
Listen
We start with your work, your people, and your constraints. Not with a tool.
Pick a starting point
One or two places where AI can realistically help, with the risks named plainly.
Learn by doing
Your team practices on real tasks, with clear rules for data and review.
Keep what works
We check whether the work actually improved, and help you build on it.
One workflow, before and after
An illustrative example, not a client story. Picture a nonprofit executive director who spends most of a weekend each month assembling the board update.
Today
- Chase program, finance, and development notes by email
- Copy and paste them into last month’s document
- Rewrite everything into one voice, late at night
- Send it with little time left to check the numbers
With AI assistance and clear review
- Gather. Staff drop short notes into a shared template. Donor names and personal details stay out of the AI tool.
- Draft. An approved AI tool turns the reviewed notes into a first draft in the board’s usual format.
- Review. The executive director checks every fact and figure against the source, fixes tone, and adds judgment the notes could not.
- Approve. The director signs off and sends it. The AI drafted; a person decided.
What changes: less time rebuilding the document, more time on what the board actually needs to hear. What does not change: the executive director is still responsible for every word.
The same pattern works for a small business owner who turns meeting notes into follow-up emails. AI organizes the notes and drafts the messages. The owner reads each one before it is sent.
A practical advisor, not a technologist selling a system
Matt LaFleur is a CPA, entrepreneur, and consultant with nearly 15 years in business advisory, consulting, and organizational leadership. He knows the pressure small organizations and mission-driven teams work under, because he has worked alongside them.
He started Great Lakes AI Institute after seeing that the biggest barrier to useful AI was not the technology. It was that people had not been shown how to use it well, safely, in their own work.
- Panelist, “AI at Work: Building the Hybrid Workforce of the Future,” Greater Cleveland Partnership AI Summit, June 9, 2026
Tools you can use this week, with or without us
Short, practical guides for leaders and teams. Download one and work through it at your next staff or leadership meeting.
AI Readiness Checklist
A self-assessment for leaders. Mark each item yes, partial, or no across six areas, then pick one to three things to do in the next 30 days.
See what is insideRedesign One Workflow
A worksheet for picking one recurring task, finding where it gets stuck, and planning a small, reviewed test of AI assistance.
See what is insideThree Layers of AI Adoption
A short slide guide on why giving people a tool is not the same as adoption. It walks through three layers: using the tool, thinking with it, and redesigning work around it.
See what is insideStart with a 20-minute conversation
Tell us what your organization does, where work is getting stuck, and how your team uses AI today. We will talk through sensible next steps, including when AI is not the right answer yet.
Not a technical demo or a high-pressure sales call. It is a conversation, not a formal assessment or a custom plan.
Send a note instead
Ask a question, describe a workshop you have in mind, or tell us about an event you are planning. Email works fine, and so does a short call.
Emailinfo@greatlakesai.institute
Book a callPick a 20-minute time that works for you
Where we workIn person across Northeast Ohio, and online anywhere.