2024-04-17 16:03:50
Summary: The organization Agape Source administra in Orlando Welcome, which serves international students, temporary workers from other countries and refugees in Florida, in the United States. The nonprofit operates with a staff of just three people plus volunteers and needed ways to be more efficient. They then started using Microsoft Copilot, the AI-powered chat assistant, to get more done, faster. Now, the NGO is increasing the number of people it supports with the help of generative AI.
São Paulo, April 17, 2024 – Moving from another country to the United States can be a stressful and overwhelming experience. That’s why Agape Source, a Florida-based nonprofit that operates Orlando Welcome, supports international students, temporary foreign workers in the U.S., and refugees. The team, plus a network of volunteers, care for people physically and emotionally, with actions ranging from welcoming new arrivals at the airport to planning tourist trips, including negotiating medical bills and connecting with immigration support services.
“We help people see the true heart of the American people,” says Joel Ramjohn, president of Agape Source. “We showed them that we are a generous nation.”
With a staff of just three full-time employees, the nonprofit looked for ways to do more for the people it supports. To do this, they incorporated Microsoft Copilot, the generative AI chat assistant that replicates users’ questions with full answers, not just links, so they can multiply their creativity and productivity.
Agape Source has been using the tool for about six months to support a growing international community in Orlando, making newcomers feel at home. “Copilot is a force multiplier,” says Ramjohn. “AI does a lot of the heavy lifting so the people we help don’t fall between the cracks.”
Volunteer training
Agape Source’s nearly 40 volunteers are vital for providing care packages to newcomers, connecting clients to foster services, helping during emergencies, and many other things that make people feel welcome.
Clients come from 19 countries, forming a richly diverse community that requires volunteers to learn about the places and contexts from which people come. Volunteers have a “conversation” with Copilot, for example, asking questions about political conflicts in a country from which a refugee has just arrived or questioning the most popular recipes in an international student’s hometown. The process takes much less time than combing through news articles and websites, and linked footnotes allow volunteers to easily find the source of information that Copilot summarizes. “AI helps us understand what people are going through. It’s a game changer for volunteers,” says Ramjohn.
AI also enables volunteers to communicate with people in their native language. They ask the Copilot to translate while they’re in the field, helping with everything from chit-chat at a holiday party to directions to helping newcomers fix a flat tire. Ramjohn says the AI chat assistant’s translation capabilities are “quite accurate, allowing the people we serve to learn about our culture and helping us learn about theirs.” AI has made volunteers more confident that they can help, even when faced with a language barrier.”
Today, Microsoft Copilot’s accurate responses help volunteers meet the wide range of sensitive needs of international students, workers, and refugees. “In the past, the bottleneck was finding solutions to international problems, but now from roommate conflicts to visa concerns and even human trafficking, it helps,” says Ramjohn. “Generative AI plays a critical role in being able to serve people in this time of vulnerability. Copilot helps us find and communicate the resources these people need and prevent crises,” he says.
Do more, better and faster
Over the past year, Agape Source’s employee roster has dwindled. “We do a lot with a team of just three people and a few volunteers,” says Ramjohn. “To improve our performance in pre-COVID reach numbers, Copilot plays a significant role”, explains the president of the humanitarian institution.
The Agape Source team can now serve more customers in less time than before adopting Microsoft Copilot. For example, the nonprofit provides Christmas care packages to hundreds of people, many of whom feel isolated while spending the holidays away from home and family. Recently, Agape Source asked the chat assistant for a quote and the types of items people most appreciate receiving, then asked where to find them. Copilot quickly organized a shopping list and nearby store locations to purchase supplies.
With additional commands, Copilot was able to customize care package lists so it was possible to send special gifts or food that reminded refugees of their homeland. Result: Volunteers completed the initiative – which would normally take several weeks to prepare, organize and carry out – in less than a day, thanks to the AI-powered assistant.
“Copilot complements our strengths and frees up our time,” explains Ramjohn. With this time saved, staff and volunteers can work on big goals, like opening a community center or simply having a cup of tea with a lonely customer.
Ramjohn plans to continue to incorporate generative AI into even more aspects of the nonprofit, including the addition of Copilot for Microsoft 365. AI will continue to accelerate Agape Source’s growth, he says. “Copilot has been transformative for us. It’s helping us meet people’s need to feel welcome,” he concludes.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft)’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Present in 190 countries, with 122 subsidiaries, the company is a leader in innovation and the development of promising technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud applications. In Brazil for 35 years, Microsoft has an ecosystem of more than 25 thousand partners. In this way, the company maintains a robust, highly efficient business structure, which also has a Transparency Center, which aims to promote reliable and secure computing, the Advanced Technology Laboratory (ATL – Advanced Technology Lab), and the Microsoft Technology (MTC – Microsoft Technology Center), in operation in Brazil since January 2012. With the aim of contributing to actions capable of preparing professionals for the digital economy, reducing inequalities and promoting inclusion in the country, Microsoft also launched in 2020 the Microsoft Mais Brasil Plan, which has, among its pillars, the training of professionals for the technology market, an essential condition for promoting the digital transformation of Brazilian companies. From July 2020, when the Mais Brasil plan was established, until March 2024, 12.5 million people were reached with different free professional qualification and requalification initiatives.
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