Breaking boundaries: Humanitarian sponsorship takes center stage at SXSW

Feature image: At SXSW 2024 (from left), sponsors Max and Bryce Luchterhand with Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US, and Jim Lesser, Chief Brand Officer at ServiceNow.

Welcome.US and ServiceNow bring a breakthrough solution for refugees to #SXSW2024

By Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US

It’s my first time at SXSW, and I’m struck by the depth and breadth of visionary change-makers and imaginative creators this annual festival brings together. Whether tackling global challenges such as climate change and migration, advancements in well-being and healthcare, or the future applications of AI, this gathering reveals and celebrates innovation in all its forms.

Among the ranks of tech pioneers, scientists, artists, and activists, Welcome.US teamed up with ServiceNow to showcase a groundbreaking solution for rising numbers of people displaced by conflict and the climate crisis: community sponsorship of refugee newcomers.

Community sponsorship programs, designed in partnership with the U.S. Government, allow everyday Americans to serve as the bridge to safety for refugees. Sponsors help refugee newcomers come to the United States, meet them at the airport, help them find housing and employment, and meet their other critical needs for getting back on their feet in a new country. Above all, sponsors serve as a friend and a guide to newcomers as they navigate a new country, culture, language, and community. These programs tap into the capacity and compassion of our communities to welcome newcomers safely.

At SXSW 2024, I was privileged to join our partner Jim Lesser, Chief Brand Officer at ServiceNow, and Bryce Luchterhand, a farmer and retired civil servant who currently serves as a sponsor, to bring to life the story of welcome that is unfolding across the country. Bryce recounted how he and his wife Maxine sponsored the Hnatiuk family—Olesia, Mykola, and their boys Roman (6) and Dmytro (3)—fleeing the war in Ukraine. The Hnatiuks found safety with Bryce and Maxine in Unity, Wisc.—a town of 400 that has come together in so many ways to support the Hnaituks and their boys.

The platform connects willing sponsors like the Luchterhands with refugees who need one—safely, securely, and quickly—in ways that honored the responsibility the Luchterhands were taking on and prepared them to do it well. The platform also provided the Hnatiuks the agency to choose their sponsors and bring their boys to safety at a time when so much, in the context of war, was out of their control.

Bryce brought us all to tears as he described the profound need to help that was felt by him and Maxine, and the joy they have experienced in supporting the Hnatiuks through the difficult early days of resettling in a new country to becoming their thriving new neighbors in Unity, Wisc. The discussion underscored the pivotal role played by a forward-thinking tech company that swiftly responded to Welcome.US's call to action amidst the Ukrainian crisis. ServiceNow rapidly mobilized its team and partnered with experts at Welcome.US to build Welcome Connect in six weeks—a marriage of compassion, commitment, expertise, and ingenuity that culminated in the launch of a transformative tool that has now enabled thousands of sponsors across the country to bring refugee newcomers to safety.

If you want to see how the town of Unity, Wisc., came together to welcome the Hnatiuks, watch the Tribeca Film Festival documentary. And, you can get an update on how the Hnatiuk family is doing today, and see many more stories of the transformative impact of sponsorship, here.