In service of empathy
For Children International, the fight against poverty has always been deeply personal. The nonprofit supports families and communities one at a time, building relationships that help break cycles of generational poverty through education and opportunity.
Juan Carlos Donado Zambrano’s journey with Children International began when he was just seven years old, growing up in a community where access to education—and later, technology—could be out of reach. As a sponsored participant, he joined youth programs that helped him build skills and confidence, and eventually began volunteering in the sponsorship relations department. Children International even helped support his English studies, something he credits as a key step in opening doors for his future.
“Our goal is to break the cycle of poverty by providing communities with what they lack. Technology has helped us save time and provide more human-to-human interactions,” says Juan Carlos Donado Zambrano, Sponsorship Relations, Children International Colombia.
Copilot and other Microsoft tools give us the time to be more into the needs of the community.
Today, at 38, Juan has spent the last 15 years working for Children International—first as an internal translator and now as part of the sponsorship relations team that keeps sponsors and children connected. He translates letters back and forth, supports communication around special donations and packages, and helps ensure every message meets the organization’s guidelines before it reaches a family or sponsor. As the work has shifted from paper letters to digital tools, Juan has helped embrace new systems that make the process faster and more efficient.
Juan’s story demonstrates lasting progress built through consistent, personal support, and the need is huge. Tens of thousands of children are still waiting for sponsorship each month, alongside millions more worldwide living in extreme poverty. But every moment of connection depends on a vast amount of time-consuming documentation, reporting, and coordination.
“The efficiencies we gain through technology are reinvested directly into children—more workshops, more facilitators, more time,” says Hermelinda Guarin, Agency Director, Children International Colombia.
Historically, the organization has strived to increase the number of children it serves without increasing costs, but this work has taken valuable time away from their mission. Recognizing that too much of the day was being consumed by administrative tasks, Children International saw an opportunity to use tech to give staff more time to focus on outreach.
Freeing people to focus on people
Working with Microsoft partner eGroup Enabling Technologies, Children International rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot to nearly 500 staff members around the world. Field teams were trained to apply Copilot to real, local challenges. Program managers used it to analyze large volumes of documents that once took weeks or months to review. And fundraising teams leaned on Copilot to align grant applications more closely with active programs. Staff across departments used it to draft communications, summarize meetings, and surface insights more quickly.
“There is no comparison in speed from where we were to where we are today. Proofs of concept that used to take months are now done in days,” says John Sudduth, Director of Application Development Support and Delivery, Children International.
For example, when new program notes, reports, and partner updates come in, staff can ask Copilot to pull key themes, surface open questions, and draft a clean summary for the team—turning dense documentation into a starting point for action.
Over time, Copilot became part of daily work—as a support layer across familiar Microsoft 365 apps. This created faster work and far less friction for everyone. Tasks that once slowed momentum were streamlined, and information became easier to access. Staff reclaimed time to spend listening, mentoring, planning, and building trust with the communities. To help it stick, teams shared prompts and before-and-after examples, and early adopters acted as go-to guides—bringing questions from the field back to the rollout team so guidance could keep improving in real time.
For us, human connections matter. That human-to-human connection—it’s the basis of everything we do.
Making connections easier across borders
Children International teams collaborate across countries, cultures, and languages, and for a global organization, language can be a bridge and a barrier. With Copilot helping teams capture meeting notes, summarize discussions, and draft follow-ups faster, cross-border work becomes smoother—so staff spend less time reconstructing context and more time acting on it.
“Technology allows us to bring people together—children, families, facilitators, and supporters—and deepen those human relationships,” says Tim Bachta, VP of Information Technology, Children International.
Instead of getting slowed down by note-taking and follow-up documentation, teams can focus on clearer conversations and next steps, making collaboration feel more human and supportive across regions. Staff use Copilot to categorize and analyze thousands of program documents—work that previously required extended review cycles can now be completed far more quickly, sometimes within a day. That kind of shift accelerates operations and changes what’s possible. Across the organization, Microsoft 365 Copilot supports everyday work in familiar Microsoft 365 apps, helping teams streamline routine tasks while keeping human decision-making firmly at the center.
Small efficiencies, real-world impact
On paper, the benefits of Copilot show up as productivity gains—hours saved, documents processed faster, workflows simplified. But for Children International, those efficiencies translate into something much bigger. They mean more capacity to support children waiting for sponsorship, more time to design programs that respond to real community needs, and more space for creativity, care, and long-term thinking.
In practice, that reclaimed time shows up in small moments with real weight—faster follow-ups after community visits, clearer handoffs between teams, and more attention on the details that help programs stay responsive to what families are asking for now.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunities Children International has given me, and the opportunity to grow personally, professionally,” says Juan.
Grounded in dignity, connection, and opportunity, Children International adopted Copilot to support its values. By reducing the cognitive load of everyday tasks, Copilot helped staff show up more fully for the work that requires empathy and creativity.
