Hugo de Sousa Leverages Tech to Support Those Fleeing War in Ukraine

Regardless of political affiliations, businesses and volunteers throughout the world are coming together at full speed to provide urgent support for the citizens of Ukraine who are fleeing the war.

In one of the newest examples, London-based entrepreneur and strategist, Hugo de Sousa, has aligned a set of developers, organizations, and volunteers to create WeHelpUkraine.org, a nonprofit platform to match refugee families from Ukraine with host families and organizations through the world that are able to provide them with resources of all kinds.

In a model similar to dating sites and vacation property rentals, We Help Ukraine lets people create profiles and requests for the resources they need such transportation, airfare, and temporary housing accommodations. Organizations and individuals can also register profiles as host families, to provide financial help, or can specify other resources they are able to offer (like fulfilling volunteer shifts to match refugees and resource providers). The platform was created in less than 24 hours, and since then, thousands of people from different parts of the world have been contributing, and the President of the Republic of Portugal even voiced his support in a video message.

The program is not intended to replace government funded resources, but rather, is a way to match up those who need immediate help and those who have available resources as an effective way to provide and receive the forms of support they most urgently need. The site also invites the support of volunteers who can take shifts to answer incoming phone calls to help providers and recipients to make efficient use of the site.

Program creator Hugo de Sousa is an innovation strategist with 20 years’ experience in consulting private and government organizations, including Capita Plc, BearingPoint, Lionbridge, Arthur D. Little, Gfi and Portuguese Government Justice and Tourism sectors. Born in Lisbon, de Sousa resides in London, via Dublin. He’s appeared on CNN in several countries so far to talk about the new platform, which has received tremendous response so far.

Sponsoring organizations for We Help Ukraine include the Kaizen Institute, Outsystems, TalkDesk, EntraJuda, Innovation by Kaizen, Uddan, Teleperformance, Ivity, the Faculdade de Design-Universidade Europena, and Icste Executive Education. For more information, to sponsor or to volunteer, readers can visit WeHelpUkraine.org or email ask@WeHelpUkraine.org.