Providing meals to vulnerable communities

with André Correr

André Correr is the Institutional Relations and Project Manager at Best.Projects. Prior to his role at Best.Projects, Correr served in the public sector in São Paulo for ten years. He received his degree in Public Policy Management from the University of São Paulo.

Episode 13: Providing meals to vulnerable communities

Public Sector Future

Episode summary

In this episode we speak with André Correr, Institutional Relations and Project Manager at Best.Projects, Microsoft’s Government Partner of the Year. Best.Projects was recognized for their innovative work over the past year to deliver food to vulnerable communities in São Paulo, Brazil during the global pandemic. 

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 Microsoft’s Government Partner of the Year – Best.Projects

This podcast marks the final of three special episodes where we explore the work of some of the people and teams instrumental in helping Public Sector organizations deliver.

In this episode we dive into the work of the Microsoft’s Government Partner of the Year, Best.Projects, who was recognized for their innovative work over the past year to deliver food to vulnerable communities in São Paulo, Brazil during the global pandemic.

Feeding vulnerable communities during the pandemic

As a result of the lockdown during the pandemic in 2020, homeless people had less access to food and assistance programs. This posed a big challenge in Brazil, especially in São Paulo, the largest city in the country.

“Because of the pandemic, the São Paulo government had to create emergency actions to support this population. And this is how the project was born,” Correr explained.

“This project distributed three free meals daily to 25,000 people. This is a huge impact in their lives and in human rights,” Correr shared.

That accounted for an estimated 75,000 meals daily.

The steps to implementing and executing this project

The São Paulo government, Best.Projects, and Microsoft came together to implement a solution. Several factors were involved:

• The first action was identifying the people who needed support and registering them. The government made partnerships with municipalities and outreach officials, while Best.Projects used Microsoft’s PowerApps application to collect the identification data for these people.
• The next action was developing a QR code card to issue to this population and to grant them access to restaurants.
• The third action was managing the resources, from the information entered with the platform responsible for controlling QR code cards as well as people registered in the database, and managing meals distributed by restaurants.

Quick turnaround for project execution

This project was developed and executed in a short time frame of three weeks.

“Microsoft technologies delivered to the project velocity, consistency, and organization. Tools such as PowerApps, Power Automate, and Dynamics 365 provided a fast and effective response to the need that required urgency in automation, integration, and process control,” Correr shared.

Advice for other countries looking to implement similar projects

Correr advised governments to partner with professionals who have soft skills related to the challenge proposed, much like the government of São Paulo did in partnering with Best.Projects.

He recommended resiliency and flexibility, especially with scope. And the most important focus is on the citizen.

“When we work with passion, we can change our community, our reality, and consequently, the world,” Correr said.

To find out more:

Learn more about Best.Projects

Microsoft’s 2021 Partner of the Year Winners – Best Projects in Government