By Michael Loo, President & CEO, Upbring
I’m still reflecting on how powerful it was to see child wellbeing take center stage at South by Southwest (SXSW), right here in Austin.
What does child wellbeing have to do with a festival dedicated to technology and culture? Everything. Child wellbeing is a right. We all have a responsibility to ensure children grow up safe, loved and cared for.
But to create the change children need, we must work together in new ways. We must challenge the status quo and harness technology to accelerate and scale our impact. That’s the spirit of SXSW and of Upbring.
It felt especially meaningful to join the panel at SVC@SXSW 2025, the only faith-based program officially recognized by SXSW. It was a big moment for child wellbeing on one of the world’s most influential stages for innovation and creativity. And Upbring was there.
From Conversation to Action
“From Possum Trot to the World” was more than a conversation about faith. The March 8 session was about taking action to change the world and the crucial role of technology in driving that social change. I spoke alongside three esteemed faith-driven leaders:
- Bishop W.C. Martin, who helped find forever homes for 77 children in foster care among his congregation in Possum Trot, Texas. When times got tough, they drew upon their unrelenting faith. Their story is now the subject of a new film, Sound of Hope.
- Bishop Aaron Blake, who helped make Brown County the first in Texas with more foster families than children waiting for homes. His faith called upon him to do even more, so he challenged other pastors to do the same. Now with Orphan Care Ambassadors, Bishop Blake helped create technology to support those efforts—as he puts it, building families that love like God.
- Joe Knittig, CEO of the Global Orphan Project, which exists to break the orphan cycle, one child at a time. Joe served as a producer on Sound of Hope and co-developed CarePortal, a real-time, tech-enabled care-sharing platform connecting children in need, families in crisis, and community members with local churches and service partners. CarePortal empowers communities to strengthen families, support reunification, stabilize foster and kinship placements, and accelerate permanency for children across the country.
While our backgrounds differ greatly, my fellow panelists and I share much in common. Upbring has been rooted in Lutheran values since our founding nearly 150 years ago. Faith is the anchor that steadies us when we are facing challenges. Faith is our force multiplier. And we believe in the power of big, bold ideas to change the world for children facing adversity.
Innovation for Impact
From Upbring’s perspective, I spoke about transforming how we care for children and families with real, actionable solutions. One of the biggest problems in the child wellbeing sector is with data. Information is disparate and disaggregated; it exists in different formats and in multiple databases that can’t talk to each other. It’s as if each entity in the industry is speaking a different language—which means we can’t measure, compare or track our progress. How do we look at all that data at the same time to help children?
For years now, Upbring has been tackling such systemic challenges head-on, adding momentum to the movement through constant innovation. We innovate by reimagining child wellbeing and how systems work for the children, families and communities we serve. We ask not what’s broken, but what’s possible. Our solutions push beyond traditional ways of doing and thinking. And we know positive outcomes for children—the kind that can be tracked and measured—are the true test of our success.
Technology has been an essential piece of our strategy to break the cycles of poverty and abuse and create opportunities for families to thrive. Upbring Innovation Labs developed our revolutionary VectorPoint™ tool to measure holistic wellbeing for children with trauma, giving us data that, combined with Upbring’s experience and expertise, help determine what interventions would most help them improve. We’re also using predictive analytics and grassroots community insights to pinpoint where child abuse is likely to happen, down to a city block.
And we’re bringing it all together in our newest community initiative, Upbring Wellbeing Zones. Our Wellbeing Zones will soon launch in Austin and Dallas—but the beauty of scalable solutions is that we can introduce them just about anywhere.
This Is Our Moment
My experience at SVC@SXSW was a powerful reminder that real change for children is not only possible—it’s already in motion. That SXSW devoted an entire session to child wellbeing tells me others are willing to stand with us and do more for our children. I wish to thank all the people and organizations who made this extraordinary moment possible. Together, we are united in love, compassion, and perseverance to advance child wellbeing.
SVC@SXSW was not only a moment for child wellbeing, but also an inflection point for Upbring. It showcased the urgency of our cause, the caliber of our people and our work, and the power of our partnerships. At Upbring, we believe in the power of collaboration to create lasting change. We are working with a range of organizations, within and outside our industry, to amplify our impact in the Texas communities we serve.
We have the faith, the expertise and the technology. Now we need others to show up for children too. Let’s create momentum together: Contact us at https://upbring.org/partnerships.