Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to support employee training, giving sales and customer service professionals new ways to practice workplace conversations before interacting with customers. AI-powered role-play platforms can provide consistent practice opportunities, immediate feedback, and performance insights that complement traditional coaching and onboarding programs.

Stevie-winner Second Nature developed an AI-powered training platform that enables sales and customer service teams to practice realistic customer interactions with conversational AI avatars. Users can rehearse sales pitches, product demonstrations, customer support conversations, slide presentations, and video calls while receiving objective feedback and performance scores designed to help improve future conversations.

Building Consistent Training Experiences
Second Nature's platform is available 24 hours a day in 27 languages and supports multiple role-play formats. A recently introduced AI-powered course-creation assistant lets training leaders quickly generate new courses, while integrations with Salesforce, Active Directory, and learning management systems help organizations incorporate the platform into existing training workflows.

Managers can use reporting dashboards to monitor trainee progress, identify where additional support may be needed, and spend less time conducting role-play evaluations themselves.

Customer Examples
Organizations across a range of industries have implemented Second Nature as part of their sales and customer service training programs.

SAP Academy reported that employees reached proficiency faster while increasing opportunities and sales volume without adding training resources. GoHealth incorporated the platform into training for its Medicare sales teams, reporting shorter onboarding times and improved sales performance. Spa World reported increased sales closing rates and reduced onboarding time after adding Second Nature to its training program.

OneVision Resources also reported operational benefits. One Customer Support Leader said the platform let him spend more time on his primary responsibilities instead of remaining available for training. An Instructional Designer described the platform as an extension of the training team, citing increased practice time and more consistent role-play experiences.

Second Nature highlighted an academic study conducted by researchers at the University of Houston in collaboration with United Rentals. The study examined the impact of AI-powered role-play training on more than 2,000 outside sales representatives and contributed to ongoing research on how AI-assisted practice may support sales performance.

Second Nature won a Silver Stevie® Award for AI-Powered Sales or Service Solution – New or New Version in the 2026 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Interested in entering for 2027?

Navigating the US healthcare system—insurance coverage plans, government agencies, pharmacies, and medical providers— can be challenging. While many organizations have introduced automation to improve efficiency, personalized support still plays an important role in helping people understand their benefits and access the care they need.

LaborFirst provides healthcare navigation and advocacy services for unions, employers, and their members. Its Member Advocacy Services team serves as a single point of contact for healthcare-related questions, helping members understand their coverage, coordinate with providers and insurance carriers, resolve billing issues, and make the most of their benefit plans.

Combining Personal Support With Practical Solutions
LaborFirst's advocacy team includes more than 180 US-based employees dedicated to member support. Advocates assist with everyday needs such as locating specialists, arranging mail-order prescriptions, and confirming prescription coverage, while also helping members navigate more complex situations, including prior authorizations, network changes, and major medical procedures.

The team completes extensive onboarding and annual geriatric-sensitivity training, and many Advocates are bilingual. A HIPAA-compliant translation service supporting more than 300 languages helps extend assistance to members with diverse language needs.

Unlike many traditional call centers, LaborFirst measures Advocates on service quality rather than call length or quotas, allowing them to spend as much time as needed with each member. The organization also emphasizes proactive outreach, with Advocates making nearly twice as many outbound calls as inbound to help resolve issues before they become larger problems.

Improving the Member Experience
In 2024 and 2025, LaborFirst's Member Advocacy Services team resolved more than 550,000 member cases. Since 2022, the team has also helped close more than 9,000 gaps in care by encouraging preventive screenings, annual exams, vaccinations, and chronic care programs.

The company's approach has also resulted in consistently high member satisfaction, maintaining a Net Promoter Score (NPS) above 90 each month since 2022.

Individual member stories illustrate the practical impact of the team's work. Advocates have helped members recover incorrectly billed healthcare costs, secure approvals for critical medical procedures, and obtain financial assistance for high-cost prescription medications by coordinating with healthcare providers, pharmacies, and nonprofit organizations.

Expanding Healthcare Advocacy Services
In 2025, LaborFirst expanded its advocacy model by introducing HealthActive for active employees and early retirees, along with RetireeFirst for Individuals, broadening access to its healthcare navigation services.

While technology helps reduce administrative work, LaborFirst's model emphasizes direct human interaction. By giving Advocates the time and resources to build relationships, answer questions, and guide members through complex healthcare decisions, the organization aims to provide support that extends beyond a traditional customer service experience.

LaborFirst won a Silver Stevie® Award for Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year – Other Service Industries in the 2026 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Interested in entering for 2027? 

As businesses increasingly rely on specialized platforms for customer service and technical development, keeping information flowing between them can become a challenge in itself. Grazitti Interactive is addressing that gap with Sinergify, its integration platform designed to connect customer-facing and technical teams more efficiently.

Stevie-winner Grazitti Interactive is a global digital innovation company that helps organizations transform marketing, sales, and customer support through technology. Operating across North America, Europe, and Asia, the company works across major cloud ecosystems including Salesforce, Adobe, HubSpot, Marketo, and Khoros, while also developing its own enterprise software products.

Connecting Customer Service and Technical Teams
Among those products is Sinergify, a native, zero-code connector between Salesforce and Jira. The platform enables information to move between the two systems in real time, helping support teams working in Salesforce collaborate with engineering and product teams working in Jira without relying on disconnected processes or repeated manual updates. Recent Sinergify enhancements have focused on security, automation, artificial intelligence, and usability.

For organizations using Jira Service Management, Sinergify provides greater control over how it synchronizes public and private comments with Salesforce. This allows teams to maintain appropriate boundaries around internal information while keeping customer-facing communication current.

The platform has also expanded its authentication capabilities, including support for OAuth 2.0, Google Single Sign-On, and Personal Access Tokens for Jira Server and Data Center environments. These additions support organizations with increasingly complex security and compliance requirements.

Bringing AI and Automation into the Workflow
AI is also playing a larger role in the integration. Through Salesforce Agentforce, users can perform Jira-related tasks from within Salesforce, including creating and linking issues, adding comments, searching for information, and generating summaries. This approach brings technical information closer to customer service teams without requiring them to constantly switch between platforms.

Automation features further address the divide between technical incidents and customer support. Jira issues associated with application or infrastructure incidents can generate corresponding Salesforce support cases, helping relevant teams coordinate their response and communicate more efficiently.

Additional improvements give administrators more control over fields, layouts, default values, and supporting information. Sinergify can also surface similar existing cases as new Salesforce records are created, helping users identify possible duplicates and maintain more consistent data.

Breaking Down Operational Silos
Together, these capabilities reflect a broader challenge facing digital enterprises: customer service, engineering, and product teams may use different specialized systems, but customers experience their work as a single organization. Integrations such as Sinergify are designed to make those internal boundaries less visible by allowing information and context to move more readily between teams.

Sinergify is available through both the Salesforce AppExchange and Atlassian Marketplace and is used across industries including technology, SaaS, manufacturing, cybersecurity, and business services. Its continued development reflects Grazitti Interactive’s focus on using integration, automation, and AI to improve collaboration across increasingly complex enterprise technology environments.

Grazitti Interactive won a Bronze Stevie Award for Best Customer Support Solution - New Or New Version in the 2026 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Interested in entering for 2027?

Temu launched in the United States in September 2022 to make quality, affordable products accessible through a streamlined supply chain.

By connecting shoppers directly with manufacturers, Temu helps cut out the layers of middlemen that typically add cost between factory and consumer, bringing prices closer to what retailers themselves pay before markup. Temu now serves customers in more than 90 markets, ranking among the most visited e-commerce platforms globally.

A New Way to Sell
In 2024, Temu launched its Local Seller Program to expand beyond cross-border commerce and support local businesses and fulfillment. Now active in more than 35 markets, the program was designed to help businesses of all sizes grow online by reducing barriers to entry, improving customer discovery, and providing tools to support daily operations.

As competition among e-commerce platforms has intensified over the years, some marketplaces have grown increasingly “pay-to-play,” where visibility now depends less on product quality and more on advertising budget.

For a small business without media spend to match, that can mean disappearing from search results altogether. Temu’s answer was a discovery-based model built around no registration fees, a fast setup process, and product visibility driven by what shoppers actually search for rather than who pays the most for placement.

Results Across Categories
Temu's marketplace spans 700 product categories, giving local sellers — whatever they make or sell — a place to reach customers. The benefits look different from one seller to the next. Through growth on Temu, sellers report reaching new customer segments, expanding market reach, generating new revenue streams, and reinvesting online growth into offline operations such as local hiring, warehouse expansion, and improved customer support.

For example, TCG Empire, a Kentucky-based collectible card seller, reached 74,000 orders within six months of joining and became Temu's top local seller in Games & Accessories. Demand grew so fast that the company opened a 4,000-square-foot warehouse to keep up with orders, and they now fulfill up to 1,000 shipments a day.

Another local seller success story is Toyiah Marquis’s Patch Party Club, which she founded as a creative outlet that grew into a brick-and-mortar store in Illinois. In the store, customers can customize apparel with embroidered patches, host “patch parties,” and build community around self-expression. But, like with most physical businesses, Patch Party Club’s growth ran into the limits of geography. Toyiah took the business online and started selling on Temu in 2025. Within her first three weeks on Temu, she sold more than 300 patches, including her viral “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” patch, with nearly 90% of that volume coming from new customers.

But not every seller who joins the program is new to the e-commerce space. For some, Temu is a new engine inside an already established e-commerce operation. PopMarket, a Florida-based collectibles brand owned by Nasdaq-listed Alliance Entertainment, saw Temu become its fastest-growing digital marketplace in more than a decade.

Support Built to Scale
Behind these successful sellers sits infrastructure that most small and mid-sized businesses couldn’t build on their own. Temu works with local logistics partners and payment providers to support reliable delivery and secure transactions and provides dedicated seller support, campaign tools, direct customer engagement features and enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrations. Its Shopify app opens Temu’s marketplace to millions of small businesses, and partnerships with providers like Rithum, ShipStation and ShipBob support order management and fulfillment. Sellers can also use the Temu Seller Academy, a free hub of training materials, and contact a human support team rather than a chatbot when questions come up.

Delivering Value and Trust for Consumers
Consumers feel the difference too. A 2025 Ipsos survey found Temu shoppers saved an average of 26% globally, with about eight in 10 saying the platform offers good value for money and 75% saying they’d likely recommend it to others.

As Temu approaches its fourth year in the United States, its investment in scalable infrastructure, broad market access, and customer value continues to shape its growth.

Temu earned a Gold Stevie Award for Business Development Achievement of the Year - Digital Commerce Enablement in the 2026 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Interested in entering for the 2027 program? 

In today's competitive marketplace, organizations are constantly looking for ways to differentiate themselves, build credibility, and demonstrate their expertise. While many companies focus heavily on marketing and brand awareness, business awards can provide independent validation that helps organizations stand out with customers, employees, partners, and investors.

During the second Women|Future Webinar of 2026, Your Competitive Edge: How Earning Business Awards Boosts Recognition, business leaders shared practical advice on using awards strategically—from selecting the right categories and preparing stronger nominations to maximizing the value of recognition after winning.

The Women|Future Webinars are an annual series of free webinars hosted by the Stevie® Awards, designed for women small business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in starting or growing a business. The final session of the Women|Future Webinar series will take place on August 12, leading up to the 23rd Stevie Awards for Women in Business, which is now accepting nominations.

The second webinar took place on July 15, 2026, and featured the following leaders:

• Heather Marano, Founder and Director, Green Door Co. and AwardGenie
• Tun Kim Ong, General Manager, IBM Manufacturing Solutions Ltd.
• Rosanna Santiago, Founder and CEO, Wild Vines Marketing Inc.
  

Awards Are More Than Recognition
One of the strongest themes throughout the discussion was that business awards should be viewed as strategic business tools rather than simply marketing achievements.

Heather Marano explained that many organizations underestimate how much awards can contribute to long-term business growth. "Most business owners—especially women—tend to underestimate how competitive their achievements are," she said. "You've got to throw your hat in the ring. More often than not, you're far more competitive than you think."

Rather than focusing solely on the trophy itself, Marano encouraged organizations to consider how awards support broader business objectives such as attracting investors, recruiting top talent, building partnerships, or strengthening customer trust.

"We've had clients get acquired, secure investment, build government partnerships, and attract corporate sponsors through consistent awards recognition," she said. "Awards are really powerful from a return-on-investment perspective."

Tell a Story—Then Back It Up with Evidence
The panelists emphasized that strong award nominations balance compelling storytelling with measurable results. Instead of relying on broad statements such as having an excellent workplace culture or outstanding customer service, applicants should support those claims with evidence.

"If you're going to say you've built an excellent team culture or that you're customer-focused, everyone else is saying something similar," Marano said. "The question is: how can you substantiate it?"

Metrics such as employee retention, customer satisfaction scores, revenue growth, operational improvements, and client testimonials help judges understand the real impact behind an organization's accomplishments.

Marano also recommended maintaining an ongoing record of achievements throughout the year rather than trying to remember accomplishments just before an entry deadline.

Think Like a Judge
Drawing on her experience as both a Stevie Awards winner and judge, Tun Kim Ong shared insight into what judges look for when reviewing nominations.

Because judges often evaluate dozens of entries, clarity is essential. "Use simple language. Be concise. Avoid jargon," Ong said. "If a judge has to reread your paragraph to understand it, you've already made their job harder."

She also noted that simply listing responsibilities or accomplishments is rarely enough: "What makes you stand out is how you articulate your achievements, how you quantify them, and what differentiates you from the other nominations."

Ong encouraged applicants to begin preparing well before the deadline, so they have time to gather supporting evidence and refine their submissions.

Use AI as a Tool, Not a Substitute
Artificial intelligence (AI) also entered the conversation, with panelists agreeing that AI can help organize ideas but should not replace authentic storytelling.

"Use AI for your first draft," Ong advised. "But your final submission needs to be your own."

Marano agreed, noting that judges are increasingly seeing generic AI-generated entries that sound similar to one another. "AI can help organize information," she said, "but you still need to provide the achievements, the evidence, and the authentic voice that make your story unique."

The panelists recommended using AI to brainstorm or structure content while ensuring the final submission accurately reflects the applicant's own accomplishments and writing style.

Winning Is Only the Beginning
Recognition should not mark the end of the process, the speakers said. Organizations can continue building credibility by incorporating award recognition into websites, proposals, email signatures, social media, media outreach, and recruiting efforts.

"People need to know about it," Marano said. "Don't stop once you've won. Amplify it."

For Ong, awards have also created opportunities beyond marketing. "Getting an award is not the final destination," she said. "It's the start of many things."

She said award recognition had opened doors to speaking engagements, mentoring opportunities, and new professional connections while establishing credibility before conversations even begin.

One Final Piece of Advice: Don't Let Self-Doubt Stop You
When asked to share one takeaway for attendees considering entering business awards, the panelists delivered a consistent message: don't let self-doubt stop you from applying.

"Doing great work is no longer enough," Ong said. "You must also be seen, be recognized, and be remembered for your great work."

Santiago echoed that encouragement, reminding attendees that every successful applicant starts by taking the first step.

"If you don't win the first time, you'll still receive valuable feedback," she said. "Take the chance. You'll be glad you did."

For more than three decades, Yolanda M. Smith has helped professionals and organizations strengthen their brands, communicate their value, and achieve measurable results.

As founder of Branding 4 Success, a business consulting and professional development firm, Smith works with entrepreneurs, corporate professionals, and organizations seeking to increase visibility, influence, and long-term growth.

Drawing on experience in leadership, coaching, communications, and business strategy, she has developed programs to help individuals build stronger personal brands and to support organizations in developing high-performing teams and leaders.

From Corporate Leadership to Entrepreneurship
Before launching Branding 4 Success in 2018, Smith held leadership positions at major organizations including Eli Lilly and Company and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Throughout her corporate career, she led initiatives focused on customer engagement, brand strategy, leadership development, and communications.

Her experiences navigating corporate leadership without the benefit of formal mentors or sponsors helped shape her perspective on professional advancement. Those challenges inspired her to create opportunities for others to develop confidence, communicate their value effectively, and pursue leadership roles with greater clarity.

Since founding Branding 4 Success, Smith has worked with professionals at all career stages, as well as organizations seeking to strengthen leadership pipelines and employee development programs. Through workshops, coaching engagements, and leadership development programs, Smith helps clients align personal branding with business strategy and career growth.

Her approach combines professional development, leadership coaching, communication skills, and business strategy rather than focusing solely on personal branding, allowing clients to address multiple aspects of professional success.

Expanding Her Reach Through Events, Books, and Media
In 2024, Smith hosted the BRANDfluence Live Experience, bringing together entrepreneurs and professionals from across the country for discussions focused on personal branding, visibility, and business growth.

The event coincided with the release of her third book, BRANDfluence: Ignite Your Brand Power On Social Media, a strategic social media guide. It provides a blueprint for entrepreneurs, coaches, and business owners to transform their online presence into a magnetic force that drives measurable engagement, influence, and revenue.

Continuing to Support Entrepreneurs and Leaders
Since receiving recognition in the Stevie Awards, Smith has continued expanding her work with entrepreneurs and corporate clients. She recently participated in the NASDAQ Mentoring Circles Initiative, supporting women entrepreneurs as they work to strengthen their businesses and professional visibility.

She has also expanded partnerships with credit unions, providing leadership development and brand strategy training, and launched The Brand & Scale Collective, an executive-level program designed for established coaches and entrepreneurs seeking sustainable growth and stronger business infrastructure.

Alongside her branding and coaching work, Smith also helps entrepreneurs better understand legal protections and business risk management, providing guidance on issues such as contracts, intellectual property, and business safeguards.

Yolanda M. Smith won a Silver Stevie® Award for Mentor or Coach of the Year – Business in the 2025 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

Interested in entering for 2026?

Kate McAfoose, PE, serves as President of Chang Robotics, an engineering firm specializing in advanced manufacturing, collaborative robotics, and automation. With 15 years of engineering experience, she oversees the company's operations, including sales, client engagement, engineering, and financial performance, while leading projects focused on improving workforce productivity through human-centered automation.

Robotics for Healthcare
One of McAfoose's primary initiatives is Curabotics, a healthcare division of Chang Robotics that she co-founded to help address labor shortages through robotics and automation. The division develops autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that perform logistical tasks such as transporting supplies, linens, pharmacy items, and waste throughout hospitals, allowing nurses to spend more time providing direct patient care.

Working with a leading hospital network, McAfoose and her team developed the Nurse-Assist Bot system after collaborating with nurses to better understand their day-to-day challenges. The resulting solution reduced the distance nurses walked during a 12-hour shift by approximately 15%, thereby lessening physical demands and improving operational efficiency. Following the initial pilot, the hospital requested deployment across all patient floors, representing a 150% expansion of the program.

The technology has also demonstrated measurable operational benefits. Curabotics reports a 96% adoption rate within 90 days of deployment, while the combination of reduced staff turnover and more efficient patient discharge processes has the potential to generate over a million dollars in savings for participating hospitals.

Automation in Manufacturing
In manufacturing, McAfoose has overseen large-scale automation projects designed to improve workplace safety and productivity. In 2021, Chang Robotics partnered with a global food and beverage company to implement what the company describes as the world's largest autonomous robotic system within a one-million-square-foot facility.

The project achieved a tenfold improvement in ergonomics, a threefold increase in task safety, and contributed to a near-zero Total Recordable Incident Rate. The company also retained 90% of its workforce by transitioning employees into technician roles while continuing to improve system performance.

Supporting Innovation and Community Engagement
Beyond engineering projects, McAfoose has helped establish a broader innovation strategy at Chang Robotics. The company donates 10% of its profits to charities and mission-aligned startups and has invested in several robotics, artificial intelligence, and medical technology companies. Employees also dedicate a portion of their billable hours each year to volunteer work supporting local nonprofits and community organizations.

Since submitting her nomination, McAfoose and the Curabotics team have continued expanding the healthcare initiative by hosting demonstrations of the Nurse-Assist Bot system for hospital executives and healthcare leaders at Jacksonville University.

Those demonstrations have led to commitments for additional pilot programs, while Curabotics also secured investment to support continued product development and commercialization.

Kate McAfoose won two Gold Stevie® Awards for Achievement in Technology Innovation and Most Innovative Woman of the Year – Technology in the 2025 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

Interested in entering for 2026?

As co-owner of Property Mastermind, one of Australia's leading property development education platforms, Hilary Saxton has built a career helping people navigate the often complex world of property investment and development. Through mentoring, education, podcasting, and business leadership, she has worked to make property development more accessible while encouraging others to pursue goals they may not have previously thought possible.

Saxton's path to business leadership was shaped by significant personal challenges. Raised on a farm in New Zealand as one of seven children, she experienced adversity early in life, including becoming a teenage mother and later surviving domestic violence. Those experiences became a catalyst for personal change and ultimately influenced her commitment to helping others build confidence and create new opportunities for themselves.

Before entering the property sector, Saxton established a successful career as a personal trainer and coach. After transforming her own health and losing more than 100 kilograms, she spent years helping clients overcome barriers and develop healthier lifestyles. That coaching background would later become a foundation for her work mentoring aspiring property developers and business owners.

Building Property Mastermind
Her interest in property began through renovation projects, eventually leading to more than 20 successful developments. Today, she serves as co-owner and business manager of Property Mastermind, where she helps oversee programs designed to guide members through the development process. Since 2023, more than 300 members have participated in the program, with approximately 90% successfully completing a development project.

In recent years, Saxton has expanded her business activities through Urban Ultra Development, a property investment company focused on residential, retirement, industrial, and NDIS housing projects. Current developments include a 99-home community alongside the Greg Norman Golf Course, reflecting a broader focus on creating both investment opportunities and community infrastructure.

Sharing Lessons Through Books and Podcasts
Beyond property development, Saxton has also developed a growing presence as an author and podcast host. In 2023, she published 3 Wines In, a book that draws on her personal experiences to encourage women to overcome self-doubt and pursue meaningful change.

The same year, she launched the Bounce Back Better podcast, which explores themes of resilience, personal growth, and entrepreneurship. The podcast complements the established Property Mastermind Podcast, which has attracted listeners interested in property development, investing, and business education.

Saxton is also a frequent speaker whose presentations often combine practical business lessons with personal stories about perseverance and reinvention. Across her various ventures, a common theme emerges: helping people move beyond perceived limitations and take action toward goals that may initially seem out of reach.

Hilary Saxton won two Silver Stevie Awards for Maverick of the Year and for Most Innovative Woman of the Year – Property Industry, and Bronze Stevie Awards for Book of the Year and for Most Innovative Business Podcast by or for Women in the 2025 Stevie® Awards for Women in Business.

Interested in entering for 2026?

What began as a simple Facebook page connecting neighbors in Seymour, Texas, has grown into a valuable support organization. Through volunteerism, creative problem-solving, and a commitment to helping others, Seymour Helping Hands has transformed lives by addressing food insecurity, supporting families, assisting seniors, and creating a welcoming space where the community can come together.

In just a few years, the nonprofit has expanded from a small online initiative into a certified community organization that demonstrates how local leadership and dedicated volunteers can create meaningful change.

Restoring a Community Resource
One of Seymour Helping Hands' most significant accomplishments was transforming a severely damaged building into a thriving Community Center. Once plagued by a collapsed roof and extensive water damage, the building was renovated almost entirely through volunteer efforts.

Today, it operates as a Level 2 certified facility through the State of Texas, providing a safe, welcoming place where residents can access services, attend meetings, and connect with one another.

The center also serves as a gathering place for organizations including Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and other community groups, strengthening the organization's role as a hub for support, recovery, and connection.

Meeting Everyday Needs With Practical Solutions
Seymour Helping Hands focuses on helping families meet immediate needs while preserving dignity and independence.

Its Community Pantry has provided food, hygiene products, and household essentials to more than 700 families experiencing financial hardship. To expand that support, the organization launched its Bread Program in 2024, distributing more than 2,100 loaves of bread and bread products within its first six months.

The organization also operates the New2U program, which redistributes donated household goods, clothing, furniture, utensils, and appliances to local families at no cost. Since its expansion, the program has assisted more than 200 families, helping residents furnish homes and replace essential household items without additional financial strain.

Recognizing the needs of young families, Seymour Helping Hands also established a Parent Pantry that provides diapers, wipes, baby formula, and baby food to parents facing difficult circumstances.

Supporting Seniors and Strengthening Community Connections
Beyond providing material assistance, Seymour Helping Hands has introduced programs designed to improve safety and reduce social isolation. Its Senior Safety Program installs free emergency key lockboxes in seniors' homes, allowing first responders to gain rapid access during medical emergencies when doors may be locked.

The organization complements this initiative with Senior Socials, organizing outings such as theater matinees and holiday light tours that encourage friendship, reduce loneliness, and help older adults remain connected to their community. Additional partnerships, including work with the American Red Cross to distribute smoke alarms, further enhance home safety for residents.

Powered by Volunteers
Despite operating with a relatively small volunteer team of approximately 10 to 20 people—including young volunteers as young as seven years old—Seymour Helping Hands delivers an impressive range of services.

Volunteers contribute more than 2,000 hours each year supporting pantry distributions, renovation projects, outreach events, holiday celebrations, scholarship fundraising, and community programs.

The organization continues to expand its partnerships with schools, churches, and local organizations while developing new initiatives, including plans for an inclusive community park where people of all ages and abilities can gather and play.

Its continued growth demonstrates how a grassroots organization can create lasting community impact through collaboration, compassion, and a shared commitment to serving neighbors.

Seymour Helping Hands won a Silver Stevie® Award for Organization of the Year – Government or Non-Profit – 10 or Less Employees in the 2025 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

Interested in entering for the 2026 program? 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a future consideration—it is already transforming the way organizations operate, compete, and innovate.

During the first Women|Future Webinar of 2026, "Future-Proofing Your Organization: Crafting an AI Strategy to Navigate Risks and Unlock New Opportunities," industry leaders explored how organizations can develop practical AI strategies, balance innovation with risk, and prepare their workforce for a rapidly evolving future.

The Women|Future Webinars are an annual series of free webinars hosted by the Stevie® Awards, designed for women small business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in starting a business.

The first webinar took place on June 17, 2026 and featured insights from past Stevie Award-winning women from leading global organizations. Speakers included:

• Ipsita Mohanty, Applied Science Manager at Amazon and Vice Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering

• Mariesa Coughanour, Head of the Growth Office and AI Workforce Transformation for Cognizant Consulting

• Jaya Eripilla, VP, Senior Technology Manager at Bank of America

• Casey Foss, Chief Growth Officer at Penta Group

The Cost of Standing Still
One of the strongest themes throughout the discussion was that organizations face significant risks when they delay AI adoption. While concerns about security, governance, and compliance are valid, panelists emphasized that companies that fail to build AI capabilities today may quickly lose ground to competitors that are actively experimenting and learning.

As Casey Foss noted, organizations are already seeing a widening gap between employees who embrace AI tools and those who do not. Rather than focusing solely on the risks of AI, leaders should also consider the risks of inaction.

Start With Business Problems, Not Technology
The panel repeatedly stressed that successful AI strategies begin with business objectives rather than technology selection. Instead of asking, “What is our AI strategy?” organizations should ask, “How can AI help us achieve our business goals?”

Leaders were encouraged to identify high-impact business challenges, define measurable outcomes, and then determine whether AI is the best solution. Whether the goal is to improve customer experiences, increase operational efficiency, or accelerate decision-making, AI should serve as a strategic enabler rather than a standalone initiative.

Governance and Innovation Must Work Together
While organizations are eager to move quickly, panelists emphasized the importance of balancing innovation with responsible governance. Building clear policies, involving security teams early, and establishing guardrails can help organizations reduce risk while still empowering employees to experiment and innovate.

Mariesa Coughanour highlighted that employees are often already using AI tools independently. Rather than resisting this reality, organizations should create frameworks that support responsible experimentation, encourage collaboration between business and technology teams, and provide visibility into emerging use cases.

People Remain the Competitive Advantage
Although AI capabilities continue to advance rapidly, panelists agreed that uniquely human skills will become even more valuable in the future. Trust, judgment, empathy, leadership, and relationship-building remain difficult to replicate through technology. As organizations automate routine tasks, employees will increasingly focus on supervising systems, making complex decisions, and building meaningful connections with customers and colleagues.

Jaya Eripilla emphasized that organizations should view AI as a collaborator rather than a competitor. The goal is not to replace human expertise but to augment it—allowing employees to spend more time on higher-value work that requires creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence.

Creating a Culture of AI Adoption
The panelists also highlighted the importance of organizational culture in successful AI adoption. Companies that foster excitement, psychological safety, and learning opportunities are more likely to uncover innovative ideas across their workforce. Examples included AI innovation challenges, hackathons, gamification programs, and AI fluency initiatives designed to help employees build confidence and practical skills.

Rather than limiting AI exploration to a small group of specialists, organizations should encourage broad participation and provide employees with opportunities to contribute ideas and solutions.

Focus on Proof of Value
When beginning an AI journey, panelists recommended focusing on projects that demonstrate clear business value rather than small experiments that fail to generate meaningful impact.

Organizations should prioritize initiatives with measurable outcomes, whether through increased revenue, improved customer experiences, reduced operational costs, or greater employee productivity. Demonstrating tangible results helps build organizational momentum and encourages broader adoption.

One Final Piece of Advice
When asked for their most important recommendation for leaders looking to future-proof their organizations, the panelists delivered a consistent message: invest in your people.

Providing AI training, fostering a culture of experimentation, and preparing employees to work alongside AI technologies will be critical for long-term success. Organizations that empower their workforce while maintaining strong governance will be best positioned to adapt, innovate, and thrive in an AI-driven future.

As the discussion concluded, one message stood out above all others: AI is not a temporary trend. It is becoming a fundamental part of how work gets done, and organizations that combine technology, strategy, and human potential will be best equipped for what comes next.

Upcoming Women|Future Webinar Sessions

Join the next two webinars to discover practical strategies to build credibility through business awards, and get firsthand perspectives from women entrepreneurs who have successfully built and scaled their businesses. Register individually for each webinar you wish to attend:

Your Competitive Edge: How Earning Business Awards Boosts Recognition

The Founder Mindset: Overcoming Fear, Failure & Doubt to Build a Business