Mastercard and McCann Poland won the Sustainable Development Goals Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Friday for their work on the WheretoSettle app, which helped 20% of the 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees in Poland find their place to resettle.

The app cross-referenced Mastercard transaction data with salary data from Poland’s Statistics Office and merged that with data from Poland’s leading real estate and jobs portals with the aim of helping families find the best opportunities. Then Mastercard also asked local council members to promote their cities and towns.

The process had a clear link to growth, including for a leading financial service provider, given testimonials from economists in media reports that the refugee influx added 2% to 4.5% to Poland’s gross domestic product.

And the work was closely linked to Mastercard’s business and purpose of fostering financial inclusion, said Sustainable Development Goals Jury President Jean Lin, who’s also chief culture officer of Dentsu Group. “The only way SDG can go forward is when it’s embedded in the heart of the business strategy,” she said.

“I just feel so honored and emotional to say that leading this jury has changed my life forever,” Lin said during a Cannes Lions press conference. But, she added: “We’re not looking for more sad stories that talk about problems that we face in the world. We’re talking about real solutions that can make and facilitate real change.”

Overall 40% of the score was based on whether the work “can have a tangible impact today and travel across borders.”

WheretoSettle was a data and tech solution at a festival dominated by talk of AI. But Lin said not everything that won required technology.

“Dogs Without Borders” from VMLY&R New York, Sao Paolo and Madrid won Gold around a program to train dogs to sniff out cancer in lower income areas with limited access to health care.

“That was based on science,” Lin said, “but didn’t require technology.”

The Grand Prix winner was a testament to the fact that “despite the fact that everybody has a role to play in making SDG real, it’s the power of brands that really takes sustainable development and makes it possible,” Lin said.

Gold winners

Two campaigns won Gold Lions in Sustainable Development Goals: “Pret A Voter” for Solar Impulse from Publicis Conseil, Paris; and “Dogs Without Borders” for KDOG Cancer Detection Group from VMLY&R New York, Sao Paolo and Madrid.