Olivier-Hugues Terreault is preparing Brazilian society to be able to care for their growing elderly population. Through an innovative clowning therapy, he is equipping caregivers and seniors themselves with tools for communication, meanwhile his work with decision makers and the general population...
Read moreMaria Teresa Romeiro Leal, who works with seamstresses in a Brazilian slum, reveals two realities about business and poverty: first, workshops owned by poor women can compete in the world of haute couture; and second, making quality goods is the best way for poor women to find business partners...
Read moreNelsa Nespolo is creating a “fair chain” model that brings workers in the supply chain into ownership and management responsibilities—giving them greater control over their livelihoods.
Read moreHarley Henriques do Nascimento
Ashoka Fellow since Dec 1998
Harley Henriques do Nascimento is combatting the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus in the poverty-stricken Brazilian state of Bahia through a network of peer educators based in the region's disenfranchised communities.
Read moreSonia Coutinho
Ashoka Fellow since Sep 1994
In the state of Bahia, in the northeast of Brazil, Sonia Coutinho has developed a center for arts and alternative education for adolescents with moderate learning disabilities that is remarkably effective in aiding their transition from school to productive employment and facilitating their...
Read moreJoao Claudio has long sought the most effective way to serve the poor: first as a Jesuit, then as a social activist, and now as a doctor developing novel ways of providing first-class health care to Brazil's slum dwellers.
Read moreBy teaching practical culinary and social skills, Simone Berti is preparing individuals with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities to assimilate into society and be self-sufficient.
Read moreMarlene Morgado segundo dos santos
Ashoka Fellow since Aug 1987
Wagner Gomes has created a development initiative that unites students from rural backgrounds with impoverished farmers in the Northeast of Brazil to collaborate with one another and increase their productivity.
Read moreAlthough Brazil struggled with issues of severe malnutrition in the past, since the 1990s obesity among children has become an increasingly alarming but unreported problem. Vera Perino is transforming the way Brazilian society perceives and addresses obesity by looking at both its causes and...
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