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 moreMara Ferreira
Ashoka Fellow since Sep 1990
Mara Ferreira, a former geographer, urban planner, and systems analyst for the city of Rio de Janeiro, has taken her skills and training to the countryside. She has developed a comprehensive systems approach that grassroots rural communities can readily use.
Read morePaulo Lima founded a low-cost, effective print publication to spark the participation of children and teenagers in civic life and decision-making. He also helps adult readers understand and respect the perspectives of young people on issues of critical importance to the community.
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 moreRosana Grinberg has been developing an effective way to contact, inform, and empower excluded people in Recife, making them aware of their rights and explaining current government programs and services for consumer defense and promotion of civil rights.
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.
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