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 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 moreSuzana Machado Pádua
Ashoka Fellow since Jan 1998
Working in Nazaré Paulista, a relatively impoverished conservation area that borders on the Atlantic Forest and is a major source of water for the city of São Paulo, Suzana Padua has developed a new model for community engagement in environmental protection.
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 moreOscar Arruda has devised a strategy for enabling farmers in Brazil's semi-arid northeast to exploit an abundant local plant as an alternative crop that provides economic self-sufficiency in an otherwise depressed local economy.
Read moreMarilena Igreja Lazzarini
Ashoka Fellow since May 1990
Marilena Lazzarini, who helped create Sao Paulo's first government consumer agency, is now working to build a model private consumer defense group. Success in South America's biggest business center, enormously important in itself, will also encourage others across the continent to follow.
Read moreLuiz Tadeo Damaschi's goal is to make one of the world's largest cities a greener place. A resident of Sao Paulo, Luiz Tadeo plans to raise and plant various types of fruit trees throughout the city to put back a bit of the nature that has been overwhelmed by concrete.
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.
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