Rio NGO Awards Young Entrepreneurs from Rocinha and Olaria

Beatriz Miranda, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Today, Tuesday, June 13th, the NGO non-profit organization ‘Educate The Favela’ will present the award ceremony for the ten finalists of the micro-entrepreneurship course “Novos Lídereres” (New Leaders), with two winners to receive a prize of R$1,200 each.

Taking place at Colégio Batista, in Olaria in Rio’s Zona Norte (North Zone) at 1PM, the award ceremony will choose two projects to gain sponsorship funding and professional feedback.

Offered twice per year by Educate The Favela, Novos Lídereres is an entrepreneurship, financial literacy and personal development skills course that aims to encourage disadvantaged young people – currently from Rocinha and Olaria – to start their own businesses.

“We prepare the students for the opportunity to create their own pathway and contribute positively and effectively to society, including developing their skills to become a successful entrepreneur”, says Australian expatriate in Rio and mining engineer Bridget Alldridge, director of Educate The Favela.

In the award ceremony, social investors and the students who participated on the course will select the entrepreneurs whose ideas deliver the best, most innovative and sustainable project proposals, which must be aligned to the social values of the program. The two winners will receive a prize of R$1,200. In addition, Educate The Favela will offer a specialist mentor to every student who completed the course.

The finalists group include people from 15 to 29 years old, all of them students from Educate The Favela’s partner school in Olaria and participants of the partner NGO in Rocinha, Favela Phoenix. Among the finalists is Luiz Nascimento, a fifteen-year-old who is passionate about chemistry and wants to start a business on soaps. Bruno Abreu, age 29, aims to create his own barber shop at Rocinha.

“The class includes a mix of those who want to commence and grow their own business, and those who want to leverage their entrepreneurial skills to further their education via university or technical courses. Most students are also studying english in the free adults course run by Favela Phoenix”, affirms the director.

Founded by Dutch financier Yannick Struijk, Educate The Favela is an organization focused in promoting inclusivity, social progression and success for underprivileged cariocas by implementing practical education projects, specially in the areas of business, entrepreneurship sports and culture.

“Our aim is to broaden the horizon of our students, develop their life skills and grow their confidence to achieve their immense potential. We believe our projects are fundamental in filling the gap created by Rio’s social disparity, a developing education system and a government in financial crisis”, states Alldridge, who plans to offer the course at a school in São Cristovão (Zona Norte) in the next semester.

What: Award Ceremony of the course Novos Líderes
When: this Tuesday (June 13th) – 1PM
Where: Colégio Batista em Olaria – Rua Teotônio de Brito, 263 – Olaria – Tel: (21) 2573-9696
Entrance: FREE