The WomenChangeMakers’ program was launched in Brazil mid-August with the selection of two outstanding social entrepreneurs who have achieved deep-seating social and economic transformations for women in their community and in the Brazilian society as a whole. WomenChangeMakers and its program partners Accenture, Egon Zehnder, Lex Mundi Pro Bono – who facilitated the connection with a prestigious Brazilian law firm, Demarest e Almeida – Booz & Co. and others, will work with the two WomenChangeMakers fellows over the next three years to support the scaling up of their organisation, the replication of their model and the increase of their social impact. Guacira Cesar de Oliveira, Founder and Executive Director of the Centro Feminista de Estudos y Assessoria (CFEMEA, Brasilia), plays an important role in designing and guaranteeing women’s rights in Brazil. She works to secure social justice by teaching women’s organizations how to monitor public expenditures, ensuring that dedicated resources are used to address women’s priorities. In reinforcing the women’s movement’s dialogue with the public authorities, she strengthens the incidence of feminist policy on public policies and expenditures. Through CFEMEA, Guacira has started the Feminist Free University, a virtual research and teaching platform dedicated to women’s studies. She has driven the passing of several laws, including the right to family planning, in 1994, the result of an intense process of advocacy and mobilization for reproductive rights; and the ground-breaking “Maria da Penha Law” (2006), for the prevention of domestic violence, which began with the presentation of a bill formulated by a group of feminist organizations, coordinated by CFEMEA. WomenChangeMakers and its program partners aim to help her expand her reach across Brazil and develop a stronger revenue stream through CFEMEA’s services, which include research, consultancies, and the publication of specialized literature. As a further potential development, her model of independent and influential lobbying activities can be conceptualized for replication in other countries. (See www.cfemea.org.br) Alice Freitas is the Founder and CEO of Asta (Rio de Janeiro). Asta contributes to social equality and economic development in Brazil by strengthening women's productive enterprises at the bottom of the pyramid through access to markets, know-how, and the creation of networks. Asta has set up a direct sales force to help 600 informal artisans overcome the challenges of large-scale distribution. By equipping a network of 650-700 well-trained amateur sales’ agents with an intimate understanding of the personal histories and social impact behind the products, Asta provides a direct communication channel between producers and consumers. WomenChangeMakers and its program partners will assist Alice and her organisation in her plan to increase the number of artisans that it can support from 600 to 1,400 (organized in 85 cooperatives) and its sales forces to 1,000; to extend Asta’s reach throughout Brazil; and to conceptualize a model that can be replicated in other contexts. (See www.redeasta.com.br ). The WomenChangeMakers’ fellows were selected from a pool of social entrepreneurs recommended by partners such as Ashoka, Avina, the Ford Foundation and UN Women. A selection panel composed of leaders of the business and social sectors interviewed the finalists and chose the two fellows based on their accomplishments, their ambitions and their good match with the WomenChangeMakers’ program. “We will put our expertise in the field of women’s empowerment and social entrepreneurship, and our wide reaching networks in the private, public and non-profit sectors, to the service of our fellows’ development,” said Yann Borgstedt, founder and president of the Smiling Children Foundation and its WomenChangeMakers’ program. “Together with our program partners, we will work on strengthening the leadership, organizational sustainability and operational integrity of their organizations on their growth path. We look forward to making this collaboration with our program partners and fellows a success.” WomenChangeMakers believes that by empowering women and enhancing their socio-economic participation to society, lasting progress can be achieved for all. WomenChangeMakers is a program of the Smiling Children Foundation, a private non-profit organization registered in Switzerland and in the UK. Contact details: Antonella Notari Vischer, Director Smiling Children Foundation and WomenChangeMakers Program antonella@womenchangemakers.org
