Image
FA.VELA
Empowering the underprivileged youth in business management and technological literacy, bolstering their self-esteem and fostering business growth.
-19.902766779951, -43.96405015
In Brazil, inequalities disproportionately affect disadvantaged youth in peripheral regions. In Belo Horizonte, 480,000 people live in unplanned settlements, deprived of access to social and economic opportunities.
The project Escola Digital, supported by the Julius Baer Foundation and implemented by FA.VELA empowers young entrepreneurs lacking sufficient expertise in business development. FA.VELA links them with privileged and successful entrepreneurs. Through classes, mentorships, group talks and other services, the young entrepreneurs learn to (re)structure their businesses for further growth. And besides this professional aspect, Escola Digital addresses the social layer by bringing people from opposite realities together to build bridges and overcome prejudices.
Through FA.VELA’s inclusive education, almost 300 underprivileged entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds are now instilled with an entrepreneurial attitude, capable of transforming their business positively and lastingly.
Quick facts
- Brazil, Belo Horizonte
- Project support: 2021-2026
- Grant amount: CHF 150,000 per year
- Linking marginalised Brazilian aged 18-35, who are (in) formal business, who are recognised experts in their fields.
From excluded and untrained...
Around 70% of the project’s applicants already perform as entrepreneurs, but less than 20% have regular access to computer and internet services, specialised education, support network or financial investments.
… to equipped and connected.
Vulnerable youth suffering from social stigma and lacking financial resources gain access to innovative digital education and collaborations with established professionals.
Before being a professional, I am a citizen. A person with rights as well as obligations. This project has transformed the way I and my team think about design. In order to create projects for the world, I need to first understand that world. To see the contrasts and try, to my best abilities, to make them smaller. This project shows the true meaning of the word ‘community'.
OUTPUT
Over 1,200 hours of mentoring, classes and psychological support have been already delivered through FA.VELA Escola Digital.
OUTCOME
Many participants led a company before engaging in the programme. After participating, 100% of them concluded feeling more qualified and apt to lead their businesses.
HIGHLIGHT
Escola Digital boosts participants’ digital skillset. 100% of the entrepreneurs state applying improved communication and marketing strategies compared to before the programme.
Creating access to professionalism
• Despite all its wealth, Brazil is a country full of social and economic inequalities.
• Those who do not fit certain social standards regarding skin color, education, wealth and other criteria are deprived of various social and economic rights.
• While 23% of the Brazilian population neither work nor study, 40% would like to start their own business. Over half of them wish to do so in their own community.
• FA.VELA set out to empower disadvantaged leaders and entrepreneurs to change not only their lives but also their surroundings.
• FA.VELA designed Escola Digital to lower the barriers and create access to indispensable business education and professional networks.
• Whether they are video makers, natural cosmetics producers, accountants, cooks, booksellers, or other craftspeople, Escola Digital’s educational opportunities are now reaching youth in 21 different Brazilian states.
• A new breed of young entrepreneurs is growing and thriving in the favelas, forming a cohesive network across the wealth divide.
• Besides financial aid, technological access and psychological support significantly impacted this venture.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Become a Changemaker
Image
Are you an entrepreneur based in Brazil and want to offer your skills and time by being a mentor in the Escola Digital? Or are you a student or a researcher whose work focuses on wealth inequality topics and are interested in potential collaboration?
