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FA.VELA
Preparing underprivileged youth from Belo Horizonte's favelas to navigate strategically in the digital economy. Through training, mentoring and exchange, privileged and underprivileged work together to model and manage resilient businesses.
-19.902766779951, -43.96405015
Brazil
is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America.[1]
23%
of Brazilians aged 15 - 29 are neither working nor studying.[2]
20%
of Brazilians have no internet access in a time when digital connectivity has become critical to income growth.[3]
Wealth inequality in Brazil has colour, gender, age and territory
Our Commitment
The Julius Baer Foundation and FA.VELA are joining forces on establishing the Escola Digital to:
- promote the inclusive digital transformation of underprivileged youth in Belo Horizonte.
- develop entrepreneurial literacy among marginalised entrepreneurs, students and professionals through on- and offline lectures, workshops, benchmarking visits, creative labs, and mentorship.
- involve professionals from privileged communities to serve as trainers, mentors and partners in career development.
FA.VELA is a civil society organisation that serves as an education and learning hub. It was founded in 2015 by João and Tatiana Souza, both favela natives themselves. Their programmes promote entrepreneurialism, diversity and innovation to grant underprivileged youth in the favelas a chance for socio-economic development.
The program has helped 2300 people grow 300+ enterprises in 25 municipalities in the Brazilian states of Minas, Gerais, Espírito Santo and Para.
In 2019, while 67% of the 549 applicants to the FA.VELA entrepreneurship program were already leading a microbusiness, only 20% had the training to do so.
COVID-19 has worsened the marginalisation of entrepreneurs dwelling in favelas as their business‘s digital presence has become imperative for success.
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With the support of the Julius Baer Foundation FA.VELA launched Escola Digital, which will benefit 780 people and upskill and support over 240 underprivileged entrepreneurs per year by 2023.
The word FA.VELA means Fundo de Aceleração para o Desenvolvimento Vela or Vela Fund for Accelerated Development. Vela is the Portuguese for Sail: just as the sail harnesses the wind to propel a boat, FA.VELA helps people harness skills, knowledge, and networks to propel themselves out of poverty.
[1] Source: World Bank 2019
[2] Source: IBGE 2018
[3] Source: PNAD/IBGE 2018
Become a Changemaker
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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?
