It is very common to hear in the media about NGOs that carry out serious work with impressive results.
It is important to remember that, just like companies, NGOs also need to structured processes, attract people with technical skills from their areas of expertise, and have a strategic vision of where their social organization aims to be in 5, 10, 20 years in the future.
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Thinking about this and believing that it is important to value the work of people who are leading their organizations, we present three managers of Brazilian NGOs that you should know.
Alan Maia – Agência do Bem
Graduated in communication from PUC-RJ and with a master’s degree in Social Service from the same institution, Alan Maia is the manager of the organization Agência do Bem.
Among the various projects, the School of Music and Citizenship is the initiative of greatest prominence and solidity of the institution.
The project aims to offer free orchestral instrument lessons to children living in low-income communities.
Currently, the Schools of Music and Citizenship are present in 28 communities, 21 located in Rio de Janeiro and the others located in Florianópolis, Ceará, Bahia, Brasília, and São Paulo and in Braga, Portugal.
Serving around 2,000 children from north to south of the country, the project began in a small community in Vargem Grande, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, with only 8 students.
Alan started the project by borrowing R$4,000 from friends who believed in the proposal of the Schools of Music and Citizenship and wanted to see the project he had designed in his head come true.
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Gradually, with tiny steps, the project grew larger and soon a branch was opened in Cidade de Deus. Through cultural incentive laws, the initiative was able to increase its fundraising to reach other locations and impact more lives in various Brazilian states.
There is also a music pre-professionalization arm which is the project Orquestra e Coro Nova Sinfonia. The orchestral group is made up of the most prominent students from the Rio de Janeiro branches of the Schools of Music and Citizenship.
The group has already performed in important cultural venues such as the Christ the Redeemer, the MASP, the MAM, and even at the Olympia in Paris.
In the second half of 2022, the Schools of Music and Citizenship reached an important milestone: the opening of a branch of the project in Portugal, in the city of Braga, in the north of Portugal.
Agência do Bem was awarded among the 100 Best NGOs in Brazil in 2021 and also obtained the ISO 9,001, which is an international certification that attests to the quality of the organization’s management.
For Alan, a non-profit organization should have a professional structure with processes and procedures similar to a company.
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The management of Agência do Bem over its 17 years of existence by Alan Maia certainly makes him one of the Brazilian NGO managers you should know and follow on LinkedIn.
Luiza Serpa – Instituto Phi
Luiza Serpa leads one of the most relevant philanthropic organizations in the Brazilian third sector, the Phi Institute. As founder and executive director of the organization, Luiza Serpa worked for many years in private companies in communication and marketing roles.
In 2014, she decided to change the direction of her career and invest in the social sector by founding the Phi Institute.
In an open letter to the public after eight years at the forefront of the organization, the manager says that “my dream was to be able to enhance the foundations of philanthropy and inspire efficient donation approaches that could really interrupt the inequalities of Brazilian society.”
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The Phi Institute’s role in promoting Brazilian philanthropy is heartwarming. Since its inception, the organization has raised more than R$200 million for the Brazilian social sector, impacting about 1.5 million people in Brazil.
Altogether, 174 social investors supported around 968 projects.
It is impressive what a person driven by a sense of social justice, with willingness and technical knowledge, can do.
A significant part of the work developed by the Phi Institute is to create trust relationships between the business sector and civil society organizations that need funding to continue serving their target audiences.
It is through the work of this Carioca and advertising professional that she appears on this list of Brazilian NGO managers that you should know and follow on LinkedIn.
Andréa Gomides – Instituto Ekloos
With experience in multinational companies such as HP and Microsoft, Andréa Gomides, from Niteroi, gave up a successful career in the technology industry giants to create her own social organization, the Ekloos Institute.
Although Andrea’s career led her to the business market, throughout her life, she volunteered in social actions that were important in her decision to manage an NGO in Brazil. The experiences she had with children in Rocinha and with people in social vulnerability in Friburgo made her heart feel full.
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Andrea says that even though she receives a considerably lower monthly salary than what she used to receive in the companies she worked for, she feels more fulfilled and happy helping other organizations professionalize their management.
The Ekloos Institute acts as a social impact accelerator, assisting third sector organizations in developing strategic areas of the organization aimed at growth and institutional strengthening of their activities.
The areas of improvement of the Ekloos acceleration program are communication, leadership development, social responsibility, and technology.
Over 400 social organizations have already benefited from actions taken by the Institute founded by Andrea Gomides.
One of the organizations supported by Andrea’s organization is the Luar de Dança project, which offers ballet and other types of dance classes for low-income children in Duque de Caxias.
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The mentoring with the organization helped the Luar project develop new fundraising lines and improve internal processes so that the NGO has a greater chance of maintaining its operational sustainability and continue serving dozens of children and teenagers.
It is for stories like these that we believe that this Niteroiense should be included in the list of Brazilian NGO managers that you should know and follow on LinkedIn
