US-Brazil Connect

A nonprofit organization

Based on years of experience in Brazil, we have focused to find mutually-beneficial solutions that help emerging leaders from the US to go deep, give back and return to inspire to build solutions.

Testimonials

"US-Brazil Connect is not only building key workroom skills in both countries. It is also helping to deepen the understanding between our two great democracies and demonstrate how public/private collaboration can provide real leadership for education, civilian diplomacy, and economic opportunity." - Lilyana Ayala, Former US Ambassador to Brazil

"The most important lesson I took from the Fellowship was the importance of believing in yourself and what you can do as a person. It gave me confidence. It pushed me to aim higher, and value myself more. I am a confident person; I value leadership. But traveling to Brazil showed me the type of leader I could be and the impact I can create in others, the students, my team leaders, my dear Fellows, US-Brazil Connect. Currently, I am studying International Relations and Business at Florida Miami University. I am also on my second year of studying Portuguese." - Daniel Fajardo, Former US-Brazil Connect Fellow

"The biggest thing I learned from this experience as a host family is that everyone on earth is somehow connected. Before my family and I picked up Thayan from the airport, I couldn't help but think about how different we were going to be. I was shocked and ecstatic to find out that we weren't very different at all. This experience strengthened my family's and my own feelings of love toward travel and people, as well as made us believe in the world a little bit more. Now, the world doesn't seem quite as large as it did before we welcomed Thayna into our home" - Hannah Margalit Lamboy-Lavi, Host Family

"I participated in the 2014 and 2015 Conexão Mundo program and it changed my life forever. As a child, I did not believe in myself, but being a part of the program and making the trip to the US changed me completely. Now, I want to give back in some way and help others in a similar way that this program helped me" - Beatriz Rodrigues, Former Brazilian Student

Mission

Our mission is to engage conscious leaders, connect communities and provide access to a transformative learning experience linking the US and Brazil. We believe conscious global leaders are essential to making a better world by realizing new possibilities and bringing people together.

Background Statement

2011: Providing Access to International Experience.

At the start, we aimed to fill an obvious need: in the 21st century, US community colleges need affordable ways to prepare graduates for a globalized economy. We created the US-Brazil Connect Community College Consortium and conducted outreach to identify partner organizations in Brazil thatshare our passion for connections and innovations in education. In this search, we found one organization that shared not only our passion, but also our sense of urgency for action: The Brazilian Confederation of Industry (CNI). We quickly went to work together, creating Conexão Mundo and committing to implement our first exchange in March, 2012.

2012: Developing our Method.

US-Brazil Connect and our Community College Partners enrolled our first group of 20 US-Brazil Connect Fellows and 200 Brazilian high school students in February, 2012. Throughout the spring, we prepared ourFellows for travel to Brazil and developed our curriculum, connecting the Fellows with their students using Facebook and Google Hangouts. In June, we took our group of 20 to Salvador, Brazil for an intensive four-week immersion experience in whichthey worked daily with 200 high school students. In October, the Brazilian Confederation funded a two-week trip to the US for a group of 10 students from Salvador. US-Brazil Connect hosted the group in Denver and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and held our first "Brazil Day" at the Denver Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.

2013: Five- Fold Growth.

We grew five-fold, sending 110 US-Brazil Connect Fellows/Leaders for work with 950 students in eight cities. We also created a second Fellowship program: The Global Leaders Fellowship, designed to serve university students and young professionals. In our first year, this program drew an outstanding class of Fellows from institutions such as Columbia University, Colorado College and Georgetown University. In collaboration with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the Brazil Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, we honored President Robson Andrade of the Brazilian Confederation of Industry with a two-day event in Denver, Colorado. The event drew high-level participation from Brazil and the United States, and resulted in plans to engage Brazil's state- level industry associations in further program expansion.

2014: Scaling.

2014 was all about scaling our Fellowship and Conexão Mundo programs to include; 32 cities across Brazil; 35 partner technical high schools; six US-Brazil Connect community colleges; 2000 low-income Brazilian students working to improve their language skills and gain global awareness through our six-month program of intensive learning and exchange; and 189 US-Brazil Connect Fellows and Team Leaders learning global leadership skills through coaching online. In Brazil, 18 state-level industry associations in Brazil helped develop talent pools in both countries.

2015: Expanding our Impact.

US-Brazil Connect sustains its growth working with: 203 US-Brazil Connect Fellows and 2,004 students in 32 cities in Brazil. We also launched two new programs: OutSpoken, an interactive language skills program for Brazilian educators, and English for Executives, a two- week English language intensive program for Brazilian executives.

2016: Building Community.

US-Brazil Connect took this year to start building a stronger community in Brazil and the US. We launched our Alumni Advisory Board to engage more than 500 alumni from the US who have participated in our program. We began forming stronger strategic partnerships with the Federation of Industry on a state level in Brazil. We also have built stronger relationships with more corporations, institutions and governments in the US to expand our capacity.

2017: Our Vision.

In 2017: US-Brazil Connect continued to offer the Conexão Mundo program and our Global Leadership Fellowship to Americans. We also continued developing new partnerships that support our mission.

2018: Access and broadening supporters.

In 2018, US-Brazil Connect will continue to provide access to underserved US students and Brazilian students with our Conexão Mundo program. The organization is committed to conscious leadership development and preparing future leaders and citizens for a globalized workforce. We are focusing on sustainability and broadening our coalition of supporters in the US and abroad.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

US-Brazil Connect

Year Established

2009

Tax id (EIN)

26-4399242

Category

Education

Address

1201 Williams St. Suite 4A
Denver, CO 80218

Service areas

Denver County, CO, US

Other

720-338-8839

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