The Lemann Foundation, a family foundation with more than 20 years of experience delivering social transformation in Brazil, is announcing a five-year strategic partnership with VélezReyes+, a philanthropy platform focused on opportunities for children and young people in Latin America.
VélezReyes+ was recently launched by David Vélez – founder and CEO of the digital challenger bank Nubank, which has amassed more than 70 million users since its creation in 2013 – together with his wife, Peruvian businesswoman Mariel Reyes. Signatories to ‘The Giving Pledge’ in 2021, the couple have committed to donating the majority of their $6 billion wealth to philanthropy.
The partnership will enhance and accelerate the achievements and outcomes of seven existing initiatives in Brazil already supported by the Lemann Foundation: Associação Nova Escola, Lemann Center for Leadership and Equity in Education, Ensina Brasil, MegaEdu, Insper, Legisla Brasil and Motriz. The partnership will enable these initiatives to transform the way they deliver services, potentially reaching thousands more Brazilians and enhancing their impact on Brazil’s progress.
VélezReyes+ will also work with other organizations across Latin America and believe the partnership with the Lemann Foundation in Brazil will bring important learnings for its expansion to the rest of the continent. Additionally, the new partnership sees David Vélez, join the Lemann Foundation Board.
Founder and chairman of the Lemann Foundation Board, swiss-brazilian entrepreneur Jorge Paulo Lemann said:
“The Lemann Foundation and the VélezReyes+ Platformshare our ideals, mission and innovative spirit. We believe that overcoming the country's challenges depends on engaged, creative and collaborative people."
“By combining our capabilities and building on the incredible successes of recent years, we can work together to make a huge difference in the lives of children and young people who need it most.”
Founders of the VélezReyes+ Platform, David Vélez and Mariel Reyes said:
“The Lemann Foundation and VélezReyez+ Platform share their focus in education and leadership as paths to increase access to opportunities. We believe we will be able to learn from the Lemann Foundation’s trajectory in Brazil, as well as from the works of each grantee, bringing their best practices to Latin America. We want to achieve more in collaboration, promote social innovation, and the use of technology and design to create solutions that fit people’s demands.”
The seven initiatives supported by the new partnership are:
Associação Nova Escola: a non-profit social impact organization that provides resources and training to 2.7 million teachers and education managers in Brazil;
Lemann Center for Leadership and Equity in Education: an independent, non-partisan and global center of excellence committed to training education leaders and promoting sector-leading research
Ensina Brasil: a non-profit organization that seeks to transform education in Brazil by recruiting and developing top graduates from the country’s best universities to become public school teachers and education leaders.
MegaEdu: an initiative focused on delivering simple, data-based solutions for improving access to high-speed internet across all public schools in Brazil.
Motriz: a civil society organization created to attract, train, and shape future public leaders across Brazil to address the country’s most complex challenges.
Legisla: a non-partisan civil society organization that works together with parliamentarians to enhance representation and invest in public policies that respond to the real needs of the population.
Insper: a non-profit institution dedicated to teaching and research for future leaders across broad topics ranging from executive leadership to computer sciences.
