Empower Rio's Slums: Hub for Social Innovation

Dear donors,

As you may have heard from the latest report on Agrofavela, Favela Inc. has been really busy with new plans, new employees and analyzing the results of our work throughout the past year. We have grown from just 3 employees to over 7 employees that work full-time and part time, along with a network of nearly 50 volunteers. Our responsibility to supporting the community of Vidigal and favelas throughout Rio is important now more than ever and therefore we are fully committed to creating projects that create long-term, sustainable and systemic impact.

In January of 2022, Favela Inc. will be launching a new, improved redesign of our brand, combined with a dynamic plan to guarantee the success of our initiatives. We are currently restructuring our marketing department and looking at how we can collaborate with content producers from the local communities to be a core part of our communication efforts. As for the Innovation Hub, it is the headquarters for all of our organization, our collaborators and projects, so it’s our main focus for the investment of time, money, and energy at this time. We are happy to introduce the new manager of the Innovation Hub, Thiago Moncores! Thiago is originally from a low-income area located in the outskirts of Rio and has spent the last 5 years living in the biggest favela in the city, Rocinha. Thiago has a vast amount of experience in building branding partnerships, media and content devlopment and creating community driven spaces of innovation. We are very excited and grateful to have him on our team. He has been doing some amazing work in the spaceover the last two months, and we have even more plans for the near future we are very excited to share with our supporters very soon.

Here are some updates on improvements at the Hub, over the last 60 days spearheaded by Thiago and his team:

• A redesign of the space in the Hub, increasing mobility and improving the infrastructure and creative conditions for new programming;
• The expansion of the current space to include the lower level of the building expanded the total space from 130 square meters to 250 square meters (2700 sq feet). We are working with potential sponsors to house on the new floor: a café, stage for presentations and workshops, and a gaming zone;
• Renovation of the meeting room along with new tech equipment to facilitate collaboration and hybrid meetings;
• A stunning wall art designed in collaboration between a local artist from Vidigal and a painter from Serbia
• Renovation of the entrance of the workspace, improving the structure of the stairs;
• New paintjob for the walls and lighting improvements

We are thrilled with the renovations we have been doing in the Innovation Hub and we are planning to make even more of them soon! Our Hub in Vidigal is entering a new phase where we will be conducting mentorship programs in its space bringing in specialists from outside the favela in the areas of marketing, fundraising, management and more to share their knowledge with local entrepreneurs and leaders in the favela.. In order to best host these events and give all of our guests the structure they need and deserve, we have made these renovations and we plan to make even more investments in the space. For this reason, we are asking our donors to contribute to the Hub project to help continue to support entrepreneurship and innovation in the favela and eventually expand to create other spaces like this one in other favela communities.

All of these improvements and updates of the Innovation Hub are only possible thanks to the support and donations we receive from you, and we are very grateful. Thank you for always being with us and for following our work at Favela Inc, it means a lot to us!

All the best,

Ana Beatriz Ribeiro