Empower Rio's Slums: Hub for Social Innovation

Dear donors,

Once again, we thank you for the opportunity to receive your support. It is our pleasure to bring you the latest updates and exciting news from the Innovation Hub, a community center dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship in low-income, favela communities in Rio de Janeiro. We now have a new name: Brota (meaning “to Sprout”) Innovation Hub. This name change aims to engage and integrate a broader range of locals by creating a sense of identity aligned with the language, style and culture of the favela. We are excited to also introduce the new director of Brota, Tom Macaveli, an up-and-coming hip-hop artist from São Paulo with 10 years of experience living in Vidigal and organizing cultural programming and local commerce. Already, after just a few months of these changes being introduced we're seeing young people, community leaders, entrepreneurs, students, and cultural projects utilizing our space to develop their activities, build connections, and enhance their skills. The space now welcomes around 400 visitors per month, operating from 09:00 - 20:00.

Here are two of the new projects now happening at Brota:

Brota Loja (store)

Our team mapped out and engaged a variety of local artisans and entrepreneurs around the community to understand their challenges in selling their products to visitors and tourists coming to the favela. Based on this feedback, we dedicated an entire area of our space to become a showcase of their arts and talent and drive new income-generating opportunities for the local creative economy. In the coming months we hope to improve the structure of the store, offer these products for sale online, and create partnerships with local tour guides to increase the amount of potential clients.

 Some of our entrepreneurs featured in the Brota Store include:

• Luane Accessories - Handcrafted rings
• Catu Dresses - Hand-painted dresses
• Vidigal Clothing - Streetwear with the Vidigal brand

Brota Studio

Vidigal is a favela that at its core is a cultivator of artistic, musical, and theatrical talent, and every day we are amazed with the young artists and professionals we meet. Combined with the incredible views of the ocean this make Vidigal an ideal place for the production of music, music videos, documentaries and films. That’s why we created Brota Studio; a state-of-the-art space split into 3 core areas of action:

• The Favelados Pod Podcast - The community-created podcast recorded on our premises is in full swing. In 2023, over 20 entrepreneurs and artists from our community were interviewed here in Vidigal 

• Brota Podcast- Short format storytelling videos sharing the inspiring stories of the incredible people, projects, artists, and employees that come through Brota for the world to discover.

• Brota Produções- We help mentor and facilitate the development of new favela artists, giving them a chance at success while navigating the challenges of producing popular music without contributing to the glamorization of drug trafficking, misogynism, and excessive materialism.

In addtion to these two projects here are some of the other amazing initiatives happening at our space:

• Batucavidi - The Batucavidi percussion project has expanded, and now Ísis Maria, the director, has her own percussion school within Vidigal.
• Casa do Mar English School - Our oldest partner project continues to offer daily English classes and academic reinforcement to around 80 children, youth, and adults monthly, connecting them with foreign volunteers.
• Favela Experience - In partnership with A&K Philanthropy and G Adventures, community visits are conducted with the opportunity to learn about active social projects and their leaders, raising social awareness among travelers through impact tourism and ensuring essential revenue sources for life-changing projects. On average, 900 tourists from more than ten different countries visit our space annually.
• Vision - Our data technology project is running at full throttle and utilizes the BROTA INNOVATION HUB as the base for its primary activities.

Once again, thank you on behalf of everyone at BROTA INNOVATION HUB and FAVELA INC for supporting us and being part of our journey. Now more than ever, our people rely on the generosity of individuals like you to help us keep our heads high and our hearts strong to ensure a bright future for the residents here. The challenges are plenty, but we move forward confidently with the assurance of having you, our donors, by our side and the Vidigal community in our hearts.

s.