Lívia

Lívia was the first young woman in her community to experience an exchange program in the United States, through the Youth Ambassadors Program, sponsored by the US Embassy in Brazil. Lívia lives in Capanema, a municipality of the Brazilian Amazon. During this experience, she met young leaders from all over the country, and she realized that the youth changemaking power in the northern region of Brazil was not being fully recognized. This made her take a more critical look at her community's problems and the need to strengthen local youth to step up. Lívia founded Levanta Jovem, an initiative that offers mentoring and training to develop self-awareness, public speaking, teamwork, project management training and social entrepreneurship among young people in the Brazilian Amazon.

Currently, seven professionals from the North region of Brazil, 10 young volunteers and 3 partner institutions support the project. They mobilize 20 young people from different cities in the state of Pará. The project began with face-to-face workshops, but during the pandemic all activities were digitally managed. Lívia is also advocating for students' access to the internet and equipment so that they can participate in online educational activities. Lívia is deeply committed with increasing opportunities for young people to develop and become active leaders to change their realities.