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On July 25, we celebrate the International Day of Black Latin American and Caribbean Women, highlighting the strength and resilience of these women in the fight against oppression and inequalities. Discover inspiring stories that are transforming the business world and promoting inclusion.
On July 25th, we celebrated the International Day of Black Latin American and Caribbean Women. Established by the UN in 1992 during the 1st Meeting of Afro-Latin American and Afro-Caribbean Women in the Dominican Republic, this date also honors, in Brazil, Tereza Benguela, the legendary leader of Quilombo Quariterê, known as Black Queen of the Pantanal.
The date aims to highlight the Black women's struggle against oppression and inequalities. The disparity in education is one of the reflections of this inequality: according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) from 2016, the percentage of white women with completed higher education (23.5%) is 2.3 times higher than that of black or brown women (10.4%). This educational difference directly impacts employment and income opportunities, perpetuating cycles of inequality.
In addition to education, the presence of Afro-descendants in Latin America and the Caribbean is significant, representing about 21% of the population, according to a study by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). In Brazil, this presence is notable in entrepreneurship: about 24% of Brazilian entrepreneurs are black women, according to data from Sebrae. This number is growing steadily, reflecting the resilience and initiative of these women to create their own opportunities.
The context of many of these entrepreneurs is also worth highlighting: 70% are mothers, which shows the strength and dedication necessary to balance the challenges of entrepreneurship with family responsibilities.
Forbes Under 30, LinkedIn Top Voices, and more! Our Serena Williams from the Pampas, Lisiane Lemos is one of Brazil's greatest ambassadors of shared knowledge. She is currently a secretary in the State Government of Rio Grande do Sul and has more than a decade of experience in innovation and technology, having worked in companies such as Microsoft and Google.
Lisiane is a multifaceted woman with a solid career in the private sector and a history marked by the fight against racism and sexism in the labor market. Your main challenge as a leader is to implement the use of technology as an instrument of social ascension. She co-created and co-led initiatives such as the Network of Black Professionals, the Committee for Racial Equality in the group Women of Brazil, and Counselor 101. In addition, she acts as a mentor in Google's startup program, Black Founders Fund, and is a professor in the MBA in Business Technology at PUCRS.
Bahiana, Forbes Under 30, LinkedIn Top Voices, Member of the UN Global Compact Youth Council and one of the 100 entrepreneurs in Latin America by Bloomberg Línea. Monique Evelle is a true Brazilian powerhouse in the business world.
She began entrepreneurship at the age of 16 and today she is training new entrepreneurs in Brazil through her company Incentives, a platform dedicated to the training of entrepreneurs, and also through the Shark Tank Brazil program.
Her curriculum extends from communicator to consultant for several brands such as Natura, Google, UOL and Ambev. Monique is a force in the market to follow and be inspired!
A psychologist with more than 10 years of experience in entrepreneurship, Maitê Lourenço is the founder of the accelerator BlackRocks Startup, a hub that promotes access to the black population in innovative and technological environments. The company is led by black women and connects entrepreneurs to opportunities in the business ecosystem.
Maitê was a finalist for the Startup Awards in the Social Impact category, is one of Think Olga's inspirational women and was awarded the Veja Magazine Award in the Diversity category in 2018.
Celebrated as the most disruptive woman in the world by the Woman In Tech Global Awards in 2021, Nina Silva has more than 20 awards and nominations in her career, including the Tarsila do Amaral Award in 2020 and Top Hacking Hypeness in 2018 in the Innovation and Diversity category.
A technology executive for over 20 years, Nina is one of the founders of the Black Money Movement, a digital innovation platform for the autonomy of the black population, which brings together financial services, courses, a marketplace, inclusion programs for companies and social projects. During her career, Nina has delivered more than 100 technology projects.
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First black woman to hold the position of CEO in a large company in Brazil, having led companies such as Tiffany & Co., Pandora and Lacoste Brazil.
With more than three decades of experience in the luxury and consumer market, she currently consults in Diversity and Inclusion, Retail and Leadership. Rachel also acts as advisor to Grupo Soma and is the founder of the social project Capacita-me, which promotes the employability of people in vulnerable situations. Her career is dedicated to engaging and leading transformations that include diversity and inclusion, especially on the racial issue.
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Born in a community in Rio de Janeiro, Zica Assis started working at the age of 9. She was once a nanny, cleaner, and domestic worker. She always had the dream of developing a product to treat her frizzy hair and, after many tests and dedication, she founded Beleza Natural with Leila Velez, a beauty chain specializing in frizzy hair that already has a unit in New York. Today, the company has a portfolio of more than 50 treatment creams for curly and frizzy hair.
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