What does a typical day look like for you?

Hm, I don’t do well in routines! I wake up, water the 36 pots of plants I have at home, get ready, and some days I go to work in the office, some days I do it from home. My mission is to show the importance of the Change.org platform to expand citizen participation and the noble causes we work on, to reach members that contribute to the sustainability of all this. I also take care of people that support us financially in a special way, as they deserve! In the evening I do various activities, such as holistic meetings, therapies, good music shows, dinner with friends, and also work on a documentary project about my experience as a lesbian and survivor of an extremely vulnerable childhood and sexual abuse.

How would you describe Change.org’s culture?

Change.org’s culture creates a diverse, human environment full of possibilities! It’s an environment where we are challenged to develop our skills, share knowledge and learn from each other. 

What’s one thing you think we can do to advance our mission and build a better workplace? 

I love that there are decent working conditions, good benefits, flexibility and the option to work from home in Change.org. Increasing the number of employees who have been through vulnerable situations is very important for Change.org to reach out and give voice to all people. I’m glad we have a policy of embracing diversity. We have communities of LGBT people and Black people (Change.Noire), which is growing bit by bit.

How do you think your identity has impacted your professional experiences?

My entire life experience has centered around overcoming social injustices and violence linked to class, gender, race and sexual orientation. That’s what drives me to work with purpose to prevent other people from going through the same thing. I’m lucky to have this opportunity on Change.org!

My post on Instagram when I arrived in San Francisco (first time I left Brazil) about how important it was for me to be chosen to work at Change.org: 

“Here I am, representing Brazil, about to meet 280 people from 22 countries focused on impact: for a free, fair, abundant, plural and democratic planet. Myself, a lesbian woman, black and solo mother’s daughter, granddaughter of hunger. Thanks @changedotorg for showing me that life is capable of surprising much more than my imagination! ✨🍃”

What does Black History Month mean to you?

In Brazil, the month of black consciousness is in November. It has a profound meaning because it recognizes the murder of Zumbi dos Palmares – a great leader for the liberation of black slaves and marginalized people, who created hidden quilombos. Thousands of people lived in these self-sustaining communities. Remembering history is very important so that we know who we are, where we came from and how we can all evolve as human beings.

Tell me about your role models and why they mean something to you.

At this moment, I think of Whitney Houston, an incredible woman who, despite all her success, couldn’t handle her oppression and gave up a great love for another woman because of lesbophobia and died unhappy.

I think of Lupita Nyong’o, who started as an intern for a Brazilian filmmaker and today, besides being a fabulous actress, is a great icon who exposes the need to work on the self-esteem of black girls. She wrote a beautiful children’s book about it, Sulwe. A special friend and I are the authors of a children’s book with the same theme.

I think of Luedji Luna, a Brazilian bisexual artist, full of poetry and sensibility that carries in her singing the struggle and beauty of today’s black youth in Brazil. Her music is in the Change.Noire playlist!