Luis: Happy to cruise with you, Spiffy! Sanarai addresses the gap in the mental health offering for the Latinx community. Did you know that only 5% of psychologists in the US speak Spanish compared to 13% of the population that speak Spanish at home and 19% that identify as Hispanic or Latinx?
Luciana: Glad to be with you, Spiffy! For starters, I realized that the Brazilian legislative branch operates far below its potential and systematically fails to address the needs of the population. Brazil has a 40% rate of political renewal in every election. However, simply changing elected officials is not enough to make politics work. In the last term, politicians scored—on a scale from zero to ten—an average of 2.8 in productivity. We believe that the key to unlock the potential of the legislative branch is by helping political cabinets deliver. To do that, we pull three leverages of systemic change: (i) diversify the talent of political staff, (ii) build capacity among current political advisors, (iii) promote accountability.
Erica: Thanks for inviting me, Spiffy! In Brazil, millions of children do not reach their potential because they lack educational opportunities, reinforcing the cycle of inequality. At Ensina Brasil (Teach for Brazil), we are devoted to working on that challenge by developing a network of leaders who are diverse, capable, and obsessed with solving this problem. We start at the level of public schools, acting from day one, together with the communities, in order to expand the opportunities of the students who are there today. Based on this experience, our fellows develop the commitment, skills, and mindsets needed to lead transformations in depth and at scale, until all children attain a quality education.
